Cigarette Tax Hike (homes, taxes, living)

[bloominscranton]

I just have to pay it to live with my addiction. My most recent attempt at quitting was chantix...it didn't work and the way it effected my sleep made it impossible for me to function.

I am going to use the patch with my next attempt. I hate the fact I am addicted to cigarettes. Yet, that is exactly what it is...a legal addiction. The only reason tobacco has stayed legal is that the industry was set up by wealthy middle aged men in eras when they were the only one who matters. You can bet your booty if tobacco was used and grown by minorities it would have been made illegal right along with pot!

Addiction knows no intellect...I think staunch non-smokers really can not appreciate the hold cigarettes have. The addiction is as strong as heroin. The sad truth is many smokers do not realize how strong the drug is until they are well past the legal age of smoking. I started smoking when I was 16; back then no one cared if you were 16 and buying cigarettes. I never got carded for cigs until I was 20 years old and that was on a military base.

[Mr Yuk]

I don't mind the cigarette tax, since I quit smoking quite a while ago, but at the same time, it makes me mad because its just another way for the politicians to make money at the expense of working people. The government may say they are doing it to push people to quit, but I don't buy it....they're just trying to drain people as much as they can. What they should do with cigarette tax money is use some of it to actually help people quit....smokers should be able to get nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, or stop-smoking prescriptions free of charge. But, the tax money just goes into the politicians' black hole so the government can pi$$ it away.

This is another issue that reminds me that Obama and the democrats are leading us to a socialist society. Its scary. The government raising taxes to such a ridiculous level so that it prohibits many people from buying it is just a backdoor way of telling us what we can and can't do. Next thing they'll be doing is higher taxes on beer, food, vehicles, etc. 8 years of this and the hammer and sickle flag will be flying over this country.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by loveinbloom

back then no one cared if you were 16 and buying cigarettes.

I used to walk down to the corner store when I was about 7 or 8 and buy them for my Grandfather.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

I used to walk down to the corner store when I was about 7 or 8 and buy them for my Grandfather.

Me too. Maybe not 7 or 8, but I can remember when I was about 10 or 11 being sent down to the store for my dad's cigarettes. Nobody batted an eye back then at a kid buying smokes.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by go phillies

What they should do with cigarette tax money is use some of it to actually help people quit....smokers should be able to get nicotine patches, gun, lozenges, or stop-smoking prescriptions free of charge.

I have a better idea, let people keep their money and let them decide what to do with it.

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by go phillies

This is another issue that reminds me that Obama and the democrats are leading us to a socialist society. Its scary. The government raising taxes to such a ridiculous level so that it prohibits many people from buying it is just a backdoor way of telling us what we can and can't do. Next thing they'll be doing is higher taxes on beer, food, vehicles, etc. 8 years of this and the hammer and sickle flag will be flying over this country.

What are "laws" but "telling people what they can and can't do?" To object to being "told what to do" is sort of an infantile response to living in a civilized society. You give up the general freedom to do what you want to do to protect the rights of others, promote the common good, and so on. Granted, you can argue for more freedom, but unless your prefered state is anarchy, then at some point you're telling people "what they can and can't do." I'm okay with that because I like laws against punching people in the face, robbing their houses, and so on.

And no, the battle between socialism and capitalism has been over for quite some time now. What we're looking at generally is how to best regulate capitalism, with Republicans on one end and Democrats sometimes on the other end (and sometimes not, sadly). The goal is more of a social democracy like Western Europe. That's the model; that's what works; not Soviet-style communism. It's a major mistake to conflate the two.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by The Commish

The goal is more of a social democracy like Western Europe. That's the model; that's what works.

Well being a moderator on international forum with many other team members from the international community particularly Western Europe I think I can safely say many of them would disagree with the idea that it works. You might hear different complaints but nonetheless you'll still hear many complaints whether its medical, deadbeats taking advantage of the system or whatever you may have.

The trouble with any socialist style government is you're setting a ceiling on what people can achieve. Will we ever see a Bill Gates, Henry Ford or other notable entrepreneur that has set the world on fire under such a system? Doubtful.

[Future Trooper]

I dont know if the tax hike is a state or national thing but. Yesterday Indiana raised the tax on cigarettes by almost $.70. I didnt see a pack of cigarettes for less than $5 yesterday. Now I guess the price of cigaretts is between $3-$8

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by gdude

I dont know if the tax hike is a state or national thing but. Yesterday Indiana raised the tax on cigarettes by almost $.70. I didnt see a pack of cigarettes for less than $5 yesterday. Now I guess the price of cigaretts is between $3-$8

I believe its a national tax. I don't mind this tax because it will fund health care coverage for children. The state taxes, however, seem to go into a black hole in the general fund.

[stockproipi]

This is pure discrimination. Why don't they also tax hamburgers and sodas and other foods that cause obesities? How about alcohol?

Let do a real study on how much it really costs us between smokers who die early vs vegy eating peoples who live longer in expensive nursing homes?

I'm a smoker and proud of it.