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Originally Posted by Freiwillige
On February 4th President Obama signed legislation designed to provide health insurance to uninsured children in low-income families, which will be funded by a 62 cent increase in the federal cigarette tax per pack . This will increase the federal cigarette tax from 39 cents to just over a dollar per pack. The federal tax per packet of “little cigars” is also increasing to the same level ($1.01 per pack).This is the first time there has been a national increase in cigarette taxes for over a decade. Although the tobacco companies typically try to reduce the initial impact of such increases by offering temporary discounts, it will inevitably lead to an overall increase in the cost to the smoker per pack of cigarettes. This increase in federal cigarette taxes is in addition to increases in state and city cigarette taxes that are also sweeping the country. Although the cost per pack across the country will be around $5, in places such as New York City a packet of cigarettes will soon be well over $7. If you needed another reason to quit smoking, having to spend over $2000 a year on cigarettes, in tough financial times, might be the one.
From-http://www.healthline.com/blogs/smoking_cessation/2009/02/cigarette-taxes-to-increase-across-usa.html
Im sure that there will be those of you saying just quit smoking. That is not the point of this. The point is that a small minority is paying for an ever growing majority of low income family's. General sales taxes arent being touched nor are liquer taxes.
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Believe it or not, this is something I agree with Obama on - in a sense, at least. As it is, there is an extraordinary cost levied on the average taxpayer with regards to smoking-related health care. Higher taxes on cigarettes will help offset that cost and allow money to be freed up for other things.
Personally, I'd prefer that the strategy would be very limited taxation on smokers while the government not paying a single dime for smoking-related illness, but that just won't happen.
This is something that I regularly disagree with conservatives on. Nicotene addiction has been a program for redistributing wealth for years, but certain political elements don't quite understand that.