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____________________________________ TAXATION THROUGH DISCRIMINATION “The three quarters of the adult population that do not smoke find it easy to tax cigarettes because we simply don’t like cigarette smoke. It is this attitude that encourages the government to discriminate against smokers. Some proponents of the tax increase will argue this kind of discrimination is good. If forcing smokers to pay higher prices for cigarettes induces some to quit, then there will be less second-hand smoke, and the world will be a healthier place for you and me. That argument is simply without merit. There is no credible statistical evidence that second hand smoke causes health problems.” - Prof. John Jackson, The Auborn Plainsman, 4/22/04 (Read the full column at: http://www.theplainsman.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/04/22/4087a6520b020) ONE DARES CALL IT LIBERTY “If someone were to point a gun at a restaurateur and demand that the establishment be run to his specifications, he would be arrested, properly, as a violent and dangerous criminal. Why, then, is it considered ethical if the same action is taken indirectly, with ‘Big Brother’ government acting as the triggerman? No person is ‘forced’ to enter any given pub or cafe, either as a customer or as an employee - yet smoking prohibitionists have no qualms about forcing their preferences on property owners. “Where there is freedom of choice, there is no coercion; where there is no coercion, there is no violation of rights; where there is no violation of rights, there is no justification for the imposition of government force. The only moral course is the repeal of existing smoking bans in private establishments, allowing owners to reclaim their inalienable right to set their own rules, catering to whatever preference is most desired and/or lucrative as determined by individuals' free choices in the marketplace. This simple mechanism is called liberty.” - Gregory K. Gerig of Montrose, CA, USA Today, 4/7/04 THE BUSINESS OWNERS’ CHOICE “Anti-smoking advocates are trying to eliminate (the indoor smoking) issue in Juneau by making all public facilities and businesses smoke-free. . . . Many business owners say they and their employees will suffer. Some fear closure. Owners have spoken out against an all-out smoking ban, placed advertisements and showed up in numbers at a recent Juneau Assembly meeting to pressure lawmakers against such a ban. They acknowledge smoking is harmful, but contend the public should have the choice of patronizing a smoking or nonsmoking business. . . . ‘It should be up to the establishment's owner whether to allow smoking,’ (Joanna) McDowell said. ‘It should be the business owners' choice for their clientele.’ " - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 4/25/04 CHEF SEZ: BUTT OUT “Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson says there is no need to ban smoking completely from restaurants, pubs and hotels (in England). As well as having recently acquired the Angel Coaching Inn in Wiltshire and hosting last year’s Pub Food Awards, Mr. Worrall Thompson is a patron of FOREST, which aims to accommodate smokers without inconveniencing non-smokers. He said: ‘Why should the anti-smoking lobby dictate our lifestyle at the expense of our well-known culture of tolerance?’ Mr. Worall Thompson's Notting Grill restaurant in West London has installed air cleaners in its smoking areas and private hire rooms.” - The Publican, 4/22/04 BAN PROPOSAL COMING TO LOUISVILLE “Mayor Jerry Abramson believes today's (Kentucky Supreme Court) ruling (upholding a city ban on indoor smoking) clears the way for a smoking ban to be passed in Louisville. . . . Thursday night, Metro Council Members will hear details of yet another proposal that would limit smoking in public. Councilman George Melton wants a smoking ban in day care centers and in restaurants where 75-percent of their income is derived from food.” - Wave3.com, 4/22/04 LEGISLATING MORALITY “It just isn't right to discriminate against people, just because they have certain preferences. That's crazy, to make a ban and say, 'Don't smoke.' That's like legislating morality. They're still trying to do that in Kentucky." - Roland Moore, non-smoker, on the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling upholding a Lexington ban on indoor smoking, Miami Herald, 4/22/04 BAN BACKLASH IN WI “A grassroots effort to snuff out the (Madison, WI) City Council's ban on smoking in all indoor public places by July 2005 is gaining support. Local radio talk show producer Dave McCann is organizing a petition drive for a referendum to ask voters to reverse the smoking ban, or at least make some exceptions. ‘We've heard from non-smokers on this radio show that would still support the referendum and vote in favor of exempting bars,’ McCann said.” - WISC.com, 4/22/04 LA BEACH BAN “Smokers will soon have to take their last drags of cigarettes and cigars on city beaches. The (Los Angeles) City Council voted Friday to ban smoking on its four beaches, becoming the fourth community along the Southern California coast to recognize smoking's harm to people and the environment. The ordinance becomes law within 30 days after approval by Mayor James Hahn, who has five days to sign it. The mayor will sign it, said his spokesman, Yusef Robb.” - Sandiego.com, 4/23/04 UNCOMMON COMMON SENSE “Encinitas (California) officials will not ban smoking on the city's beaches. The City Council voted 3-2 Wednesday night against instructing the city staff to draft an ordinance that would have prohibited smoking on city beaches, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. The council opted instead to consider setting up more trash cans and conducting a public education campaign aimed a discouraging people from leaving cigarette butts on the beach.” - KFMB.com, 4/22/04 CIG-TAX HIKE PROPOSED IN MISSISSIPPI “(Mississippi) House leaders are unrolling a late-in-the-session proposal to raise cigarette taxes 9 cents a pack to pay for opening and operating mental health crisis centers. . . . House Speaker Billy McCoy said Thursday night that increasing cigarette taxes from the current 18 cents a pack to the proposed 27 cents a pack would raise $21.9 million.” - Biloxi Sun Herald, 4/22/04 GOP GUV JUST SAYS “NO” IN MISSISSIPPI “Gov. Haley Barbour said Monday that he doubts legislators will pass a proposed cigarette tax increase but if they do, he will veto it. ‘Raising taxes is the enemy of controlling spending,’ Barbour said.” - Biloxi Sun-Herald, 4/26/04 MEANWHILE, GOP GUV PUSHES TAX HIKE IN TEXAS “If (Texas) Governor Rick Perry’s school funding and tax plan is passed, some citizens could see an extra $40 dollars a month come out of their pockets. The group whose pockets the governor wishes to stretch is smokers. Perry’s tax plan includes various sin taxes such as a $1-per-pack cigarette tax… . . . If the bill is passed, it could mean one of two things for most smokers, spending more or quitting.” - Texas City Sun, 4/22/04 OKIES JUMP ON CIG-TAX HIKE BANDWAGON “The Oklahoma Senate has approved a bill that would increase the state's tobacco tax by about 52 cents to pay for the expansion of healthcare coverage for uninsured residents, the Associated Press reported April 19. The Senate approved the measure despite arguments that it would disproportionately affect the poor and create a social program that would be too costly to run.” - JoinTogether.org, 4/23/04 CIG-TAX HIKE IN AK “Faced with a flood of public opposition, the Fairbanks (Alaska) North Star Borough Assembly passed a new tobacco tax Thursday... The new tobacco tax--an 8 percent levy on tobacco products brought into the borough for sale--will go into effect on July 1, the start of the new fiscal year. The tax, expected to earn $1.1 million a year, is part of what Mayor Jim Whitaker has said is part of his goal to diversify the tax base.” - Fairbanks Daily News, 4/23/04 APPLACHIA APPROVES CIG-TAX HIKE “Effective July 1, people trying to save a nickel on a pack of cigarettes won't be able to find a bargain in this town. (The Appalachia, VA) Town council Thursday joined Big Stone Gap and several other neighboring towns in approving a 5 cent-per-pack cigarette tax.” - Coalfield.com, 4/21/04 CIG-TAX HIKE GOES TO BALLOT IN MT “An effort to raise Montana's tobacco tax to pay for health care and other state projects cleared its last legal hurdle Thursday on its way to the voters in November. . . . Brought by the Healthy Kids, Healthy Montana political action committee, I-149 would raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1 to $1.70 a pack and raise the tax on moist snuff by 50 cents to 85 cents a package. It would also raise the tax on all other tobacco products, like loose tobacco, by 25 percent.” - Billings Gazette, 4/23/04 ‘BAMA COUNTY JUMPS ON CIG-TAX BANDWAGON “Blount County (Alabama) residents likely will get to vote during the state's June 1 primary on whether to add a tobacco tax to keep sheriff's deputies at county schools. A bill before the Alabama Legislature would allow voters to decide whether they favor allowing the Blount County Commission to add a 10-cent tax on tobacco products and packages sold in the county.” - AL.com, 4/26/04 TAX HIKERS JOIN FORCES IN MICHIGAN... “A new coalition called the Health Leaders Alliance (HLA) has been formed in Michigan to formally support HB 5632, sponsored by Representative Larry Julian (R), which includes Governor Granholm's proposal for a 75 cent tobacco tax increase. The coalition, whose battle cry is ‘Hike it for health -- Support the tobacco tax, protect funding for health,’ is calling for the estimated $295 million in new revenue generated by the hike to be used for statewide healthcare programming.” - HLA press release, 4/21/04 ..AS OPPOSITION MOUNTS “Supporters of the proposed 75-cent increase in Michigan's cigarette tax are looking to Michigan citizens and job providers to foot the bill for state government's spending problems. Like families and businesses, state government needs to learn to live within its means. . . . The proposed cigarette tax increase is a bad idea for several reasons. . . . The proposed cigarette tax increase -- or any tax increase -- would hurt, not help, Michigan's competitive standing. . . . Second, the proposed cigarette tax increase would cancel a much-needed and overdue rate reduction in the Single Business Tax. . . . Third, Michigan has already imposed one of the highest cigarette tax rates in the nation. A $2-per-pack tax would be the second highest nationwide, just a nickel behind New Jersey. “In addition, Michigan raised its cigarette tax by 50 cents less than two years ago -- from 75-cents per pack to $1.25 per pack. . . . A coalition of retailers, wholesalers, convenience store operators, service station dealers and grocers --called the Michigan Business Alliance for Fair Taxes -- agrees that the proposed cigarette tax increase is an inappropriate solution to state government's spending problems.” - Tricia Kinley of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Detroit Free Press, 4/19/04 ********************************
