Quote:
Originally Posted by aceventura3
I hope proponents of increasing tax rates in general and specifically using cigarette taxes to fund children's health care take note of the information contained in a WSJ editorial appearing in today's edition.
Cigarette Tax Burnout - WSJ.com |
For those interested, I would offer a different perspective from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
Factsheets Index
Most notably
Responses to Misleading and Inaccurate Cigarette Company Arguments Against State Tobacco Tax Increases (Updated: 06.27.08 - pdf)
Raising Cigarette Taxes Reduces Smoking, Especially Among Kids (and the Cigarette Companies Know It) (Updated: 06.24.08 -pdf)
Raising State Cigarette Taxes Always Increases State Revenues and Always Reduces Smoking (Updated: 08.01.08-pdf)
Quite simply, raising cigarette taxes both reduces the number of kids who smoke and still provides a reliable source of revenue to the states. Every state that has increased its cigarette tax by a significant amount has enjoyed a substantial increase in revenue, despite tax-specific smoking declines and/or increased tax evasion. The only times a state receives less revenue than expected from a cigarette tax is when the state made an overly optimistic (unrealistic) revenue projection.
Readers can decide for themselves...a WSJ editorial or Tobacco Free Kids fact sheets.....along with considering the fact that SCHIP is one of the most successful and widely supported programs to come out of the federal government in the last 10 years.
Others can rehash this debate...makes no matter to me. A small increase in the number of Democrats in the House (to make it veto-proof, if necessary - it already has overwhelming bi-partisan support in the Senate that will be even larger with more Democrats) will result in its expansion so, from my perspective, its a win for millions of working class families regardless of who sits in the WH next.