HOLY CRAP!! anyone else here smoke RYO ( cigarettes? ;) )

Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:42 pm » by **Bink02**

Last month I bought a pound of tobacco for about 17 bucks , this month ,thanks to the SCHIP bill , a ounce and a half cost 9 bucks !....Here's an interesting article I found on it ....

Federal Tobacco Tax Increase is No Joke to Smokers!

Smokers across the country may be caught by surprise when buying cigarettes or other tobacco products today as the nationwide tobacco tax increase takes effect. The 62 cent per pack tax increase on cigarettes has gotten some media coverage but the nearly 2200% tax increase on Roll Your Own (RYO) tobacco and even higher increase on small cigars hasn't received anywhere near the attention we believe it deserves. Some manufacturers and retailers are even taking advantage of the tax increase by raising the prices on $2 pouches of rolling tobacco to over $5. Frankly, this April Fool's joke doesn't strike me as being funny at all.
The expanded :shooting:

SCHIP bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on Feb 4 Raises the FET (Federal Excise Tax) on Roll Your Own tobacco to $24.78 per pound, a $23.68 INCREASE!

A tobacco farmer receives less than $2 per pound for his tobacco, and retail prices for one pound bags of some brands were previously available (inclusive of the old $1.10/lb FET) for under $10. How is it even legal for the U.S. Government to tax a product at over twice it's retail price? They didn't plant, care and grow the crop, or cut, cure or age it and they certainly didn't process, package and distribute it. Yet somehow our Federal officials believe they are justified to profit off the labors of others at levels that dwarfs the combined profits of every single step in the chain!

Studies show that most cigarette smokers are low to middle class workers, and most people who roll their own cigarettes are the working poor, unemployed or on fixed incomes. It's truly a sad day in our great country's history when our politicians don't think twice about thrusting a 2200% tax increase on the poorest segment of society. If any private sector company suddenly raised their prices by 2000% you can surely bet that there would be lawsuits filed by the states Attorneys General with charges of racketeering and price gouging, but who is going to challenge the Federal Government? It obviously won't be the IPCPR (International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association) as this letter clearly showed.
Please visit the SCHIP Will Devastate Roll Your Own page http://ryorevolution.com/ where I give a brief history of the original SCHIP program and it's expansion, and the journey the legislation took before reaching it's final form and passage into law.

2200% increase , I mean , Damn! This guy brought up an interesting point , about if they did something like this in the private sector , all hell would break loose . It's not even about the rights and wrongs of smoking , If the Feds can do this to one section of the population , they sure as hell can do it to another .... :nails:

....Prohibition anyone?....( the noble experiment)
:cheers:

Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:55 pm » by **Kyo121**

cig are bad for you anyway

maybe they're trying to say you should quit :mrgreen:

Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:44 pm » by **Ricokc**

In my area the wholesale people were already charging the new tax three weeks before the start date of April 1st.

Seems like we have more thieves out there besides the Fed's.

Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:46 pm » by **Wrathofkahn**

kyo121 wrote:cig are bad for you anyway maybe they're trying to say you should quit

McDonalds and BK are bad for you too. I dont see any major tax hike on fast food.

Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:52 pm » by **Cornbread714**

They used to call 'em sin taxes - for liquor, tobacco, etc.
Which sucks for me, cuz the Lord knows I'm a sinner :sunny:

Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:10 pm » by **Kyo121**

wrathofkahn wrote:
kyo121 wrote:cig are bad for you anyway maybe they're trying to say you should quit

McDonalds and BK are bad for you too. I dont see any major tax hike on fast food.

those might be bad for you as well but they haven't started to kill 4+million per year.

Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:48 pm » by **Mikemess**

Well in New York,( where I live ) they're up to $10 a pack.

Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:51 pm » by **Bink02**

kyo121 wrote:
wrathofkahn wrote:
kyo121 wrote:cig are bad for you anyway maybe they're trying to say you should quit

McDonalds and BK are bad for you too. I dont see any major tax hike on fast food.

those might be bad for you as well but they haven't started to kill 4+million per year.

I'm not trying to turn this into a debate on rather or not smoking is good or bad, we all have our own opinions on this , what pisses me off , is the phenomenal price hike , I mean , come on , 2200% ? That's ridiculous , I view this as the government imposing their will on a small minority . And if they can do it to one minority , they certainly can do it to another .... :shock:

,

Hmmm.. Well I guess I could go up in the mountains , clear off some land, camouflage it from the air , and grow my own hydroponically, put it in little plastic baggies , and sell it at the mall :headscratch:

that could work ...

..... think I'll go buy a $200 Micky D' burger and a side of their everlasting fries and think about it .... :cheers:

Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:14 am » by **Jayhad**

Please people, if you smoke, I implore you to stop. I have been 3 years free of tobacco and will never go back. Was one of the hardest battles of my life, but, well worth the agony.
The so called 'sin' taxes are pretty well laid out. We all know deep down that smoking and drinking manufactured intoxicants is not the best thing we could be doing with our time and with our health.... a bit of homegrown marijuana and a sip of homemade wine is another story all together though. :flop:

When we choose to take on what they are selling us, well then we submit to any and all of their requirements... buyers remorse is buyers remorse.. sorry.

Personally, I believe that the purest form of resistance to tyranny right now is.. healthy living. GM foods, food shortages, fast food dangers, farmers markets, aspertame, monsanto, obesity, conveniance foods... all of these topics I have just listed can be trumped by just choosing to take care of your bodies... your minds are quick to follow the trend once you have detoxed.
No battle worth fighting has ever been without great sacrafice.. although, I am having a great time tooling around in my garden these warmer days. :wink:

(sry if I came off preachy to some... i just want whats best for all of us... unconditionally)
Peace.

Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:19 am » by **Jayhad**

bink02 wrote:I view this as the government imposing their will on a small minority . And if they can do it to one minority , they certainly can do it to another .... ,

You are precisely correct my black lunged friend.

If there was ever one thing that could represent the actions of real democracy than that is it. As we all know ... they have, and are still, demonizing and fleecing minority groups of all types.

Isn't democracy great!!?