Government is messing with some of my rights again and I don't like it. First off, I don't want to quit smoking, and our teenage son doesn't smoke. Iowa wants to raise the cigarette tax by $1 a pack. Claiming it would stop children from smoking and get older smokers to quit. In my case it would get me cruising accross a bridge to save $3.80 a carton. What it would do for local convient marts, is put them out of business. So that would mean less tax monies go into the state and city coffers in two ways. I'd be buying my smokes in Illinois and Iowa would be losing $13.60 in tax per carton. It would also mean no sales tax from closed gas station type convient stores.
They say it's for the children. Do you know the number one cause of death for kids 2 to 14? It's car crashes. And 21% of these kids killed in car crashes were killed by a drunk driver. In 2004 there was a fatal drunk driving accident every 31 minutes. To find out more about the facts go to the MADD website.
The government says smoking is the number one cause of death, and I believe it is. What they don't tell us is it's not the only car in the race. In 2,000 the leading cause of death was tobacco at 435,00 deaths. Number 2 was poor diet and physical inactivity at 400,000 deaths. Alcohol deaths were 85,000; and car crashes were 43,000 deaths. There are other figures for things like microbial agents, toxic agents, incidents involving firearms, sexual behaviors and drugs.
So here we go again; it's for our health. Bull! It's because the government is losing tax money because smoking is down, and since fewer people smoke they can work the non-smokers against use. I do not litter, I do not smoke in someone else's house, and I always ask before I light up. If you don't like my habit fine. Make it illegal, don't tax me to death. Because if you tax smokers now, you will be next. I can already see an obesity tax, an alcohol tax, a trans-fat tax. You see where it could go. The state cannot make money on a tax people won't pay. And Senator Kennedy has no business telling me my habit is killing others. I believe his habit has killed more people than mine. That's my thoughts, you're welcome to post yours. Post on anything, good, bad , complaint, compliment or praise.
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10 comments:
I don't think that its your death that is concern, its those who develop COPD and linger to life and suck the health care programs dry. Smoking is now concidered to be previlant to lower-middle to lower income families, those who have no health insurance at all. That is what this is all about, keeping the health and wellfare alive for those who need it.
If it is a lower class habit then it may slow them down. This class also has a higher problem drinking rate and crime rate. This is also the group most likely to be driving without insurance. I just see other places the time spent arguing on this could be better used. I think it will do more harm than good to the state. And I was diagnosed with COPD 7 years ago. Our insurance still covers me, but it's not cheap.
Cruiser- You and I both know that smoking is a habit and addiction. Why in the world would people stand out in the eliments to toke? There are several ways to develop COPD but the first and foremost cause is first hand smoke. Alot like crack, cigarette smokers will place all other needs second to be able to buy another pack.
True story, I was standing in line to pay for gas and there was an elderly woman with o2 at the front counter. This woman had the attendant carry her purchase to her handicap van. Three large boxes of off brand cigarette cartons, that purchase was just short of $600. What was the point of that? And yes, she had Scott County plates. With this kind of habit out there, social security will fail to exist for those who really need it without a large increase in our childrens taxes.
Thankfully, I quit smoking years ago, but my sister (who lives in Moline) is still a fiend.
Every week when she gets her paycheck she makes the trek over the I-74 bridge to buy ciggies in IA (she's also a Marshall's fan).
It seems only fair that IL should recoup some of the lost revenue from people who have been going to IA to buy cheaper cigs.
Of course, knowing my sister, she'd drive to Wisconsin, Missouri or Indiana if she thought she could save a few bucks feeding her habit. She might have to spend $20 in gas, but by golly she'll save on her beloved cigs!
what is COPD?
I don't think that the $1 thing is going to run many Iowa stores out of business. There still seem to be plenty of convenience stores on the Illinois side, even though their cigs currently have a higher cost difference than ours than ours will with theirs after the tax increase. I suppose they are taking advantage of people who don't think ahead, or are too lazy to drive to Iowa to get their cigarettes.
COPD is cronic obstructive pulmonary disease. I guess it's been so long since I had to give up something to keep smoking, I forgot about those that do. Like I said in an earlier post the ones most impacted by this will be the low income smokers. They are the ones without the means to get cheaper cigarettes. And yes, the are addictive. I'll quit when I'm ready but for now they're my only vice.
You're right QCI, blogging can get kind of addictive too. But sometimes in the only place to find out what's really happening. I didn't remove your post, it's not there now, but I thought I'd reply anyway.
I removed it because stupid blogspot posted with my GMail login name again.
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