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. . and I have driven many times through Whitesville referred to below. If you want to see the "benefits" of coal, take a trip there. Massey's HQ isn't far away. Wonder why they don't show footage of that dying town when they proclaim how wonderful coal is.
Whitesville is another poster boy of local economic destruction due to jobs being vaporized from surface mining (a/k/a mountaintop removal) throughout West Virginia.
There is a sense of entering the twighlight zone in this once small Appalachian city, as if something far removed from the natural order of the universe occurred. An itch gnaws at the brain with this economic impossibility, being surrounded by so many major coal operations -- yet here it is in the midst of them, a ghost town. This place is merely an outer shell of a dead city. Like some vampiric creature, greed has literally drained the life from it.
Surface mining doesn't create jobs, it destroys them.
Sure glad Obama is sticking to his word to not tax the poor. Since WV has such a large number of smokers thought this would be worthy to share.
February 4: ..... Obama [signs] into law a 156 percent increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco, a hike of 61 cents per pack, to take effect April 1. Obama's First 50 Days: Devastating to Taxpayers: PRNewswire Business News - MSN Money (http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/category/topicarticle.aspx?feed=PR&Date=20090310&ID=9684293 &topic=TOPIC_ECONOMIC_INDICATORS&isub=3 - broken link)
Also worth reading since it affects so many of us:
Obama's First 50 Days: Devastating to Taxpayers: PRNewswire Business News - MSN Money (http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/category/topicarticle.aspx?feed=PR&Date=20090310&ID=9684293 &topic=TOPIC_ECONOMIC_INDICATORS&isub=3 - broken link)
Smokers aren't taxed enough, IMO. The public health concerns alone are undertaxed. I grew up in a house of smokers and I now have a life-long asthma problem because of it. I can't do anything that will make me even slightly out of breath when the temperature is below 25 degrees now unless I want to spend the next 6 hours feeling like I'm breathing through a straw. I grew up on welfare and their use of tobacco essentially cost the state tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, based upon all of the ER visits, checkups, medications, etc that I had to deal with.
Frankly, I hope Obama will tax the **** so high that nobody can afford them ever again. Or even better, just outlaw it. I despise smokers. The *******s really don't know how they are endangering people around them. They defend their pathetic little addictions blindly. To me, they are no better than crack addicts. They don't give a damn about their health, their childrens health...anything....as long as they have the "freedom" to get their fix. I rejoice every time I hear that cigarette taxes are raised. And the whining of smokers about how they are taxed is like music to my ears.
I suppose I'm a little biased.
And that article is idiotic. Obama was clearly talking about increases in taxes within the confines of income taxes. I don't even like Obama, but, come on, be honest. And then blaming the stock market's fall - which has been in the making for months - on Obama....it's just stupid. This is stretching the truth to levels that just embarrass the writer of this article. And it's stupid from a propaganda standpoint, too. The markets will likely reestablish themselves by the next election cycle naturally. If they blame Obama for the loses NOW that probably aren't his fault...they then have to credit him for the inevitable comeback that also probably won't be because of his policies.
Last edited by WVUPharm2007; 03-10-2009 at 11:03 PM..
Smokers aren't taxed enough, IMO. The public health concerns alone are undertaxed. I grew up in a house of smokers and I now have a life-long asthma problem because of it. I can't do anything that will make me even slightly out of breath when the temperature is below 25 degrees now unless I want to spend the next 6 hours feeling like I'm breathing through a straw. I grew up on welfare and their use of tobacco essentially cost the state tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, based upon all of the ER visits, checkups, medications, etc that I had to deal with.
Frankly, I hope Obama will tax the **** so high that nobody can afford them ever again. Or even better, just outlaw it. I despise smokers. The *******s really don't know how they are endangering people around them. They defend their pathetic little addictions blindly. To me, they are no better than crack addicts. They don't give a damn about their health, their childrens health...anything....as long as they have the "freedom" to get their fix. I rejoice every time I hear that cigarette taxes are raised. And the whining of smokers about how they are taxed is like music to my ears.
I suppose I'm a little biased.
And that article is idiotic. Obama was clearly talking about increases in taxes within the confines of income taxes. I don't even like Obama, but, come on, be honest. And then blaming the stock market's fall - which has been in the making for months - on Obama....it's just stupid. This is stretching the truth to levels that just embarrass the writer of this article. And it's stupid from a propaganda standpoint, too. The markets will likely reestablish themselves by the next election cycle naturally. If they blame Obama for the loses NOW that probably aren't his fault...they then have to credit him for the inevitable comeback that also probably won't be because of his policies.
You are so right. I'm a smoker. I've been trying to quit for two years. I did chantix. wellbutrin. (sp?) tried the losenges and the gum.
I don't use crack...whatever that is... but I can't imagine anything harder to quit than smoking cigarettes!
I don't smoke around my kids. I don't smoke in the house and I don't smoke in the car.
That bill right now about drug testing people that get welfare benefits? If it would help people quit smoking cigarettes, I'd support it!
My mother has smoked ever since I can remember. She quit immediately when she found out she was pregnant with me, which was 3 months. She also went from regulars to lights. She isn't a heavy smoker, maybe a 1/2 pack or so a day, still my father and her have been hounding her to quit for years. She hasn't. When I was maybe 15 or so I started smoking myself. I would steal them from my mom, or occasionally purchase my own brand at a store I knew didn't check for ID's, or have my friends buy them for me. Once I was 16 and have my own means of driving, and my own Jeep and privacy my smoking habit greatly increased. I didn't go to the school closest to my house, I had an hour bus ride over to Harman to attend school. Driving from Bowden if I was really late I could get there in 15 minutes, but safely, well I guess it would have taken 25 minutes or so. I just know it was long enough to smoke two cigarettes. Then during lunch I would out to my car after I ate and smoke, and occasionally throughout the day I got stressed I would go out in my car or near the school buses where even some of the teachers went to smoke.
By 17 and 18 I began to get sloppy with my habit, my parents would notice ash on my carpet in the Jeep or find my pack in my backpack. My obsession with cars and always getting a new one, which changed every week, was something my father saw and took advantage of. He basically bought me a new car on the grounds that I would stop smoking. I did the Nicorette patch, even though I didn't think it was that hard to quit. I still occasionally smoke when I go to a bar or in a social situation.
Enough though on how minors fall susceptible to smoking. ha ha Taxes are the only proven way to curb tobacco usage. It is the only known deterrent for underage use especially. If you can't afford them then you will not be able to smoke or chew tobacco. I agree with WVUPharm. Tax away. The financial burden the tobacco industry adds to health care in America is ridiculous. It also robs us of thousands of people ever year from a horribly painful death. It pollutes the air, pollutes the ground and our water systems.
Remember Obama himself was a smoker up until him campaign, and its been reported that he is still battling his urges and occasionally slips up. Perhaps he is hoping to keep the younger generations of going through the same struggles he has went through, or worse.
I maybe wrong here, but I am under the impression that Obama did not quit smoking, he would not allow any photos of him smoking during the campaign. In his interview with Katie she asked about the smoking and how it was coming along, the quitting. His response was he did not want to talk about it.
My Mother is a heavy smoker, she is 70 and she will die from this, higher taxes on cigs, she will cut her spending in other ways to be able to afford them. Sad but oh so true, and I doubt she will not be the only one!
Have you heard about the Tea Parties? Looks like it is hitting in 2 ways.
Posts all over the net are asking people to send a teabag to govt on April 1 (so arrive by April 15) to show displeasure with the economic proposals. But some suggest just sending the label instead cuz teabag will be thrown out cuz of security.
Then there are Tea Parties being organized for April 15. Peaceful rallies to show govt that we do not support their economic plans. New American Tea Party
It's called the Obama Deception but it is not what you expect by the name. It is bi-partisan. It is not a bash Obama piece but rather a "see the reality behind gov" piece. It goes far beyond anything under Obama's leadership.
I don't know what to think about it. My instinct is to say it's ridiculous but it sure is jarring. All I can say for sure is that they certainly make an interesting arguement by connecting the dots of our US history and events.
The film is long - about 2 hours. It's a film you can listen to, don't have to actually sit and watch/look at. I listened to it while doing some mindless tasks.
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