Posted by Nicole on 11/5/2009, 8:12 am
67.87.109.185
State governments continue to raise taxes on cigarettes, all the while claiming they are doing so to stop people from picking up the habit, and to get smokers to quit once and for all. This is BS and we all know it. But let's take a hypothetical look at what would happen if their "plan" worked and everyone in the world, or at least the US, quit smoking.
The first thing that would happen is small convenience stores would go out of business. Maybe not the big ones, but the stores that sell only gas and cigarettes are gone. The tobacco states crash and burn, because all the corporate taxes paid by PM USA, RJR, etc., stop coming in. How many workers at the cigarette factories are out of a job? Lots. That's not good for the economy, just ask Michigan. It doesn't stop there, though. John Deere is suddenly selling fewer tractors because the (former) tobacco farmers don't need them. In fact, if those farmers can't switch to a different crop fast enough, they're gone, too. The manufacturer who sells parts to John Deere so they could build their tractors sees his orders dry up, and that company has to lay off most or all of its workers. It keeps going.
The government, aided by the antis, says any loss of tax revenue will be made up by reduced health care costs, since no one will get sick from smoking. Does anyone really think the money saved in healthcare will offset the massive amounts of tax revenue lost, new unemployment claims, and formerly-stable families applying for welfare? Does even the most delusional anti really believe that?
If you're gonna raise taxes on cigarettes, just come out and state your true reasons. Smokers are addicted and find it difficult, at best, to stop smoking, and some of us have no desire to quit anyway. You're taking advantage of a "captive" population. That's the true reason for tax increases, isn't it?
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