smokers tax

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Daseal

I'm really torn on this also. While I'm not worried about the tax because I rarely smoke (occasional cigar or hookah), but it comes down to what's next. To me, it all depends on how much farther this goes, if it just goes to Cigarettes, I'm fine with that.

To whoever suggested the tax on alcohol, while it would slow drinking a lot, it would also hurt economies. There are so many restaurants and bars that rely on alcohol to make their living.

Alcohol is taxed here in PA, and trust me, those businesses are doing fine.

People, increasing taxes on things like Smoking and Drinking are not going to change people's behavior, and the legislators know this. People are still going to smoke and still going to drink. The point isn't to get them to stop, the point is to subsidize government programs by taxing the people who cause a bigger financial burden on society (smoking leads to emphysema and heart disease which generally strike in old age, which affects how much the Federal Government pays out in the form of Medicare benefits).

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Alcohol is taxed here in PA, and trust me, those businesses are doing fine.

People, increasing taxes on things like Smoking and Drinking are not going to change people's behavior, and the legislators know this. People are still going to smoke and still going to drink. The point isn't to get them to stop, the point is to subsidize government programs by taxing the people who cause a bigger financial burden on society (smoking leads to emphysema and heart disease which generally strike in old age, which affects how much the Federal Government pays out in the form of Medicare benefits).

We could list a ton of stuff that people do which they could stop that throws a burden onto society. So if want to tax people for this rweason then don't stop with cigs.

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Alcohol is taxed here in PA, and trust me, those businesses are doing fine.

People, increasing taxes on things like Smoking and Drinking are not going to change people's behavior, and the legislators know this. People are still going to smoke and still going to drink. The point isn't to get them to stop, the point is to subsidize government programs by taxing the people who cause a bigger financial burden on society (smoking leads to emphysema and heart disease which generally strike in old age, which affects how much the Federal Government pays out in the form of Medicare benefits).

Yeah, earlier in the summer I visited TN and they tax the hell out of alcohol. For me, being broke made me seriously curb my alcohol consumption while I was there, but I saw tons of people in the hotel tossing them back and not thinking twice about it. It was a little crazy, we were paying NY prices.