Federal Cigarette tax goes up 60 cents a pack on Wednesday.....

[GNBRETT]

Most people don't get it. IEATV8s is dead on. Wait til they tax gas heavily. It's coming and then the b!tching will start. The oil companies are starting to get taxed even more. They're not gonna eat it, the consumer will.

I'm not so sure I agree with that totally.... The end result of gas taxing I would agree with but it's a little more complicated then that imo.

But it doesn't change the fact that imposing higher taxes on those items that tax us heavily resulting in higher taxes due to health care costs as a result of one smoking their whole life and now suffering from cancer, lung disease, etc... at an earlier then expected age of expected health issues taxes the hell out of us resulting in us to pay for the rising medical costs.

Considering the number of Americans that have no health insurance it will be the American tax dollar that pays for the medical treatment of smoking related diseases that were in most cases completely preventable.

Taxing gas higher is not something any of us will embrace. But lets face it, oil is not an endless resource. In our lifetime there will always be plenty but at some point we will have to turn to alternative fuels because we will eventually run out.

The government has to tax us. It supports our military, highways, etc.....blablabla so taxing those items that not only cost us but kill us is really not something anyone can argue with.

To compare it to a trend that's going to lead to other items being taxed higher without any legitimate representation is not a real good comparison. A good comparison would be increasing home and car taxes. That is simply to generate more revenue to pay for what the government has wasted (like 600 billion and counting in Iraq...) while our economy is in the crapper. COSTOFWAR.COM - The Cost of War

Taxing cigarettes actually has a direct economic benifit to the tax payer because less money is spent curing or treating now lifetime tobacco related illnesses with tax dollars.

I don't think it's an accurate attack on the government on this one. Actually the post should comment on how the government actually chose to tax something that will save us money for once. It works in two ways. One, less people will be likely to ever smoke because of the cost. Two, it will pay for those who chose to subject their body to the toxins contained therein causing long term very expensive health care.

There will be plenty who live to 90 and smoked 3 packs a day. My mother is a heavy smoker. But the reality is one will die or become very ill at a much earlier age then if they choose not to smoke. I just don't see the nexus between comparing it to the taxing of other items.

 

[mikes gn]

so if it costs you $20 more a wk. big deal , just don't go out to eat every wk that will save you $20 and realy help local economy. and if you drive a car older than a 1999 your yearly licence tax should go up $995

 

[slow87]

You guys are looking at this the wrong way....this is what the government does....they stick it to a certain group of people, everybody else says "good, right on, phuck them, doesnt affect me"....well guess what? Before long it WILL roll around to something that you do....and when you dont like it everybody else that doesnt participate in your group says "good, right on, phuck them, doesnt affect me".....the government gets theirs and the majority doesn't care......thats how it works.....so when a new "environmental tax" is placed on slicks or racing gas, or FEE's to Race, dont be sore at the guy saying "good, right on, phuck them, doesn't affect me".........

That is pretty much how it works here. If people quit(over high prices) causing revenue to go down they will tax something else to make up for it. Next thing you know it will be just like Chicago where even bottled watered has a "sin" tax.