Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

A Fayetteville N.C. internet news article I read, mentioned State Rep. Rick Glazier, a Democrat from Fayetteville, introducing a bill that would increase the cigarette tax in his state from 5 to 80 cents. He is not the only one. Other legislators in other states are doing the same thing. They also want to tax alcohol and satellite television. "Smokers can afford a small tax increase", he said, "but if the tax is high enough, it could encourage more people to quit. Really, the purpose behind the cigarette tax bill is not revenue. We've got to begin to attach some personal consequence to the buying of a pack of cigarettes.'' Then in a grand reversal of direction, as only a politican has the guts to manuever, the argument continues. "....the basic fact remains that this state needs money, and it has to get it somewhere." First, where do you guys get the idea that the government's job is to help people quit smoking, or drinking for that matter. Shouldn't that be left to personal choice? By the way, Mr. Hypocritical College Graduate, what's the definition of the word 'budget'? And don’t answer in the form of a question, Alex. Let me refresh your memory, according to Webster, "a plan for the coordination of resources and expenditures". Somehow you just can't nail that 'plan' thing down, can ya'? It's not the public's job to feed your fiscal inadequicies . By the way, I bought a $7000 Plasma TV on my Visa card & I can't afford it. Can I have some of my tax bucks back to cover it? Why do politicians run the government like Tom Hicks runs the Texas Rangers. Why would you pay a player 250 million dollars? That’s the same amount of money that you paid George W. Bush for the whole team, you genius. How do ya pay him & the other 24 guys on the team & make that back? Did you run the business that made you all the money, that allowed you to buy the team in the first place, the same way you waste money on a sports franchise? Then I wanna work for you and I want a raise, and a signing bonus, a per diem and a pair of those $400 Nike's that glow in the dark & have a siren in the heel. Politicians act like the NHL team owners who want a salary cap because they are crying… 'Pleeeease help us stop paying you guys too much money’. What? Stop you from paying me what I want or feel I’m worth. Fat chance, Roscoe. You wanna offer me a million dollars for eating African spiders & llama brains? I'll do that. Oh, wait, people will do that for free on Fear Factor. An on-air therapist I once worked with once offered to counsel and hypnotize me into quitting smoking. I said, "You know as well as I do that in order for any of those things to work, the subject has to really want to quit smoking. I don't want to quit." I thanked him for his offer and he smiled and said the offer was open if I wanted to try. I appreciate that, but the fact remains. Taxes won't stop people from smoking & drinking. To believe that means you are seriously smoking something else that isn’t taxed and isn’t even legal in most of your ‘finer communities’. As a matter of fact, I can recall chewing Nicorette gum years ago in one of my massive failed attempts to stop suckin’ down butts. You know it tasted really great if you smoked while you chewed, especially menthol cigarettes, yummm. Avoid it with pipes tobacco or Swisher Sweets though. Of course smokers don't have 'personal consequence' attached to smoking do they? Well, none other than sucking smoke and carcinogens into their lungs, bad breath, yellow teeth, shortness of breath, empyhasemia, heart congestion, throat and lung cancer. But I digress. By the way, what did you guys do with the billions you already got from the tobacco companies? Why, children, do you insist on spending your whole allowance on one video game then bug us for spending change? So we're looking at a possible cigarette tax, an alcohol tax and a satellite TV tax. They'll have to work quick on that satellite tax, before more people switch to satellite from cable. Boy did they see that opportunity open up and jump on it. "While we are going after smokes & booze, let's slide in a tax for satellite TV. Wow, a new technology that hardly anyone is using. Tax it before everyone switches to it, so that the tax will already be in place." Watch out, the "iPod" & camera phone taxes are next. By the way, why does Microsoft Word automatically assume "iPod" is a misspelled word? Unfortunately these taxes should be easy for them to get. The 'moral majority', non-smokers, militant ex-smokers (they’re the worst) & non-drinkers will succeed in forcing their lifestyle and their share of any new tax bill on another group of people. They claim to care for our health & well being but they couldn't care less, they don’t have to pay it. Therefore, they support it. Why not tax Luna Bars, vegetarian gelatin substitute and organic gummi bears, for cripes sake? Hey, here’s an idea, start a lottery. You'll get money from people who are willing to give it to you without complaint? Oh, you already have a lottery. That didn’t help? Oh, I forgot, it’s that 'budget' thing. How about a Casino or dog or horse track? You'll get money from people who are willing to give it to you without complaint? Oh, you already have those? According to an article on the Indystar website, "Today, 17 states have laws allowing some form of state-regulated casino gambling, including slot machines at racetracks. Forty states have lotteries, double the number in place 20 years ago, and Oklahoma voters have approved the creation of a lottery. Add in 40 states with dog or horse racetracks and rapid growth in the number of Indian-owned casinos since Congress recognized them in 1988, and there are only two states left -- Hawaii and Utah -- with no legalized gambling. Ya' still need more cash? Well then, open a lemonade stand.