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WASHINGTON - Congress is taking new whacks at the cigarette industry, banning tobacco sales in Senate buildings and - more importantly - seeking a significant federal tax increase on cigarettes.
The industry, once a lobbying behemoth, is quietly working against the tax bill. But it lacks the clout it once wielded.
Several key lawmakers said they have had no recent contacts with tobacco lobbyists. And both houses have signaled a willingness to raise the cigarette tax if other provisions of a children's health bill can be resolved.
"I think the industry has tried to do things more quietly, largely because they obviously know how popular a tobacco tax is," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. The health advocacy group supports a proposed $35 billion increase in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which a higher cigarette tax would finance.
House and Senate negotiators are trying to craft a veto-proof version of the bill. President Bush says he would veto it because it calls for a 61 cents-per-pack increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, taking it to $1. Link
I did some extensive research regarding tobacco, sales & profit and tax revenue a few years ago. Here's some things you might not know ...
- Item: 25% - 40% of all gross sales made in convenience stores are from tobacco.
- Item: 20% - 25% of all sales tax on a national basis is from tobacco.
- Item: 12% - 18% of ALL tax revenue in every state is from tobacco.
I want you to understand that tobacco has been the whipping boy of all industries for decades. Politicians have used that vulnerability to relentlessly tax tobacco, so much so, that every municipality, city, county, state and the nation has become dependent upon tax revenue from tobacco. Every other source of tax revenue, with the exception of income tax, pales in comparison. All of the social progams which benefit from that revenue are now addicted to that annual income.
Politicians claim they want to 'tax tobacco out of existence'. That is perhaps the most specious statement ever uttered by any politician. What they want to do is have it both ways. They do not want to fund healthcare for tobacco users, and thus want to make all smokers stop smoking. But if they are successful in that endeavor, all that tax revenue will also stop. Government would cease to function, so dependent upon tobacco as it is. Politicians know that.
What they are doing, is ever increasing the taxes on an ever diminishing group of taxpayers - smokers. Some quit because of the economic pressure and many die, but the ugly little secret is that 21% of this nation's population is addicted, is not going to quit and will continue to smoke and therefore will continue to pay the ever increasing taxes. Until the day they die. And there's the rub. They are dying.
When the health nazis, do-gooders, doctors and politicians are finally successful in ridding this country of smokers and their evil habit, where will all that tax revenue come from then? Hmmm? Straight out of EVERYBODY'S pocket. People who are making the most noise about the perils of smoking are the most oblivious to this reality. The more they snuff out tobacco the closer they, themselves, unknowingly get to making up the difference in tax revenues. And that is no small amount of money and there is no chance of the politicians reducing expeditures to offset the diminished revenue.
I have been fighting my tobacco habit for over 40 years and am now slowly dying as a consequence of smoking. I take full responsibility for my actions. I blame nobody but myself. Over the years, I have probably spent over $100,000.00 for cigarettes. Of that, fully 90% was taxes. Where will that revenue come from when I, and millions like me, are gone? Who will make up the difference? What will you tax then?
Those on the Left, who actually know what's going on, are running a scam on the American public. They know that when tobacco can no longer be the cash cow it has been for 50 years, they will get to impose more taxes elsewhere. They are salivating at that prospect. It will mean that they can control even more of your life. Would you like to know what they'll be taxing when tobacco is gone? Fat. The fat in the food you eat. Miles. The miles you drive every year. Plastic. The plastic shopping bags, toys, car parts - whatever - that you consume. Pets. All of your cute and cuddlies will cost. TV. They will tax the very programming you watch. Email. Oh yes, they'll attach postage to your emails. Think I'm exagerating? With the exception of email, ALL of those are being taxed somewhere in the United States - TODAY. Email is only a matter of time. Who'll make up the difference? YOU will.
Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.Spread the word!
A guy is driving around in the North Georgia mountains and sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-syle house: "Talking Dog for Sale."
