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It's noteworthy that the new tax on tobacco has pushed a single pack of cigarettes to near $7 each. Smokeless tobacco, bulk tobacco, and virtually all tobacco products have been taxed heavily to discourage their use, sometimes more than doubling the taxes currently levied.
Maybe it's time to put a sin tax on the second greatest health problem facing Americans. Obesity.
- $96.7 billion is spent on public and private health care combined, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and each American household spends $630 a year in federal and state taxes due to smoking.
- $97.6 billion a year in lost productivity, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
I'm okay with raising the tax on tobacco to discourage usage, I only hope that the money goes into the health care budget. The medical costs listed above end up in the price WE pay for health insurance. The costs of lost productivity end up raising the prices of goods and services that WE all use.
As far as taxing unhealthy foods, that's okay, it will shift consumption from hamburger to chicken and fish. The government could tax foods based on a simple formula that measures the ratio of fat calories to total calories in an item.
Major tax increases on all forms of drinking alcohol should also follow.
Sin taxes WORK at lowering consumption of items having a negative effect on society. Imagine the costs we pay for damages caused by alcohol, not just the passive costs, but the costs of the carnage on our highways, courts, jails and lost productivity.
Last edited by Mike from back east; 06-03-2009 at 07:46 AM..
It's noteworthy that the new tax on tobacco has pushed a single pack of cigarettes to near $7 each. Smokeless tobacco, bulk tobacco, and virtually all tobacco products have been taxed heavily to discourage their use, sometimes more than doubling the taxes currently levied.
Maybe it's time to put a sin tax on the second greatest health problem facing Americans. Obesity.
In America, smoking is shunned for good reason. Since it is the leading cause of death, it is an issue that has great emphasis placed on its condemnation. While obesity falls in the second bracket, it is treated with a very sympathetic approach. Many believe the theory that it cannot be changed, so we must sympathize. The world "fat" now has sensitive connotations and is not considered politically correct. However, being called a "smoker" is still openly accepted. In comparison, smoking and obesity can both be changed through will power and work. While one is treated with sympathy, the other is treated with a sneer and detest. Voices : Americans have earned the title of 'fattest nation on Earth'
It's time we start taxing unhealthy foods that are the basis for our obese society.
I think so.. especially if and when we move toward a UHI or NHS sytem of healthcare...
It's noteworthy that the new tax on tobacco has pushed a single pack of cigarettes to near $7 each. Smokeless tobacco, bulk tobacco, and virtually all tobacco products have been taxed heavily to discourage their use, sometimes more than doubling the taxes currently levied.
Maybe it's time to put a sin tax on the second greatest health problem facing Americans. Obesity.
In America, smoking is shunned for good reason. Since it is the leading cause of death, it is an issue that has great emphasis placed on its condemnation. While obesity falls in the second bracket, it is treated with a very sympathetic approach. Many believe the theory that it cannot be changed, so we must sympathize. The world "fat" now has sensitive connotations and is not considered politically correct. However, being called a "smoker" is still openly accepted. In comparison, smoking and obesity can both be changed through will power and work. While one is treated with sympathy, the other is treated with a sneer and detest. Voices : Americans have earned the title of 'fattest nation on Earth'
It's time we start taxing unhealthy foods that are the basis for our obese society.
I agree. I smoke occasionally too. (when I'm out on the weekends).
But if you're going to make the unhealthy foods more expensive (which I have no problem) they have to have a way of making the foods that are actually good for you cheaper.
Smokeless tobacco, bulk tobacco, and virtually all tobacco products have been taxed heavily to discourage their use, sometimes more than doubling the taxes currently levied.
"More than double" LOL
You're clueless...
The tax on loose (your "bulk") tobacco increased over TWO THOUSAND PERCENT.
The SCHIP bill includes the two largest tax increases in United States history.
Yeah, a wee bit more than "double"...
These taxes were also thrown in in a last minute rewrite of the bill, on page 273 (of 285 pages). It was rushed to the floor after only one hour for comments. I'll bet you were incensed about congress passing the PATRIOT act without bothering to read it. Where's your outrage now?
You do realize that your beloved government will soon be looking to tax your Internet connection, right? How does a penny-per-meg sound to you? When that day comes, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be right here, digging up all the threads and all the posts where non-smokers were advocating draconian tax increases on cigarettes and throwing them right back in their faces in their threads proclaiming that the new Internet tax is "unfair"...
Quote:
It's time we start taxing unhealthy foods that are the basis for our obese society.
This statement is very, very scary. Thank goodness that the vast majority of Americans don't agree with this type of thinking and value their FREEDOM.
Cigarette Tax Will Affect Low-Income Americans Most
PRINCETON, NJ -- The 62-cent increase in federal cigarette taxes going into effect Wednesday is nearly three times as likely to affect low-income Americans as it is to affect high-income Americans. That's because 34% of the lowest-income Americans smoke, compared with only 13% of those earning $90,000 or more per year.
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