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by garhkal
on Thu Apr 30, 2009 4:38 pm |
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| Well according to the radio this morning, Mississippi's legislature voted yes to add 50 cents a pack... That is 5 bucks a carton. WTF OVER! |
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garhkal
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by harleydog
on Fri May 01, 2009 3:51 pm |
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dont think that that will be the last of it. they are going to go up as much as it takes to get everyone to quit  |
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harleydog
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by dumpstermcnuggets
on Sat May 02, 2009 8:46 am |
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I really hate the politicians in the state I live in, Illinois, SO BLEEPING MUCH! Without a doubt, the politicians in this state must be among the most anti-smoking influenced of any Midwestern state legislatures. Never thought I'd say this, but I really wish Kathy Drea(the queen anti-smoking state lobbyist that got our state a draconian state ban since January 2008) would be shipped out of this state forever, and sent straight to California.
Pardon all my ranting, but I can't blame myself due to how horribly inept and stupid our state lawmakers are for wanting to pass a $1 a pack increase on cigarettes. I certainly wonder if some of them ever stop to realize how much they reinforce to people passing through this state how smoker-unfriendly this joke of a state is. (and especially versus bordering Indiana and Missouri, and Wisconsin to a lesser extent, due to the fact they've had an above average cigarette tax since Jan. 2008) Finally(and an edit), I can't believe I nearly forgot to say all the increased crime that occurs to convenience stores as a result of higher tobacco taxes, and how excessive cigarette prices already are in the city of Chicago and suburban Cook County. (NO ONE should ever have to pay $9 a pack for cigarettes, or heck 7-8 bucks in the first place!)
Whenever I succeed in moving away from Illinois for good(and my top long-term goal is to do that), I'll be more than glad if I never have to spend another penny in this hole of a state ever again. There's no way in hell I'd recommend Illinois to any smokers looking for a more tolerant state to move to, especially versus Indiana and Missouri(which no question to me, are probably the best states in the Midwest for smokers to live in). |
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dumpstermcnuggets
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by libertarian99
on Sat May 02, 2009 7:46 pm |
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garhkal wrote: Well according to the radio this morning, Mississippi's legislature voted yes to add 50 cents a pack... That is 5 bucks a carton. WTF OVER!
They must have figured out they were missing out on the gravy train all the other politicians are riding. Mississippi actually has one of the lowest cig tax rates in the nation, so you've been relatively lucky compared to other states.
Check out this Web site for a list of cig tax rates by state.
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0097.pdf |
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libertarian99
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by libertarian99
on Sat May 02, 2009 8:18 pm |
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dumpstermcnuggets wrote: I really hate the politicians in the state I live in, Illinois, SO BLEEPING MUCH! Without a doubt, the politicians in this state must be among the most anti-smoking influenced of any Midwestern state legislatures. Never thought I'd say this, but I really wish Kathy Drea(the queen anti-smoking state lobbyist that got our state a draconian state ban since January 2008) would be shipped out of this state forever, and sent straight to California.
Pardon all my ranting, but I can't blame myself due to how horribly inept and stupid our state lawmakers are for wanting to pass a $1 a pack increase on cigarettes. I certainly wonder if some of them ever stop to realize how much they reinforce to people passing through this state how smoker-unfriendly this joke of a state is. (and especially versus bordering Indiana and Missouri, and Wisconsin to a lesser extent, due to the fact they've had an above average cigarette tax since Jan. 2008)
One thing you can do that might make you feel a little better is write your state legislators and point out how their behavior is exactly like the "evil tobacco companies" they claim to despise. Every time they raise the cig tax, they emulate the tobacco companies' successful strategy of exploiting addiction to generate cash.
It's really a violation of human rights, but they don't want to see that because seeing the truth would require them to give up their source of easy funding.
The propensity for addiction is built into the human body by virtue of the brain's reward system. Eating and mating are two other activities that cause the reward center of the brain to light up, and the whole system is crucial for human survival.
People are notorious failures at modifying any behavior that involves this pleasure/reward system. All you have to do is look at the long-term failure rates for dieting, smoking cessation, and alcohol abstinence to see that.
That's why politicians can keep taxing and taxing, and most people just keep paying the tax because it's better than suffering through the misery of giving up something their body thinks is crucial for survival. The most galling part is that politicians can claim they are taking the moral high ground, and the general public applauds them for being such upstanding citizens. |
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libertarian99
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by garhkal
on Thu May 07, 2009 2:25 pm |
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| Thanks for that PDF. Now.. is that chart including the new 50cents that mississippi is putting on ciggies? If not, then i might just have to drive to either alabama or lousinia to get my smokes... |
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garhkal
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by dumpstermcnuggets
on Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:58 am |
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garhkal wrote: Thanks for that PDF. Now.. is that chart including the new 50cents that mississippi is putting on ciggies? If not, then i might just have to drive to either alabama or lousinia to get my smokes...
I hope you're traveling to Louisiana, since that state now has the cheapest cigarette tax by far of Deep South states(and other than South Carolina, where it's still 7 cents a pack). Some Louisiana anti lawmakers are still trying to raise the state's cigarette tax, and I'm hoping that they do not succeed in their selfish quest to do so. |
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dumpstermcnuggets
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by garhkal
on Tue Jul 07, 2009 5:08 pm |
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| I do. I head over to slidel when i want to get some, and grab 4-5 cartons at once. |
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garhkal
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by Randall Jett
on Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:57 pm |
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I have some information to use the next time one of the ignorant antis tell lies about how much smokers cost society. Smokers miss an average of 3.1 days of work per year vs 4.5 for non smokers.Most loss of productivity by smokers is caused by having to go outside to smoke. (Not our fault). Smokers average age of death is seventy two. Hey, we wont be a drag on social security.
Cigarette smokers pay more than $95 billion dollars in taxes a year (plus we pay sales taxes on the taxes). Add the taxes paid on smokeless tobacco, cigars, pipe and roll your own tobacco and you're well beyond $100 billion dollars. We pay the wages of more than half a million workers (who use those wages to pay their taxes) so never let anyone say smokers don't contribute to the economy or pay their own way! |
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Randall Jett
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