cigarette prices goin up AGAIN

hell i quit when they went over two dollars over 10 yrs or so..refused to pay so much

 

i used to do that. liked it waaay better, plus it was extremely cheap. there's some pretty good tasting stuff out there. but i quit smoking about a year ago:up:

 

i do what the government wants me to, im a good citizen.

 

He's going to be the one screwed more than any other tobacco user... RYO guys are going to be paying A TON more now.

 

"For the most part, connoisseurs of cigars tend to be in a higher socio-economic class anyway," he said. "It's hard to imagine this will have an effect on them."

I know this fool ain't talking about me. He needs to look in this connoisseur's driveway.

 

What they should do is eliminate the tax on cigs but refuse to care for the health problems they cause including cancer for those that don't have insurance. Your insurance should be a lot higher as well if you're a proven smoker. Actually you shouldn't be able to get insurance coverage to cover cancer!

 

Please feel free to prove the health problem was caused by cigs and not...say...asbestos, or radon...or carbon. So many things it could be. This belongs in the dungeon.

 

i call bullsH&t on that, while your at it, deny people medical coverage for racing motorcyles

 

It's difficult when you see folks living to be in their 90's after a lifetime of smoking. George burns was 100 yrs old and buried with cigars in his breast pocket. Methinks it's susceptible genes as much as the actual substance. Eugenics FTW!

 

Everything you do will eventually kill you.

My insurance is higher since I told them I smoked.

My life insurance went up when I told them I raced.

 

Life is a fatal STD.

 

I even pay into the CAT fund but can't collect if I am hurt in a motorcycle accident being that I am an irresponsible biker type dude.

 

Slippery slope you are on there Joe. How about all those people that don't like sportbikes or think they are too dangerous? Higher taxes on motorcycles? Fast food is less popular than it was 20 years ago. Fat tax for your Big Mac? Just because something is unpopular does not make it right to make it subject to punitive levels of taxes. If we started charging a 25% tax on all food for people who were obese, the world would be up in arms. You can't justify something that is inherently unfair with an argument that "you'll be better off if you just avoid the tax by not purchasing the product".

 

As you know NC has some of the lowest cigarette taxes in the country and one of the highest fuel tax rates. These two are linked and I've paid a premium for regular unleaded for years so smokers could enjoy cheap cigarettes. Pardon me if I'm happy the smokers are now feeling my pain. I'm not in favor of exploiting Sin Taxes in general.

 

I'm not sure you can say that fuel prices and state cigarette taxes are directly linked. Cigarette taxes are low in NC because it's a major tobacco producing state. Fuel taxes are high because NC does not have an ad valorem tax (or other tax that would generate equivalent revenue). Hypothetically, fuel taxes could be reduced with an increase in state cigarette taxes (which would need to be in addition to the new federal tax which has nothing to do with it), but I don't think it is a cause/effect relationship.

GA has a lower fuel tax, but I have to write a check every year on my birthday for hundreds of dollars because the state of GA taxes the value of my car (and my R6) regardless of how much I drive. If you like more progressive taxes (I do not), the GA system works better for you; if you like consumption taxes, the NC system works better. Smokers are definitely going to be sharing your pain, but no more than any other group that is subject to new taxes. I think the government lumping on more taxes in general is something we should all be unhappy about.

 

Oh well...mail order indian reservations....

 

We're not talking about a tax on a basic human necessity or a trapping of our society. We're talking about cigarette's! You choose whether or not to smoke so by extension you choose to be taxed or not. State and Federal Governments are tossing the sofa cushions of America looking for money and smokers are the softest target. I don't buy for a second that this is the first in the wave of Sin Taxes. But more taxes are surely coming. Obviously the mismanagement of our State and Federal finances is coming due with interest and I don't expect anyone will be spared an additional tax burden.

NC sends me a property tax bill on my vehicles every year. I get consumption and progressive taxes already! The State has admitted the tax correlation between fuel and cigarette taxes. As you can imagine most in the state were fine with it.

 

I was wondering what Dan was talking about. The only difference I recall is that in NC, you paid the vehicle tax with your property tax bill and here in GA, you pay the tax when you renew your tags. The biggest difference is in the sales tax. NC used to cap the tax on a new purchase, GA does not.

 

I didn't realize that NC added your vehicles to your property taxes. Been a long time since I've lived there. That aside, I guess my point was that a lot of smokers feel that they are being unfairly dogpiled. Lots of states are also considering very large tax hikes as well which will drive the prices even higher. Georgia is among them (an additional $1 tax is proposed on top of the 37 cents already in place). No one is arguing that tobacco is a human necessity, but it's short sighted to gleefully rejoice when smokers continuously get the shaft from the government. Hopefully it won't happen with something you like to purchase just because it appears to be a soft target.

 

Did you ever think you'd see this?

NC House Nears Vote On Public Smoking Ban