[Dale Cooper]

Local ABC reported that she wants to add another $1 to Indian tribes for the sale of cigs (I assume per pack) to 'level the playing field' on cigarette prices.

I guess that incredibly hideous woman didn't get the memo that Republicans are supposed to be about LESS government, not MORE.

I am a pretty hard core Republican, but I know stupid when I see it. She didn't get my vote because she voted for SCHIP (another cig tax, federal level).

She's about as conservative as the potted plant on my porch. She's as big government as they come.

[StillwaterTownie]

She also signed to raise the cost of getting a drivers license by around 33%. But I expect Gov Fallin to easily win reelection. She is extremely well liked and charmed by most Oklahomans, and the Democrats will not be able to find a candidate with enough appeal to run against her. However what formidable opposition she has may come from her own party from Oklahoma House Speaker T. W. Shannon, who is rumored to be thinking about running against her. Just how far to the right Oklahoma wishes to become may be decided at the polls.

Republicans need to find a new sin tax, like by getting it through legalizing marijuana. Or at the very least, make pot smokers pay into the justice system, rather than being a burden on it, by decriminalizing it, done by issuing, say, a $250 misdemeanor ticket for every possession.

[linicx]

Pot is a fine line to walk. If you decriminalize it for medical use - as CA did - you can bag big bucks. One CA shop owner pays over $900,000 annual state and federal taxes to legally sell it. If you decriminalize X amount for personal use, it is not crime to have it or smoke it.

All states cherry pick and add extra taxes: liquor, tobacco, cellphones, satellite tv. Cable and telephone add below the line items-for-profit such as access line recovery fees, plus a buck here and there for inside wiring and modem rental. It is all USA specific.

Weak state commerce commissions and public utility boards are why horribly slow broadband and a dsl phone can cost Americans nearly $90 per month with tax. Value added taxes that fill state coffers hurt those who can least afford it. Here is one example. Illinois monthly smartphone tax is nearly 25% - without the additional monthly 7-9% local tax the city can charge.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Dale Cooper

Local ABC reported that she wants to add another $1 to Indian tribes for the sale of cigs (I assume per pack) to 'level the playing field' on cigarette prices.

I guess that incredibly hideous woman didn't get the memo that Republicans are supposed to be about LESS government, not MORE.

I am a pretty hard core Republican, but I know stupid when I see it. She didn't get my vote because she voted for SCHIP (another cig tax, federal level).

She's about as conservative as the potted plant on my porch. She's as big government as they come.

Mary doesn't want you to smoke I guess.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

Mary doesn't want you to smoke I guess.

And smokers won't like it because she wants people to vote on giving cities rights to regulate smoking at the local level.

[StillwaterTownie]

Gov. Fallin does not want the state to mandate the requirement of storm shelters in all public schools. Sounds to me like a good idea to avoid making government smaller, while hopefully not putting the state in the position of being asked to use school funding to help pay to build storm shelters. To bad how leaders at the state level feel Oklahoma is too poor in state funding and in compassion to help protect children when they are most vulnerable to serious harm.

[Zachj7]

Meh, the cost smokers have on the health care system is through the roof. It costs billions and billions in health care costs. Plus its disgusting, bad for our children, and kind of stupid. I know i'll get a ton of crap for saying this, but it's the truth. Then again some recent studies say that smokers end up costing less to society because they die much earlier on than normal healthy people. Ironic.

Will the tax money go to the healthcare costs for smoking?

[linicx]

The true issue with the tobacco argument is that no one can prove tobacco smoke causes more problems than mold spores. Smoking is not good for the lungs, but neither is mold spores. It is something people breathe every time they walk outside and every time they open a window or a door. Mold spores can be controlled at home but not at schools, work, play or public buildings, and will improve the overall health of you and your family. .

Farmers who never smoked, factory workers who never smoked, teachers who never smoked, office workers who never smoked, doctors and nurses who never smoked and lived in smoke free homes get COPD, Fibrosis and lung cancer. None was directly caused by tobacco or second hand smoke at home.

How can that be? It is like trying to explain why four of five brothers who had similar heart issues died from cancer. None were smokers and all but one lived in a smoke free environment at home. The one who lived in a non-smoke free home did not die from a cancer.

The mother lived to age 99. The last five years she lived in a nursing home. Her retired children were by her side 21 hours every day until the end. When she was 80 she said she wanted to live to 100. When she was 98 she said she was tired and did not want to live to 100. She lived 99 years and 5 months.

You can question why life happens and get no answers. A doctor once told me if you live to age 80 you will probably die of some type of disease, but not everyone does. Science does not know why.

[armyengineer]

Originally Posted by Dale Cooper

Local ABC reported that she wants to add another $1 to Indian tribes for the sale of cigs (I assume per pack) to 'level the playing field' on cigarette prices.

I guess that incredibly hideous woman didn't get the memo that Republicans are supposed to be about LESS government, not MORE.

I am a pretty hard core Republican, but I know stupid when I see it. She didn't get my vote because she voted for SCHIP (another cig tax, federal level).

She's about as conservative as the potted plant on my porch. She's as big government as they come.

The quickest response to this issue is just to quit smoking.

Not only do you get the benefit of saving money and increased health but you take leverage away from politicians.

[okie1962]

Originally Posted by armyengineer

The quickest response to this issue is just to quit smoking.

One of these days Dale will quit smoking.