Senecas See Comeback Over Sale of Cigarettes

        

Senecas See Comeback Over Sale of Cigarettes

I say three cheers for the Seneca Indians and three jeers for the author of this NYT article for writing such a biased, one-sided column.  Hopefully this means that the PACT ACT will be defeated again.  This isn't just about cigarettes; it could affect all mail-order tobacco business in the U.S.  Most of these businesses are mom and pop operations.  So is this journalist for Big Tobacco who supports the PACT ACT, or for the Indians and mom and pop stores that only have a small share of the market?

If he is doing it for the children - which I doubt - than what about all the children who rely on the money that supports them from these businesses that are targeted by the PACT ACT?  Seems like the parents are ultimately responsible to make sure their kids don't order tobacco by mail not legislation that harms a person's business.

"Cocaine of superiority."

      
'I'm the President': Tiger Woods In The White House

“Contrary to the headlines, Tiger's real addiction was not to sex or women, it was to the cocaine of superiority, which in turn induces a sense of entitlement.”

I love that term - "cocaine of superiority". It seems any elected official that seeks to enact laws for our own good suffer from this narcotic. They look down on the very people that make this country function.

I'll use my parents as an example for the sort of people that these entitled public servants would most likely look down on.

Both of my parents are immigrants. Both work in workshops.  No college education. Not even a GED. With such a resume, what did they manage to do?

Raise two children who went onto college and now have families of their own.

Pay off their home, have no debts, put one of their children through college and manage to have enough saved for retirement.

They were able to put enough money aside to send their children to their mother country to spend summers to be able to build relationships with family there.

When I look at my parents I see two very intelligent, self sacrificing individuals that are an inspiration to me.

When I look at the current crop of the entitled class of politicians at the state and local level I see individuals -with some exceptions - that have lead our country into a deep debt hole and make decisions everyday that hurt families and business. They feel that they are smarter than people like my parents and can best tell them how to live their lives. I beg to differ.
  

Pipe Tobacco Tax Update.

 

Rangel steps down as tax panel chairman

Charles Rangel is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is the committee that H.R. 4439: To amend the IRS code of 1986 to impose the same rate of tax on pipe tobacco as is imposed on roll-your-own tobacco has been referred to.  The bill was introduced on January 13, 2010 and currently has one co-sponsor.  With this sort of drama playing out on the committee, one can only hope that the bill will continue to sit in committee where it will die - at least for this legislative year.  Dare we dream?

The latest count on the Stop the Pipe Tobacco Tax Petition.

Cheers!

List of smoking bans in the United States

    
As of December 18, 2009.

Check Wikipedia for updates.

      

Nick Hogan six months in jail.

Thank yous go to The Smoker's Club for staying on top of these stories...

"Nick Hogan was the first person to be prosecuted under the new smoking laws.

He will spend six months in prison after refusing to pay a fine.

REMINDER: Tobacco is a legal product, and he was on his own property!"

It doesn't take too much imagination to see this sort of thing happening here in the U.S.  It is just a matter of time.

How is it a good thing when you criminalize individuals for standing up for their property rights?

 

The Comments Wars - Not for the faint of heart

    
I mentioned in my previous post about getting out there and posting comments to articles related to smoking bans. I would also add to that any article related to tobacco tax increases.

Be warned, no matter how civil you are you will receive the nastiest comments and most on a personal level. I suspect that Nanny State girly men do not want to be confronted with opposition. Of course, I refrain from name calling when I do post comments to articles. The point is to put information out there to get people thinking and not to alienate others. It doesn't mean we can't have fun - a sense of humor can go a long way in making a point as well. Again, be warned, what will be funny to normal folks will illicit anger on the humorless individuals that fight for high tobacco taxes and draconian smoking bans that don't even allow for cigar bar and tobacconist exemptions.

This leads me to the observation that the people that we as a collective group of easygoing tobacco users are dealing with have an extremely over inflated, out-of-control sense of entitlement.

There I was, conducting a back and forth of comments with an individual that did not understand my point of leaving smoking bans up to business owners. Fine, let’s look for a compromise. How about cigar bar exemptions? One individual agreed; however, a more caustic individual simply ignored my point and proceeded to rant that they have a right not to be next to someone lighting up a tobacco product. Either he missed that I was referring to a cigar bar or he truly has such a level of entitlement that he feels he has a right to walk into a cigar bar and not have anyone smoke near him.

I refrained from calling him a girly man so as not to insult women who have more fiber than this guy. This leads to a ‘shout out’ to the Canadian Women’s Olympic Hockey Team. Way to show the world real winners can still celebrate with a good cigar!

Maybe the silver lining around these difficult economic times will be less tolerance for these entitled cultural nannies. You can’t have a Nanny State without “cultural nannies” populating it. A cultural nanny feels that their brain pan is so superior to the mere mortals they are forced to exist with that they know what is best for all. That whatever enters their brain and they deem “truth” ends debate forever.

OK, that was a self-indulgent rant, but since I and my one follower are the only ones reading, than no individuals with sensitive dispositions will be harmed by my words.

IPCPR Questions Missouri Smoking Ban Proposal

 
Premium Cigar Association Questions Missouri Smoking Ban Proposal

Chris McCalla, the legislative director of the IPCPR, has been doing a great job getting out there and challenging smoking bans at the state level.

Chris has been repeating this message across the country and all of us who enjoy cigars, pipes and yes, cigarettes -can't be a hypocrite now, can I - should be posting these quotes on every comment page related to smoking bans.

"Jobs are lost and businesses suffer as a result of legislated smoking bans, and a statewide ban would further add to Missouri’s labor miseries."

""The Fed has found that, based on impartial data generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, significant employment declines result from forced smoking bans, especially in bars and restaurants."

"The marketplace is deciding what businesses should allow smoking or not, and that’s the way it should be. Government shouldn't be taking away the rights of business owners to run their enterprises as the market dictates, not big government. There are plenty of restaurants and other businesses that already have declared themselves smoke-free, so there's no need to take away the rights of other business owners by forcing them to ban smoking on their premises."

"For those questioning overstated claims regarding the health aspects of incidental secondhand smoke, I would refer them to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA has set acceptable levels for secondhand smoke up to 25,000 safer than normally found in restaurants and bars."

"We do not represent 'big tobacco.' Our members have every right to sell their legal products to adults and their customers should have every right to enjoy those products on premise and off where permitted by business owners, not by legislated decrees. The legislature should be spending their time creating jobs, not sacrificing them to special interest groups."