Quote:
Originally Posted by Derwood
wait, raising taxes on cigarettes is the same as raising them on all of the lower class? pardon me if I have no sympathy; a group of people with limited income spending $3000-$5000 a year on a bad habit is getting taxed more? boo hoo. they're a drain on the health insurance industry.
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The average pack a day smoker pays about $900 per year in federal and state tobacco taxes, The tobacco industry has settled suits for about $250 billion so far. Together this probably more than offsets the increased cost of smoker's healthcare. Plus when you buy healthcare insurance they already charge smokers for the additional required. When added together smokers already pay more than they cost society for healthcare.
The government knows this so why should they put an additional burden on smokers especially since the majority of the money will come from the lower income groups? If we are really concerned about tobacco users healthcare costs then why not use the money for this instead of paying for other people's kids?
Obama should have insisted that the SCHIP funding come from the higher income groups. A sin tax increase on the lower income groups is still a tax increase.