BAD NEWS SMOKERS!! LONG LINES AT TOBACCO SHOPS TODAY!!
Calvin said
6:41 AM, 03/31/09
Federal Cigarette Tax Going Up
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama signed legislation Wednesday to more than double the federal cigarette to pay for an expansion of health insurance for poor children.
Tobacco companies hurt by declining smoking rates expect the 62-cent increase -- to $1.01 per pack -- to further cut cigarette sales after it takes effect April 1.
The major tax increase on cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars will fund a $32.8 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, providing coverage to an additional 4 million children.
"In a decent society, there are certain obligations that are not subject to tradeoffs or negotiation -- health care for our children is one of those obligations," Obama said at a signing ceremony at the White House.
It's not yet clear how hard the tax hike will hit tobacco companies.
Fitch Ratings, a bond rating firm, said it expects a 4 percent to 7 percent drop in cigarette sales this year.
Tommy Payne, spokesman for Reynolds American Inc., a tobacco company in Winston-Salem, N.C., said the company expects industry-wide volume declines of 6 percent to 8 percent.
David Sutton, spokesman for Philip Morris USA in Richmond, Va., said it was difficult to say how the tax hike would affect the company's bottom line.
The federal increase comes after a series of cigarette tax increases by dozens of states over the last five years. The trend has driven up cigarette prices and is expected to continue.
So far this year, 16 states have considered legislation to increase cigarette taxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Hikes are expected this year in states that have historically opposed raising cigarette taxes, including South Carolina, which has the nation's lowest state cigarette tax rate of 7 cents per pack, and Mississippi, third lowest with 18 cents per pack.
Richard Cauchi, health program director for the conference of state legislatures, said it's difficult to say how many of those proposed hikes will pass.
In 2007, tobacco tax hikes passed in 11 states. Last year, 20 states debated increases, but only two passed. They were unusually large -- a $1 hike in Massachusetts and $1.25 in New York. At $2.75 a pack, New York has the country's highest cigarettes taxes.
Two factors have the potential to spark another wave of tax hikes this year, tobacco analysts said. The prolonged economic downturn has created budget deficits in nearly every state. Lawmakers generally face less resistance to increasing 'sin taxes' than income taxes or sales taxes paid by everyone.
Job losses have swelled the ranks of the uninsured, and cigarette taxes are often pegged to pay for expansions of government health insurance programs.
The fact that Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former tobacco lobbyist, is backing a state tobacco tax hike "is the clearest indication yet that policy makers see the writing on the wall," said Pete Fisher, vice president for state issues for the advocacy group Tobacco-Free Kids.
"They have budget gaps to fill. Lots of governors see they can raise cigarette taxes without facing a backlash from voters who might oppose other kinds of tax increases," Fisher said.
Tobacco companies have fought the increases in every state. They argue that tax increases rarely bring in as much revenue as projected, because higher prices prompt some people to quit and others to buy untaxed cigarettes online or on Native American reservations.
Payne, the Reynolds spokesman, said the hike Obama signed Wednesday could hurt states that rely heavily on cigarette taxes. The volume declines prompted by the new federal rate will also cut state cigarette tax revenues, he said.
"They're not going to get the money they're expecting," he said.
Freddie Krueger said
8:34 AM, 03/31/09
Yeah, they won't get the money that they are expecting, but if more of us quit, perhaps the health care costs will go down in the long run.
Uke said
10:00 AM, 03/31/09
Checkin' around Seattle... Price per varies. Low $6.25. Highest: $8.00 per non-carton single pack!
Haven't checked on chew, snoose, or cigars... But tobacco's tabacco, and these new taxes are not arbitrary, or negotiable. Ya get whatcha pay for!
Troll said
10:15 AM, 03/31/09
Commuters will start bumming smokes off the bums and whinos at Penn Station for a change.
Buckethead said
11:10 PM, 03/31/09
The went up to $6.15 a pack here about an hour ago. The bastards didn't even wait till 7am!
Uke said
11:26 PM, 03/31/09
Waaaaahh! Bucket wants his ciggies! And he ain't gonna wait in no stinkin' lines any more! Damnit!
The went up to $6.15 a pack here about an hour ago. The bastards didn't even wait till 7am!
Try $7.50 a pack in NJ before the price hike.
NYC is well over $8 a pack.
The government will get you to quit one way or the other.
Uke said
9:06 AM, 04/01/09
Say ya wanna quit? Just try gettin' help!
Stop-smoking lines flooded as tobacco tax rises
March 31, 2009 5:57 PM EDT
WASHINGTON - Calling your state stop-smoking hot line for help kicking the habit? Expect a wait: Smokers are flooding the lines in a panic over an increase in the tobacco tax.
Denver-based National Jewish Health received triple the usual number of calls Monday for a March day to quit lines it runs in six states: Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico and Ohio.
The calls - 2,317 on Monday - had steadily increased all month as smokers began dealing with a big price hit in a sour economy. Not only does the per-pack federal tax climb from 39 cents to $1.01 on Wednesday, but the major cigarette makers raised prices several weeks ago in anticipation.
Quit lines around the country are feeling the surge, according to an informal survey by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids that found a missed opportunity as cash-strapped states struggled to meet demand.
Michigan's quit line itself had to quit - working, that is. It ran out of money in mid-March after logging more than 65,000 callers in five days. Besides counseling and tips, Michigan's hot line offered free nicotine patches, gum or lozenges. The giveaway program in 2008 generated only about 20,000 calls in six weeks, the campaign noted.
Arkansas quit general advertising of the quit line to keep up with calls that rose from about 500 a week in January to more than 2,000 a week in mid-March, the campaign said. And Indiana and Oklahoma were receiving record-level weekly calls.
Price surges typically spur would-be quitters to take the plunge. Not all will be successful. The tobacco-free kids group estimates that about 1 million adults will quit as a result of the tax increase.
Consumers can dial 1-800-QUIT-NOW to be directed to their state hot lines.
----
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/index.php
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Astrobuck10 said
11:35 AM, 04/01/09
How about another tax on whining about
the price of smokes, proceeds providing funding to
Astrobuck10 inc. for infrastructure renewal projects ?
Troll said
12:31 PM, 04/01/09
Astrobuck10 wrote:
How about another tax on whining about the price of smokes, proceeds providing funding to Astrobuck10 inc. for infrastructure renewal projects ?
The Following User Says Thank You to Goat Rider For This Useful Post: Ook! AKA: Yook, Ewk,Yuke.
-- Edited by Uke on Wednesday 1st of April 2009 04:29:59 PM
Buckethead said
11:43 PM, 04/02/09
Uke wrote:
Waaaaahh! Bucket wants his ciggies! And he ain't gonna wait in no stinkin' lines any more! Damnit!
Hey pUKE, the joke is on you! I bought 4 cartons before the price hike, and then I just got two more coupons for $10, yep Ten dollars off a carton! I got a bunch more $4 and $5 coupons tu!
Sooo...fuck you and your bad attitude!!
The Krink said
12:56 AM, 04/03/09
Think it was in early February they added a buck a pack increase
supposedly coming from the Tobacco manufactures. That was
a shock enough going from $44 bucks a carton to $55.50 a carton.
I bought a few extra cartons on Mar 31. From what the newspaper
said they added another 61 cents per pack on April 1st. The next
time I walk into the smokeshop it's likely to be around 63 bucks a carton.
Fuck! Punish the fucking smokers. Seems the easy way out for raising
tax dollars. They're fucking us all from every single angle they can
these days. Plan to check out cig prices from the several dozen Indian
Reservations around here. Venus retrograde's finest hour.
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama signed legislation Wednesday to more than double the federal cigarette to pay for an expansion of health insurance for poor children.
Tobacco companies hurt by declining smoking rates expect the 62-cent increase -- to $1.01 per pack -- to further cut cigarette sales after it takes effect April 1.
The major tax increase on cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars will fund a $32.8 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, providing coverage to an additional 4 million children.
"In a decent society, there are certain obligations that are not subject to tradeoffs or negotiation -- health care for our children is one of those obligations," Obama said at a signing ceremony at the White House.
It's not yet clear how hard the tax hike will hit tobacco companies.
Fitch Ratings, a bond rating firm, said it expects a 4 percent to 7 percent drop in cigarette sales this year.
Tommy Payne, spokesman for Reynolds American Inc., a tobacco company in Winston-Salem, N.C., said the company expects industry-wide volume declines of 6 percent to 8 percent.
David Sutton, spokesman for Philip Morris USA in Richmond, Va., said it was difficult to say how the tax hike would affect the company's bottom line.
The federal increase comes after a series of cigarette tax increases by dozens of states over the last five years. The trend has driven up cigarette prices and is expected to continue.
So far this year, 16 states have considered legislation to increase cigarette taxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Hikes are expected this year in states that have historically opposed raising cigarette taxes, including South Carolina, which has the nation's lowest state cigarette tax rate of 7 cents per pack, and Mississippi, third lowest with 18 cents per pack.
Richard Cauchi, health program director for the conference of state legislatures, said it's difficult to say how many of those proposed hikes will pass.
In 2007, tobacco tax hikes passed in 11 states. Last year, 20 states debated increases, but only two passed. They were unusually large -- a $1 hike in Massachusetts and $1.25 in New York. At $2.75 a pack, New York has the country's highest cigarettes taxes.
Two factors have the potential to spark another wave of tax hikes this year, tobacco analysts said. The prolonged economic downturn has created budget deficits in nearly every state. Lawmakers generally face less resistance to increasing 'sin taxes' than income taxes or sales taxes paid by everyone.
Job losses have swelled the ranks of the uninsured, and cigarette taxes are often pegged to pay for expansions of government health insurance programs.
The fact that Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former tobacco lobbyist, is backing a state tobacco tax hike "is the clearest indication yet that policy makers see the writing on the wall," said Pete Fisher, vice president for state issues for the advocacy group Tobacco-Free Kids.
"They have budget gaps to fill. Lots of governors see they can raise cigarette taxes without facing a backlash from voters who might oppose other kinds of tax increases," Fisher said.
Tobacco companies have fought the increases in every state. They argue that tax increases rarely bring in as much revenue as projected, because higher prices prompt some people to quit and others to buy untaxed cigarettes online or on Native American reservations.
Payne, the Reynolds spokesman, said the hike Obama signed Wednesday could hurt states that rely heavily on cigarette taxes. The volume declines prompted by the new federal rate will also cut state cigarette tax revenues, he said.
"They're not going to get the money they're expecting," he said.
Try $7.50 a pack in NJ before the price hike.
NYC is well over $8 a pack.
The government will get you to quit one way or the other.
WASHINGTON - Calling your state stop-smoking hot line for help kicking the habit? Expect a wait: Smokers are flooding the lines in a panic over an increase in the tobacco tax.
Denver-based National Jewish Health received triple the usual number of calls Monday for a March day to quit lines it runs in six states: Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico and Ohio.
The calls - 2,317 on Monday - had steadily increased all month as smokers began dealing with a big price hit in a sour economy. Not only does the per-pack federal tax climb from 39 cents to $1.01 on Wednesday, but the major cigarette makers raised prices several weeks ago in anticipation.
Quit lines around the country are feeling the surge, according to an informal survey by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids that found a missed opportunity as cash-strapped states struggled to meet demand.
Michigan's quit line itself had to quit - working, that is. It ran out of money in mid-March after logging more than 65,000 callers in five days. Besides counseling and tips, Michigan's hot line offered free nicotine patches, gum or lozenges. The giveaway program in 2008 generated only about 20,000 calls in six weeks, the campaign noted.
Arkansas quit general advertising of the quit line to keep up with calls that rose from about 500 a week in January to more than 2,000 a week in mid-March, the campaign said. And Indiana and Oklahoma were receiving record-level weekly calls.
Price surges typically spur would-be quitters to take the plunge. Not all will be successful. The tobacco-free kids group estimates that about 1 million adults will quit as a result of the tax increase.
Consumers can dial 1-800-QUIT-NOW to be directed to their state hot lines.
----
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/index.php
A GUB WITHOUT A CITIZEN IS AMAN
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LLMAO!
The Following User Says Thank You to Goat Rider For This Useful Post: Ook! AKA: Yook, Ewk,Yuke.
-- Edited by Uke on Wednesday 1st of April 2009 04:29:59 PM
Sooo...fuck you and your bad attitude!!