Smoking and drinking is about to get a lot more expensive

[Peikko 1,575]

He has a point, but it's a fairly lame one, as taxing the ###### out of everything except wages is normally the province or Republicans (if I have understood this correctly).

Obama is a political expedient though, of that there is no doubt.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Legalize Marijuana and then we can spread the sin tax more evenly.

Heck, narcotics are a huge part of our medical expenses. Tax it all, why stop at pot?

Hey, I was just getting started.

[jundp 191]

Cigarettes are bad for your health. Tax the ####### out of them. No one forces you to smoke, so don't b!tch if you have to pay $10 for a pack of cigarettes.

I will take any ####### people want to throw at me about it, because I smoked for 15 years and I have no one else to blame for my breathing problems but myself....

[fozzie 41]

In the UK ciggies and alcohol are taxed heavily because of the burden they place on the universal healthcare system. Obama wants a universal healthcare system so it is no great leap to start to tax ciggies and alcohol more.

Those in the lower income bracket of society, the ones that cannot afford health insurance, tend to lead unhealthier lives. More ciggies, more alcohol and poorer diet and less exercise. These are the people that will utilize universal healthcare and drain its resourcee. If you smoke and drink yourself to ill health don't expect me to pick up the tab!

[SMOKE 1,426]

i don't smoke (anymore quit for 3rd & last time)& its still BS

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Bad idea - slippery slope we're headed down

You can fuckin SAY that again! Soon barry'll be CHARGIN ya to take a PISS!

Libs! So funny to watch. You'll be cryin' when he takes away your fuckin LARTAYS!

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Cigarettes are bad for your health. Tax the ####### out of them. No one forces you to smoke, so don't b!tch if you have to pay $10 for a pack of cigarettes.

I will take any ####### people want to throw at me about it, because I smoked for 15 years and I have no one else to blame for my breathing problems but myself....

Sister, I beg to differ. I pay for my cigarettes and I pay for my health premiums.

Why don't we tax the ####### out of people who have more than 2 kids? Kids get sick all the time --- no one forces people to reproduce, so if they have more, pay more.

The whole thing is BS.

[Peikko 1,575]

Kids do not get sick all the time actually. Just wanted to throw that out there.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Kids do not get sick all the time actually. Just wanted to throw that out there.

they do! they do! they do!

Besides how would YOU know?? not like you are a fit mother anyway....

[Peikko 1,575]

Right time to go.

[panamania79 2]

Smokers, drinkers to carry tax burden?

If you make big bucks — or enjoy alcohol, cigarettes and Coke — the government might hit you up to pay for fixing the nation’s health care system.

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee peeked into vending machines and liquor stores, company payrolls and health savings accounts, looking for a mix of tax increases and spending cuts as a way to pay for a health overhaul — which could cost more than $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

Experts thought the big debate might be public plan vs. no public plan. But that may well pale in comparison to the difficulty of settling on a way to finance health care reform.

“I wish there were a number of painless options,” Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, wrote in his prepared testimony. “There aren’t.”

There appeared to be a bubble of support among the experts for taxing bad behavior, including a $2 tax on a pack of cigarettes and a higher excise tax on alcohol.

But soda and sugary drinks found a friend Tuesday in Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member on the Finance Committee.

He categorically rejected the idea during a conference call with reporters.

“No,” he said swiftly, when asked if there was any chance of taxing it. “I think, quite frankly, the only reason it’s being brought up is to get it shot down early so it doesn’t become part of the debate. I don’t think it’s going to have any legs at all.”

Still, it’s easy to see why the bad-habits tax was so tempting: Taxing tobacco, junk foods and alcohol could raise $600 billion over 10 years.

Lots of other options will also get a look.

People who like the tax-free status of their company health benefits could be asked to ante up. Money in the pot: more than $700 billion over 10 years.

Treasure the tax benefits from your health savings account? Some experts say the accounts encourage “excess consumption” of health services — and committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) agreed they’re worth a look. Money in the pot: $60 billion over 10 years.

The committee is far from settled on any one option — of which Baucus said there are many. Each item, down to the snickerdoodle, has a lobby behind it, paving the way for weeks of horse trading as the committee stitches together a tax package.

A panel of economists presented the committee with a menu of scenarios, from wringing savings out of Medicare and Medicaid to cutting medical costs by reducing sodium levels in packaged foods and at restaurants.

Non-health-related items remain in the mix, including capping the deduction on charitable donations, which received a chilly welcome on Capitol Hill after President Barack Obama proposed it in his budget.

“The proposals that we have discussed,” Baucus said, “will not come easily. The reforms that we are planning are not cheap. ... Finding money that we can all agree on will not be easy.”

Baucus gave one of the clearest signals yet that limiting the tax-free status on employer-based insurance remains a serious option. Obama opposed it during the campaign and repeatedly went after Republican John McCain for making it the centerpiece of his health care plan. Labor unions are also against it.

Yet the idea is attractive because of the money it could generate: $250 billion annually if the deduction was lifted altogether. Baucus insisted a full repeal was not under consideration, but he said lawmakers must look at the deduction.

“I know that there is some controversy around doing so,” Baucus said. “But the current tax exclusion is not perfect. It is regressive. It often leads people to buy more health coverage than they need.”

Six of the 13 witnesses, including economists from the conservative American Enterprise Institute and the liberal Center on Budget Policies and Priorities, argued explicitly for the proposal.

Employer-provided health insurance is considered part of workers’ compensation but is not taxed as wages are. Proponents of eliminating the benefit say it is poorly targeted because it gives the biggest benefit to those with the highest incomes and is unfair because self-employed individuals don’t qualify for the same break. It also encourages individuals to buy gold-plated insurance plans that can drive up health care costs, experts say.

But a warning in the testimony from Gerald Shea of the AFL-CIO underscored why this option will be a thorny issue for Democrats. He said the idea could “disrupt the primary source of health coverage and financing for most Americans.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22444.html

I know.A pack of cigarettes in this little lame state is $7.50 a pack.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Right time to go.

I luvz u

[natty bumppo 297]

time to start-up the home brew for home consumption ... worked for my ancestors ... it'll work today.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

time to start-up the home brew for home consumption ... worked for my ancestors ... it'll work today.

If life gives you lemon-taxes.... brew your own beer.

[scandal 951]

time to start-up the home brew for home consumption ... worked for my ancestors ... it'll work today.

If life gives you lemon-taxes.... brew your own beer.

or operate your own moonshine still