BREAKING NEWS: Ark. gov. rallies support for tobacco tax hike

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe and legislative leaders rallied Monday for an $87.8 million hike in cigarette and chewing tobacco taxes, telling supporters they face difficult odds and well-funded opposition from tobacco lobbyists.

A link to the entire story by By Andrew DeMillo of the Associated Press is attached...

[What-]

I'm not sure what I think about this issue...

[len117]

He won't raise near the money he thinks he will.

People will just go to Missouri, Oklahoma, La.

I haven't bought any tobacco in Arkansas in ages. Why should the so called sinners pay for most everything?

Tax the churchs, if we need money for health facilties that bad then the churchs are not doing their jobs in the first place.
They are supposed to help the poor and sick just like everyone else, but they keep all their money tied up in building those unsightly mega-churches so they can appear to be upper class.

[What-]

len117 wrote:

He won't raise near the money he thinks he will.
People will just go to Missouri, Oklahoma, La.
I haven't bought any tobacco in Arkansas in ages. Why should the so called sinners pay for most everything?
Tax the churchs, if we need money for health facilties that bad then the churchs are not doing their jobs in the first place.
They are supposed to help the poor and sick just like everyone else, but they keep all their money tied up in building those unsightly mega-churches so they can appear to be upper class.

But most people in Arkansas don't live a convienent distance from a border state (and even of the ones that do most of them don't drive there to get cigarettes).

But cigarette smoking costs taxpayers a lot of money through health care costs and whatnot through preventable diseases and everything (and every time they raise taxes on cigarettes smoking rates go down)-- I think that that is more the rational than that it is a "sin."

I don't know what I think about this issue -- but surely you wouldn't want cigarettes to be taxed like other normal things and cost like 50 cents per pack would you?

We can't tax churches though LOL!

[len117]

What- wrote:

<quoted text>
But most people in Arkansas don't live a convienent distance from a border state (and even of the ones that do most of them don't drive there to get cigarettes).
But cigarette smoking costs taxpayers a lot of money through health care costs and whatnot through preventable diseases and everything (and every time they raise taxes on cigarettes smoking rates go down)-- I think that that is more the rational than that it is a "sin."
I don't know what I think about this issue -- but surely you wouldn't want cigarettes to be taxed like other normal things and cost like 50 cents per pack would you?
We can't tax churches though LOL!

If the price was right on the product, then a tax wouldn't hurt, but tobacco is so over priced, many people can't afford it with just a small tax on it.

[What-]

len117 wrote:

<quoted text>
If the price was right on the product, then a tax wouldn't hurt, but tobacco is so over priced, many people can't afford it with just a small tax on it.

Yeah -- they are kind of getting people to smoke less if not quite altogether by raising the price (because of the enourmous costs to taxpayers for massive amounts of preventable smoking related diseases and all of that).

Is it illegal to grow tobacco?

Or do we not have the proper climate to grow it or something like that?

I always wondered why no one grows it...

[What-]

len117: It will get even more ridiculous seeming if the National tax hike on cigarettes (to pay for health care) passes also...

Here is the site of the American Lung Association's action center in support of the federal tax increase on cigarettes in the current SCHIP legislation:

http://lungaction.org/campaign/SCHIP_2009

According to it they are going to add another $0.61 per pack federal tax hike (and it will very very likely pass).

[len117]

What- wrote:

<quoted text>
Yeah -- they are kind of getting people to smoke less if not quite altogether by raising the price (because of the enourmous costs to taxpayers for massive amounts of preventable smoking related diseases and all of that).
Is it illegal to grow tobacco?
Or do we not have the proper climate to grow it or something like that?
I always wondered why no one grows it...

Yes it is legal to grow it, but you have to grow the plants until they are a certain age, then transplant them, cure them after they are matured.
The curing process is lenghty, and they must be dried on racks. It's just not feasible to grow your own. It has to be shredded also.
Some people who chew grow their own, which is not that much work.

[len117]

What- wrote:

len117: It will get even more ridiculous seeming if the National tax hike on cigarettes (to pay for health care) passes also...
Here is the site of the American Lung Association's action center in support of the federal tax increase on cigarettes in the current SCHIP legislation:
http://lungaction.org/campaign/SCHIP_2009
According to it they are going to add another $0.61 per pack federal tax hike (and it will very very likely pass).

Yes, it is ridiculous, getting hit from state and federal. Guess I will smoke until I can't afford to, lol. Hopefully they can find another source of revenue after they have stopped everyone.

[What-]

len117 wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes, it is ridiculous, getting hit from state and federal. Guess I will smoke until I can't afford to, lol. Hopefully they can find another source of revenue after they have stopped everyone.

Yeah...I don't smoke so I have no idea what a pack of cigarettes costs now -- but if both the State and Federal legislation passes then the cost per pack will raise $1.17 per pack (and whatever border state that you buy them in is probably proposing similar legislation).

[What-]

len117 wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes it is legal to grow it, but you have to grow the plants until they are a certain age, then transplant them, cure them after they are matured.
The curing process is lenghty, and they must be dried on racks. It's just not feasible to grow your own. It has to be shredded also.
Some people who chew grow their own, which is not that much work.

I'm surprised that it is legal to grow.

I would think that the process that you described would be that bad (especially considering what tobacco costs)-- the process that you descibed must be harder that it sounds though because I have never heard of anyone growing it themselves.

[America 1st]

I wonder why the ACLU hasn't filed suit. I mean really, this law unfairly targets a particular group - smokers. It violates their rights to equal protection under the law, due process, and privacy rights. And for those homosexual smokers, it discriminates against them based on sexual orientation.

Come on people, rise up against government tyranny!

[What-]

America 1st wrote:

I wonder why the ACLU hasn't filed suit. I mean really, this law unfairly targets a particular group - smokers. It violates their rights to equal protection under the law, due process, and privacy rights. And for those homosexual smokers, it discriminates against them based on sexual orientation.
Come on people, rise up against government tyranny!

That apparent parody of the argument against the banning of unmarried couples from adopting is great (and utterly innacurate).

[jimbo]

I'm tired of of hearing about the money being spent on health care issues. I do smoke and wish everyone in the usa could quit so that all you anti smokers would see tax increases that would be made to make up for the amount of money the government raises from the taxes they get already from us. I feel that they would have to raise all taxes to everyone to make up for their loses of tax on the cigarettes

[Kitty Litter]

"And for those homosexual smokers, it discriminates against them based on sexual orientation."

Huh? How's that. America 1st? How/when did one's sexuality become a part of the issue?

"....all you anti smokers would see tax increases that would be made to make up for the amount of money the government raises from the taxes they get already from us."

So we should be grateful, then, that your filthy and unhealthy habit is making life easier for the rest of us? You're amazing, jimbo!