On the news last night, they are drafting state legislation to raise the age to buy cigarettes. Emperor Bloomberg decided to do so for NYC,but then belatedly realized people in NYC are free to move about, so now we need to change the age for the whole state so Bloomberg can have his way. I don't recall being able to vote for him but our whole state dances to his tune, evidently.
It's funny, when they announced a surcharge on smoking for health insurance, I said to myself, "that's not gonna last!" because the whole argument for the heavy state taxes in cigarettes and for that 'settlement' money from tobacco companies was that "we all pay" for smoking, so I knew once the cost was moved just to smokers, no way were states going to give up that cash cow. Viola. The cost is back on "everybody" so the state can keep gouging smokers.
they just use cigarettes as a MONEY GRAB....it clearly has nothing to do with the well being of it's citizens! if that were the case MONSANTO's scam would be banned! And so would pesticides. And so would floride in the water.
.............WHAT A JOKE!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I don't like how wealthy prominent smokers are silent about this gouging either. People in Hollywood and in television news (the same thing) smoke more often than not. Just because they can afford it.
If you are a non smoker... this is what it costs PER PACK for some one else to smoke: $21.95 Per Pack.
Deaths in New York From Smoking ~Adults who die each year in New York from their own smoking: 25,500 ~Adult non-smokers who die each year from exposure to others' smoking: 3,040 ~New York kids who have lost at least one parent to a smoking-caused death: 16,400 ~Kids alive today who will ultimately die from smoking: 389,000 (given current smoking levels)
Tobacco-Related Monetary Costs in New York ~Annual smoking-related health care costs and lost productivity in NY total $14.2 billion ~Annual health care expenditures in the State directly caused by tobacco use: $8.17 billion ~Annual State Medicaid program's total health expenditures caused by tobacco use: $5.47 billion ~Annual health care expenditures in New York from secondhand smoke exposure: $317 million ~Residents' state/federal taxes to cover smoking-caused gov't costs: $5.9 billion ($903/household) ~Smoking-caused productivity losses in New York: $6.05 billion Smoking-caused health costs and productivity losses per pack sold in New York: $21.91
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
My productivity is NOT the property of the collective, IT IS MINE.
Box, your statistics are very Animal Farmish.
Is everybody a production slave in your eyes?
You just made a sound argument against collectivism.
Every day that you spend hacking out a piece of lung, instead of producing something is a lost day for your employer, or a lost day for yourself if you are self employed. All New Yorkers pay the price for those who choose to smoke. I don't want to outlaw cigarettes, I just want those who smoke to pay the entire cost of their filthy addiction.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
We better do the same for those who drink too much and anyone who is obese too because we all pay for their poor health, where does it stop and when is too much restrictions enough???
We better do the same for those who drink too much and anyone who is obese too because we all pay for their poor health, where does it stop and when is too much restrictions enough???
You can eat in moderation and be healthy, You can drink in moderation and be healthy... If you smoke as little as one cigarette a day, it doubles your chance of sudden death. Light-to-moderate smokers were twice as likely to die of sudden heart problems than those who had never smoked. For every five years of continued smoking, the risk went up by 8%.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
You can eat in moderation and be healthy, You can drink in moderation and be healthy... If you smoke as little as one cigarette a day, it doubles your chance of sudden death. Light-to-moderate smokers were twice as likely to die of sudden heart problems than those who had never smoked. For every five years of continued smoking, the risk went up by 8%.
If cigarettes are so bad... and I believe they are, then why don't we just make them illegal...period...? Declare it a public health crisis... WHY? because the pols are disingenuous hypocrites...They hate tobacco, but they LOVE the money it produces...now before you argue that tobacco costs more money overall than it makes, which again, is probably true, the pols don't see the hit so it doesn't matter to them ..the money that is made from tobacco finances some other social project.
"Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon; no matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock out the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it is victorious." - Author Unknown
Box, take a look around and tell me the people you see in the stores riding around on the carts and weigh over 350# are eating in moderation. How many people need liver transplants because they destroyed theirs by drinking too much or used drugs for too long. We are all paying for their poor choices too.
You want government involved in healthcare don't b**ch about how people live.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
I don't want the government involved in any of my personal life. I want to be able to chose to do things that are not healthy if I want to. If someone wants to smoke it's their choice as long as they know that it will kill them in the long run. The people who want to ban smoking are the same people who want to be able to smoke pot all day when smoking either one will kill you.
...now before you argue that tobacco costs more money overall than it makes, which again, is probably true, the pols don't see the hit so it doesn't matter to them ..the money that is made from tobacco finances some other social project.
Studies done by Phillip Morris have actually shown that the 'positive effects of smoking' is EARLY DEATH and that in the long run and smoking cigarettes saves money. Smoke away.
Dying from sudden heart problems is good. The only cost is the ambulance ride and for the doctor to pronounce you dead. You don't even need to be admitted. Even if you go slower, like from lung cancer, emphysema, and all that, you still save money because you paid into social security all those years and won't collect very much. Your heirs won't have to sell your house and give the money to a nursing home. Are the death panels going to be for anyone presumably about to die, or just old people? You might not even need a death panel. Think of all the trouble you save everyone. You won't live long enough to get senile. I'm beginning to think that smoking is the patriotic thing to do.
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