The Hypocrisy of Sin Taxes?
Per Unstable Isotope, Sen. Bonini says it’s hypocritical to tell people not to smoke yet raise money by taxes. He misses the point. I shall relay a scene from the West Wing.
CJ Craig, the White House press secretary is talking to an undersecretary of state on Air Force One about free trade with China. The undersecretary says we know the Chinese will have dissidents making sneakers whether we sell them cheeseburgers or not, so why not sell them cheeseburgers. The point is that we know people are going to smoke whether we tell them to stop or not, so why not tax them, which will have the affect of raising money for the state and the added affect of perhaps getting people to stop smoking.
I agree, and it’s been shown that every time taxes are raised, more people quit. There is some point where they get too high, when the people who can’t quit go underground for them.
No, the point is don’t raise taxes when you have been growing government at a steady 6-8% clip for almost 20 years.
Mike Protack
You gotta love the thought process – if we cant legally make them stop we will make it unaffordable, while profiting on their refusal to walk the line. Raising money for the state should not be the goal at this point. Keeping money from the state and allowing us to spend and invest as we see fit is the goal.
That’s your goal. Our goal is making life better for everyone.
Interesting stat, what else has been growing steadily for the past 20 years? Oh yeah, the percentage of the state population voting for Democratic candidates. That perhaps might indicate that public services are popular and that people want more of them. Food for thought.
I look at it differently. Our government will give you a tax credit if you buy an electric car, but President Obama is trying to get crap-and-trade passed to raise the price of electricity! Rather than the government taxing an activity it’s trying to discourage, like smoking, now the Democrats want to tax an activity they’re trying to encourage!
Many people, perhaps including Dana, are unaware that cap and trade has been in effect for about 10 years to control sulfur dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion, with 99+% compliance and at 25% of the cost originally estimated by the EPA.
Due to the growing global warming phenomenon, we have no choice but to cap and trade carbon dioxide emissions, even if it does cost us some during the intermediate period while we switch to green energy sources.
I’ve observed that those opposed to cap and trade are usually the same folks in denial of the science of global warming.
Man made global warming is not a science, it is a religion at best and a fraud at worst.
…usually the same folks in denial of the science of global warming.
Problem is, there is science on both sides of the arguments, but as in politics, everyone that knows not-a-much about the technical detail runs to one or the other poles (as in polarity) and squawks like they have their PhD, but yet don’t know much about it. Case in point (and apologies for being harsh), we have Perry and “farsider” throwing their unqualified allegations against the opposition. It’s also why we will barely move on the topic in the big picture, due to the polarizing stalemate.
It’s quite interesting to read “expert” opinions from both sides of the argument.
We should tax fast food, soda, candy, etc. The surgeon general , on the AMA home page, calls obesity the number one health issue in America, killing more people than all cancers and accidents combined. Some people are always saying that ‘smokers cause our health insurance costs to rise.’ Well, guess what….there’s a hell of a lot more fat people than smokers. Shouldn’t they pay their ‘fair share?’
Actually, we save a lot by not paying as much Social Security and Medicare benefits to fat people and smokers.
(joke but with a grain of truth)
We should tax people when they tune in to Limbaugh. That in itself is one of the worst sins on humanity.
Rush is fat and smokes. I thank him for his tax contributions, and I wish him the best of luck achieving the average lifespan.
Don’t cha think smokers will also be a bigger drain on Medicare than a non-smoker ?
Has anyone heard of a study that weighs the income from cigarrette tax with the cost of taking care of cigarretee related illness?
I’m curious what amount taxes would need to be before it neutraled out the drain of smokers on the healthcare system…
So don’t cover smokers on Medicare.
Why don’t we have the tobacco companies fund “national” healthcare? They make big profits and their product contributes to the high cost of medical care.
h., because we already settled with them, then the states got the money and pissed it away.
EXACTLY!!!!
We know people are going to commit (murder, rape, whatever) whether it is legal or not, so why not just legalize it and tax it?
Heck, here’s an idea — let’s just slap a $250 a procedure tax on abortion! You guys surely wouldn’t object to that sin tax, would you?
Best of all, we could use it to fund sex education!