Ok, enough is enough!!! (St. Paul: 2013, home, to buy)

[C-Chelle]

Originally Posted by cgy1

If they're going to raise the tax on liquor, can't they at least throw us a bone and allow Sunday liquor sales?

haha, just remembered it's Cinco De Mayo and I have no Tequlia and can't go buy any at the liquor store

[Mason3000]

I absolutely love the idea of taxing cigarettes even more. By why stop there? I think we should quadruple the tax on alcohol. Make each beer cost $25. Make a bottle of Absolute Vodka cost $125. That would really help fund schools & roads, plus drinking alcohol is a distasteful habit & I don't appreciate people when they've been drinking so I'd like to see them forced to stop. It would also reduce the health care costs for us all as drunk people litter the emergency rooms of our country & people commit criminal acts that cost us even more with the price of incarceration.

I also think all fatty foods & soft drinks should be taxed to the point that people simply can't afford them anymore. Let's make a trip to Wendy's cost $100. Let's make a can of Pepsi cost $25. The obesity & diabetes epidemics our country suffers from are caused by bad diets consisting of these types of foods. We could do a lot of good with all the new tax money & it would be for those people's own benefit, even if they're not enlightened enough to see it.

I'd also like to see property taxes in the suburbs doubled (at least) if they have less than 50% people of color & use that money to bus in kids from the inner-city to help diversify those areas (which afterall are mostly racist). Better & more fair schooling will make everyone more equal & who could argue with that?

While we're at it, why are bike riders getting a free pass? The city has to pay people to install bike racks, paint bike lanes on the streets & fund police to investigate stolen bicycles when they could be doing real police-work. These bike riders are also in direct conflict with NiceRide's revenue stream. Also, think of the cost to our society as bike riders have accidents all the time. Maybe in addition to a per mile riden tax we should also force all bike riders to carry copies of their insurance with them to prove we the taxpayers won't have to foot the bill when their reckless driving ends in an accident. Surely people who can afford $2,500 bicycles would be willing to pay their fair share?

I also think President Obama & Attorney General Eric Holder had a great idea when they suggested taxing all political dissent speech on the internet. Think what good we could do with all that money! Seriously, voicing your opposition to an unprovoked war, assassination lists & secret torture prisons is a privilege, not a right & dissent should cost you.

When we really put our minds to it I'm sure we can think of more & more things to tax, we're just not trying hard enough.

[gregm]

Just for some humor. Back when my mother was alive(God Bless Her) I took her to the Dr's. He said to her, "Estelle, you need to quit smoking".
"Mom replied, "are you trying to kill me"?

My mom was 87 at the time.

[Ghengis]

Tax the Internet!!!!

[RC01]

Originally Posted by Mason3000

I absolutely love the idea of taxing cigarettes even more. By why stop there? I think we should quadruple the tax on alcohol. Make each beer cost $25. Make a bottle of Absolute Vodka cost $125. That would really help fund schools & roads, plus drinking alcohol is a distasteful habit & I don't appreciate people when they've been drinking so I'd like to see them forced to stop. It would also reduce the health care costs for us all as drunk people litter the emergency rooms of our country & people commit criminal acts that cost us even more with the price of incarceration.

I also think all fatty foods & soft drinks should be taxed to the point that people simply can't afford them anymore. Let's make a trip to Wendy's cost $100. Let's make a can of Pepsi cost $25. The obesity & diabetes epidemics our country suffers from are caused by bad diets consisting of these types of foods. We could do a lot of good with all the new tax money & it would be for those people's own benefit, even if they're not enlightened enough to see it.

I'd also like to see property taxes in the suburbs doubled (at least) if they have less than 50% people of color & use that money to bus in kids from the inner-city to help diversify those areas (which afterall are mostly racist). Better & more fair schooling will make everyone more equal & who could argue with that?

While we're at it, why are bike riders getting a free pass? The city has to pay people to install bike racks, paint bike lanes on the streets & fund police to investigate stolen bicycles when they could be doing real police-work. These bike riders are also in direct conflict with NiceRide's revenue stream. Also, think of the cost to our society as bike riders have accidents all the time. Maybe in addition to a per mile riden tax we should also force all bike riders to carry copies of their insurance with them to prove we the taxpayers won't have to foot the bill when their reckless driving ends in an accident. Surely people who can afford $2,500 bicycles would be willing to pay their fair share?

I also think President Obama & Attorney General Eric Holder had a great idea when they suggested taxing all political dissent speech on the internet. Think what good we could do with all that money! Seriously, voicing your opposition to an unprovoked war, assassination lists & secret torture prisons is a privilege, not a right & dissent should cost you.

When we really put our minds to it I'm sure we can think of more & more things to tax, we're just not trying hard enough.

If you aren't joking, most of these ideas are absolutely insane. And just because suburbs are mostly white doesn't make them racist. If an area was mostly black would it be called racist or diverse?? I have met plenty of people here from various races that grew up in the suburbs and loved them. And schools don't need to be diversified. It's not like the suburbs refuse to educate anyone who isn't white. They are fine just the way they are and what you're proposing would just drag down the standards at good schools. Instead, they should focus on improving inner-city schools like they have been.

[todd00]

I think they should be taxing alcohol at the same rate. But that wouldn't be popular. The smoker maybe cutting his own life short but the guy that chooses to drink and drive is a much bigger public risk. Funny the smokers are the group to target and yet there is this push to make pot legal, which I think smells putrid as well. I would guess that no matter how much extra revenue was collected from increased taxes on cigs, booze and pot, they would still be finding an excuse to raise property taxes. I certainly doubt property taxes would go down any. And rampant waste in government would continue as is today.

RC01, Of course he is joking, being sarcastic, regarding possible new tax items.

[RedJacket]

[RC01]

Originally Posted by todd00

RC01, Of course he is joking, being sarcastic, regarding possible new tax items.

I figured, but you never know with some people and usually when people make jokes they only write a line or two, not multiple paragraphs.

[HomeIsWhere...]

Originally Posted by todd00

I think they should be taxing alcohol at the same rate. But that wouldn't be popular. The smoker maybe cutting his own life short but the guy that chooses to drink and drive is a much bigger public risk. Funny the smokers are the group to target and yet there is this push to make pot legal, which I think smells putrid as well. I would guess that no matter how much extra revenue was collected from increased taxes on cigs, booze and pot, they would still be finding an excuse to raise property taxes. I certainly doubt property taxes would go down any. And rampant waste in government would continue as is today.

RC01, Of course he is joking, being sarcastic, regarding possible new tax items.

Well, they have to raise taxes on cigarettes because they have been very, very successful in getting many, many people to quit smoking. So gleefully, when there are no more smokers left to tax THEY will be coming to your house to start taxing some of those items that Mason3000 mentioned.

Laugh now but in a few short years it may not be so funny when they start to tax the most ridiculous things imagineable, as has been mentioned. Yeah...and I wouldn't count on too many readily visible improvements to our national, state, or local infrastructure not to mention the public education system, although they continue to raise our property taxes.

Just like making charitable contributions to organizations whose CEO's and upper management make so much money that the actual percentage of ones donation is a pittance once it gets through all the payroll and administrative costs channels. Same with taxes!

Kind of clears things up when you see so many people with the mindset of their entitlement attitudes...why bother going to school and working hard to get a decent job so you can just be taxed to oblivion.

Ahh, life in these here United States of America!

Best regards, sincerely

HomeIsWhere...

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by C-Chelle

Spoken like a true non-smoker. hahahaha!!! Tell you what, I will come live with you until I break the habit, you can deal with my moods, that way, I won't loose any friends while I quit.

By that standard.... if you don't like the growth downtown because of traffic and parking conditions (as seen in another thread), take a bus. Hell, sold my car, doesn't have an affect on me so I guess I should go vote for more skyscrapers, condos and apartments downtown right? Let parking get to 15.00 an hour like in NYC. The logic of some people boggle the mind .

No, I earlier acknowledged that it's tough to quit. But people DO manage to do it, and maybe if the financial pain gets to be too much then more people will go through that pain. It's exactly the addictive quality of tobacco that is the reason I'm fine with higher taxes; yes, it's tough on people who are already smoking, and yeah, that's too bad, but it seems like a very good incentive to prevent new people from taking up the habit. It's tough to get addicted if you don't even start!

And FWIW, I do take the bus, I have no problem with expensive parking downtown (and think parking should be carefully managed -- definitely a fan of Shoup), and am thrilled about all the skyscrapers, condos, and apartments coming in downtown, even if I personally will not likely be living in them. Not sure what any of that has to do with smoking or taxes on cigarettes.

The problem with smoking is that it doesn't have any redeeming good qualities that improve things for society as a whole. Drinking alcohol in moderation doesn't hurt anyone and for most people isn't addictive; there's even some evidence that it can have health benefits. Although booze is also taxed, and like smoking, it's one that can be avoided if you don't drink. Or brew your own. Just like you can always grow your own tobacco -- a bigger hassle, to be sure, but you could probably save a lot of money. I know for booze you can make a fairly large quantity for personal consumption; I think it's the same for tobacco.

Life isn't fair. Lots of things are taxed. I think often some of the anti-smoking laws themselves are completely out of hand (like banning smoking in your own car in county parking lots), but sorry, I'm not convinced that high taxes on cigarettes are themselves a problem.