This is wrong on so many levels...

  

Spot the difference: How today's airbrushing PC censors decided Churchill could do without his cigar 

I have no comments to add to this.  It speaks for itself.

   

Fight Terrorism - Abolish Tobacco Taxes!

    
Tobacco Taxes Finance Terrorism

Wow! Unintended consequences of raising tobacco taxes? Imagine that!!!

   

I miss President Reagan.

    
I wish this was a bad, bad joke.  I remember when adults were in the White House.  I miss the leadership of President Reagan so very, very much.  This sad response to the oil spill speaks for itself.  A petulant child comes to mind.

Obama Seeking "Ass To Kick" Over Oil Spill


   

What are the Greeks thinking?

   
No-butts smoking ban starts in September

You have a country that is financially collapsing and this is how the Greek government is spending its time and resources.

 "As of September 1, Greeks will only be able to smoke outdoors, according to a draft law presented yesterday by the government which bans smoking in bars, restaurants and businesses."

Nice to know there is a crazier government out there than our own.  Taxing and destroying a lawful industry in a time of economic crisis/decline is just plain nuts.  It really is getting frustrating always having to point out the obvious.
 
 

  

Loophole my eye!

   
From Fred Brown at the Pipe Smokers Intelligencer.

The Loophole Effect

Fred has been reporting on Cohen and his pipe tobacco tax increase for some time now. The sad part of all this is that if congress does pass this through the pipe tobacco industry will be damaged severely and thousands will lose their livelihoods all in the name of squeezing out more tax money to feed an ever expanding government. At what point does the pendulum starting swinging back toward freedom?  This really sucks. 

Tobacco loophole in child health law costs $250M

According the above article "the Obama administration has been working for a year to clarify the difference between pipe and rolling tobacco."  Let us hope that some sanity prevails here and what we see is a clarification between the two instead of a tax increase that would destroy an entire industry. 

46 Thieves in the Jersey Senate.

  
New Jersey Lawmakers Pass Millionaire Tax; Veto Looms

Why do people have to wonder why conservatives think that liberals are ignorant?  46 New Jersey state senators vote to tax their state millionaires more. How much of a share of their income is consider a fair share?  Coveting neighbor’s possessions has no place in this country and these senators need to be called out.  I have far more trust in Jersey's 16,000 millionaires to use their wealth more wisely than the state senators that seek to redistribute their wealth in order to buy votes. Weren't Jersey senators paying attention when Maryland millionaires left their state because they were going to be taxed even more?

They should be thankful for the governor’s veto; otherwise their state would lose billions when its millionaires decided to move to a state that wouldn't seek to confiscate their wealth in the name of 'fairness'.

    

In a State’s Search for Sales Tax, Amazon Raises Privacy Concerns

    
NOW privacy concerns are raised?

In a State’s Search for Sales Tax, Amazon Raises Privacy Concerns

This rant is entitled, “Why won’t you listen?!” Instead of lowering their tax rates to attract more business, states are bent on raising them and than finding a way to extract those taxes even from people that go elsewhere to avoid sales taxes because they are too high. This is a classic example why federalism is a good thing. Each state is sovereign and there are some states that understand lower tax rates bring in more business and more money.

The examples of misguided states trying to extract more and more money leading to less and less revenues are plentiful.

California comes to mind, and more recently Maryland with their millionaire’s tax. How’s that working out? Read the links and find out.

Keep in mind that states that have tried to increase revenues by increasing tobacco taxes or “sin” taxes have not realized the revenue increases that they sought and lusted for. My brain is not large enough and my intellect not high speed enough to provide the examples and research by my lonesome. Thankfully places like The Heartland Institute are doing it for me. :)

“Experience in other states shows that once tax revenues from tobacco and other affected businesses begin to fall short of projections, legislators end up looking for more money from more taxpayers.”

Excerpt from Research & Commentary: New Hampshire’s Vanishing Tax Advantage

For those on the sidelines when the states came after tobacco users for more tax money, welcome to the receiving end – uncomfortable isn’t it. :)

End rant.