New smoker tax

I am sick and tired of you morons trying too tax the tobacco industry to death!!!
Yes I smoke and it was started when the government allowed all these ads EVERYWHERE!!!
What the hell are you going to do when there is no more smokers left but your financial woes keep rising!!
SHOW some damn fiscal responsibility and wise UP!!!!
Maybe if we got the lawyers out of the loop our woes would be lessened as I think the attorneys are making a mockery of the consitution,I feel all they care about is either monetary gains or making a name for themselves.
This is not what our forefathers envisioned!!!
Obesity in America is rising at an alarming rate and will continue to do so unless we do something about THAT!!! Health concerns about that are also on the rise!!
How about we tax every american overweight for every pound they are!!!
Hell,I think we could be in the plus column in a couple of years if we did that!!!
My 2 cents
Marty

Our state legislature is considering a bill to tax candy. I suggested not calling it a "sin tax" as they do for alcohol and tobacco. Instead it should be a "naughty tax".



. . . and the serious discussion has been around candy, pop being among the causes of obesity and higher medical costs.

This thread probably belongs in the "I like to complain about everything forum" but yes, I think they are trying to tax and put the tobacco industry out of business. As an ex 2-3 pack-a-day smoker (quit when I was 35 years old back in 1983), I am all for it.

Here's my rants for you:

- I watched my smoking father die of lung cancer, He died 30 years ago as vast majority of the smokers in his generation did. The ones that did not smoke, they lasted much longer, some are still with us. I have watched my sister and her various ills brought on by a life of smoking. It's not nice to see someone struggling that way.

- Myself, well, I don't know about you but I was addicted to the things but never actually truly enjoyed a smoking a cigarette. Oh, I think the tobacco companies had me thinking that someday that magical, satisfying puff might happen, the one I saw in the ads where the actor looked like it was so enjoyable... But the reality was it was just a bad habit that meant my mouth tasted foul and I was short of breath. Quitting smoking was the best thing I ever did for myself.

I have no problem with a Sugar Tax or a Fat Tax. Hey why not...

- It's not the lawyers who are behind trying to stamp out the tobacco companies, the tobacco companies have far more money for lawyers than the anti-smoking groups can ever hope for. It's the lawyers and the politicians on the payroll of the tobacco companies that keep them in business.

- I saw an interesting documentary a couple of years ago on a University Television Station. The tobacco companies knew long before the government that cigarettes were killing people. They believed however that they could identify the toxic agents, thought to be nicotine and "tar" (among others) and that by reducing these agents, they could make cigarettes that were far less less harmful. And though that premise does seem reasonable, apparently it is not the case, the magic cigarette they were searching for does not exist.

So, I am comfortable with raising taxes on cigarettes, with instituting new taxes on sugar and fat, I doubt very much our forefathers saw the day when our nation would be so wealthy that over abundance was one of it's major problems. I doubt very much that they would have expected that people would continue with risky behaviors knowing of the risks.

But that is the world we live in...

Jon

I'm a clove smoker. I know I need to quit, but I'm afraid to now with all the stress I'm under. The ironic thing is that I would save money, which is what I'm worried the most about right now.
The government has already made cloves illegal. I guess that's their way of heping a brother out. I can't stand regular cigarettes. :S

I used to smoke. Quit a long time before the prices went crazy. Now that they are, anyone who continues to smoke is either rich or they must be crazy!
I feel sorry for those who have yet to quit because the time has come to "Just do it!"

Cigarettes kiled my youngest brother (46), my sister (62) and my mother (OK, 83 is a good long life, but they still killed her.) I quit 35 years ago and now I hate those things; as far as I'm cocerned they should be taxed out of existence or banned outright. There's a good bilboard here in South Texas: "I'll quit when cigarettes hit $____ a pack." Quit your bitchin'
Bob