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April 2, 2009
More Taxes!
Now at your local tobacconist:
MORE TAXES!!!!!
To be more precise there is a new Federal cigar tax being levied on all cigars. Relax, it’s only a 900% increase. 40.29 cents per stick is now what you will need to pay to enjoy your lifestyle. And that’s just the Fed’s confiscation; the states are piling on as well. New tobacco taxes by state can be found here: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/Tobacco_Tax_bill09.htm
Of course, if it’s for a “good” cause, S-CHIP, who could argue? For those of you not privy to this latest expansive government giveaway, S-CHIP is free healthcare for “needy children”. “Children”, by the way now defined by the new administration as up to 30-year-olds still living at home. What, 30, still at home?! Get your ass out of my house and get a job!
What’s the cost to “insure” a child through this US Government freebee? A cool $4,600 per kid. I’m a small business owner and I pay $5,500/year for a family of seven. Must be some program the Feds are offering. But the lawmakers are unconcerned about the cost, because YOU are picking up the tab. Come to think of it, why should I be paying that much for someone else’s kids when I cannot afford to do so for my own? The new administration is into punishing the productive element of society and begrudging us producers a portion of our leisure pursuit. But,
Look on the bright side, we have all arrived financially. Yes, it’s true. Congratulations to all of us who are partakers in the dark blue hue of fine cigar smoke. Remember, President Barak Obama emphatically stated that “no one making less than $250,000 a year will pay more taxes if [Barak is] elected!” So, my hat’s off to all of you. I think I’ll go and light up to celebrate my newfound financial freedom.
Sarcasm aside, how much taxation is too much taxation? When does the spending stop? Do we really need to be providing healthcare, or anything, to the willfully unproductive? Next thing they will do is tell us what kind of cars we can drive and how much income we are allowed to earn.
Those hardest hit by this tax will no doubt be those rolling cigars in Florida and the small business operator trying to make a go of it. The targeting of smokers, at some point, should get old. The problem is we are no longer outraged by the targeting of small minorities.
When someone gets steamrolled by government, part of the population now cheers with glee, the other part sits quietly and watches. What happened to individual liberty? Where did American’s belief in limited self government go? When did success become unappealing? When did the symbols of success become so distasteful that ever increasing punitive taxes are encouraged by some and accepted by most? For those of you not asking “Who is John Galt?” you soon will be.
Oh, and don’t think this is going to be the last of the cigar tax increases. “But this bill is only a first step. The way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through (S)CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American.” President Barak Obama, February 4, 2009
I’m not thinking this is the “Hope & Change” the masses expected. Barak and his congressional buddies originally wanted a $3.00/cigar tax levied. The 900% tax increase on your cigar is only a down payment on Barak’s commitments.
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