Just another part of the Commies on congress and the wh to destroy this once-great nation. Where is Osama when we need him?
On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 4:53 AM, Cold Water <[email protected]> wrote: > Tax Attack > > *by **Philip Hensley, > Jr.*<http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/mailto:[email protected]> > *by Philip Hensley, Jr.* > > ** <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php> > > <http://adserve.lewrockwell.com/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a39b1c5b&;> > ** > > *As Murray Rothbard once stated, smokers really are America’s Most > Persecuted Minority. On February 4, 2009, President Obama (an occasional > smoker himself) signed the SCHIP bill into law, thus continuing the > government’s war on tobacco.* > > *The federal tax on cigarettes is going up from $.39 a pack to $1.0066 per > pack. While the increase will surely hurt the cigarette companies, and > ultimately, the cigarette consumer, the real victim here is the > roll-your-own (RYO) cigarette tobacco industry. RYO cigarette tobacco has > become increasingly popular in recent years, especially as the economy has > worsened, as it was cheaper to roll your own cigarettes instead of buying a > pack of Marlboros. Staying true to the tradition of big businesses not > really favoring less regulation and smaller government, the lobbyist for big > cigarette companies sought and received the favor of raising the tax on RYO > tobacco from $1.10 per pound to $24.78 per pound!* > > *They certainly got their money’s worth. Not only did they turn their > backs on their brethren in the tobacco industry, they essentially made it so > that the RYO companies will be put out of business. Not only will it now be > more expensive to roll your own cigarettes, and therefore eliminate the > entire point of rolling your own, but many retailers and looking to blow out > their remaining inventories of RYO tobacco before the $23.68 per pound floor > tax takes effect on April 1. After that, many retailers are simply going to > keep from ordering any more RYO tobacco and either exit the cigarette > business altogether or simply sell packs of cigarettes. * > > *Ironically, although not surprising, raising the taxes on tobacco > products will in the long run bring in less revenue to the government. > Colorado, for example, currently has a 40% tobacco tax on the wholesale > price of large cigars. Until four years ago the tax was 20%. A retailer in > Denver recently told me that the last year the tax was at 20% he sent around > $85,000 to the state government in tobacco taxes. Last year, he sent less > than $55,000. Similar stories have been told to me by other retailers in the > state. Individual stick sales of cigars have remained steady, but sales of > cigars by the box has virtually been eliminated, leading to less sales and > therefore less taxes. Consumers are going online to order boxes of cigars > from retailers or internet-only business from out of state. In many cases, a > consumer can buy a box of cigars from an out of state dealer for less than a > retailer in Colorado can buy it for after he adds in his wholesale tax.* > > *Raising taxes again and again on tobacco products is not going to put the > tobacco industry out of business. Rather, it is going to drive it > underground and on the black market, as has happened with other heavily > taxed items or items made illegal. Originally, the SCHIP bill called for a > tax of up to $10 per cigar, while later versions of the bill capped the tax > at $3. More than a few retailers have told me personally that if a tax of $3 > were to be implemented on cigars, they would begin to do cash business under > the table with regular customers that they could trust. The government is > driving legitimate businessmen into situations where they have to act > dishonestly in order to survive. In addition, many stores can no longer > afford to hire additional employees. Because the cost of doing business in > the tobacco industry has risen so much over the past few years, many cigar > store owners are forced to be a one-man operation, whereas in previous years > they could afford to hire employees to help them run the store for them. > Right now is not a good time for the government to force retailers into > letting go of employees.* > > *Some in the cigar industry have stated that they are "thankful" that the > tax on large cigars went up "only" $.35 per stick. With proposed taxes of > $3–$10 per stick, they act as if we should be glad that the government was > more "reasonable" in its approach. However, we should not be gracious to the > government for finding a way to tax us just a little bit more. We should be > demanding that they stop taxing us at all. Because in a few years when the > tobacco taxes aren’t enough to cover the bloated coast of the current SCHIP > bill, there are going to be calls to raise taxes yet again, and tobacco or > tobacco-related industries will surely be one of the first places they look. > We need to put our foot down now and stop this before the cigar business is > shut down for good.* > > ** > > *February 23, 2009* > > *Philip Hensley [send him > mail<http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/mailto:[email protected]>] > is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He > currently lives in Durham, NC.* > > *Copyright © 2009 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in > part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given. * > * * ** * * ** > * * *Find this article at: > **http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/hensley2.html*<http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/hensley2.html> > * * > ** > > > > -- *~@):~{> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
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