Muscatine

Last week i bought a carton of the cigs i smoke...i paid 31.00 with tax.....today i bought a carton and they were 40.00.......and the lady said they are still going up in april! We smokers must be paying for Nobamas stimulous plan! Lucky us! She told me my brand will be around 50.00 a carton after the raise in april....A 19.00 price increase in a matter of weeks.......thank god for the liberals who are taking away my right to smoke....i just don't know where i would be if the government weren't here to take away the things i enjoy, cuz they believe its wrong.

Your right to smoke was taken away when your Iowa lawmakers (both Democrats and Republicans) voted into law the smoking ban.  Your ability or inability to buy cigarettes has nothing to do with your right to smoke.  Like everything else, it's just going to cost a lot more.   Iowa ranks 20th in the country in cigarette taxes, and almost all of the increases you have seen over the last years are state taxes, not federal taxes.  The last federal tax increase on cigarettes was voted and passed in 1997, and initiated over 5 years. The increase coming on March 31st is a federal tax.  It was a very bipartisan bill and passed both the house and the senate. (house passed it 290-135, and Senate was 66-32)The majority of this will be used to continue Childrens' Health Insurance Program.  Do I agree with it?  hell no.  Love to insure the kids, but don't think it's necessary for smokers to foot the bill for every friggin' program around.  I posted last month how unfair i thought it was that smokers were targeted every time the state or federal governments wanted to raise revenue.   I thought that if they truly wanted a "healthier America", then they should tax Big Macs, Krispy Kremes, beer, etc.  An "obesity tax" if you will.  After all, obesity ranks right up there with cigarette smoking as a cause of heart disease/death.   Perhaps give a tax break for healthy habits?  Exercise a lot?  Tax break!  Drink Skim milk?  Tax Break! 

I'm with you that smokers are way overtaxed.  The problem with you claiming that "liberals" are taking away your right to smoke, is that it's just not accurate.  The bill for the federal tobacco tax increase was overwhelmingly bipartisan.

Democratic legislators unveiled a comprehensive budget plan Thursday that proposes a tax hike on tobacco and utilizes federal stimulus funds to reduce current cuts to education and human services spending.

The plan diverges on several fronts from the approach currently favored by the majority Republicans, who have weighed-in against a hike on tobacco, and who are at odds on whether to accept all of the stimulus funding.

House Minority Leader David Litvack, D-West Valley, said the package reflects the necessary cuts of a dire economic environment, but prioritizes funding for the most important government functions.

"Our number one goal in developing our budget was to reduce ongoing cuts to vital services that Democrats have always championed," Litvack said. "It protects ... public education, higher education, health and human services, public safety and others."

The budget outline presented Thursday supports a $1.30 per pack increase in cigarette tax that would garner an additional $48 million in the coming year. Coupled with a $20 bump in the vehicle registration fee (a tax increase also favorable to Republicans) that would put another $50 million into state coffers, they would provide about a 10 percent offset of the $1 billion trimmed from state spending earlier in the session.

http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705289081,00.html

"The problem with you claiming that "liberals" are taking away your right to smoke, is that it's just not accurate.  The bill for the federal tobacco tax increase was overwhelmingly bipartisan."

Lilsmom; it seems only 9 republicans in the senate voted for this; and only 40 republicans plus the 2 independents in the House voted for it, as I can determine from records on the roll call votes for this issue.

This is hardly "overwhelmingly bipartisan"... and actually makes GTA1's assertion a little more accurate. Liberals lead the charge and the voting.