Death to Tyrants

The recent federal tax hike on tobacco is ridiculous. I don't mind the tax increase on packaged cigarettes, since it is only a little over 60 cents, but the increase on loose tobacco for rolling is absolutely absurd. I feel like I'm living in a goddamned Franz Kafka novel. Before the tax increase, I could purchase a pound of cheap loose tobacco for about $13. Now, the same tobacco in the same quantity costs around $40. For those less inclined toward math, that's triple the price.

 

The main reason for buying loose tobacco, at least for me, is the lower cost. True, it still costs under half as much to make your own carton of cigarettes rather than buying one, but it costs three times as much than it used to. In the current economic climate, and with my being a student, I do not have the money to continue to smoke. I feel that this tax increase targets those smokers who do not have enough disposable income to continue to support their habit. If I had more money, I would not have had to switch to loose tobacco in the first place, and I could continue to buy as many cigarettes as I needed to smoke. 

I am going to have to quit smoking. I accept that I am not forced into this situation, because I could choose to devote a substantially larger part of my income to tobacco, but I find the federal government to be at fault. Smokers have become an easy target for legislation. Many businesses no longer have the option of allowing indoor smoking if they would like. Many more smokers are now going to have to quit if they would like to have any sort of money left over from their paychecks. We are now footing the bill for government programs, while other industries and demographics are enjoying their time in the tax-increase-free sun. 

The raise taxes on gasoline now would be obscene. Few people would stand for it. To implement a similar tax increase on any other product at this time would be unheard of. With unemployment increasing and profits shrinking, many would be up in arms if most other products were to triple in price because of the federal government. Lesson to be learned from all of this (which ought to have been learned in kindergarten): There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone will always have to foot the bill. As the government is trying to spend us out of a recession, they are racking up debt that will eventually have to be paid back by someone (my and future generations). This is a harbinger of the days ahead. 

As for me, I will stop smoking like the government wants me to. A sin tax is good as long as people continue to sin and provide revenue for the state's programs, but this is not a sin tax. This is an open assault on a smoker's right to choose whether to smoke or not to smoke. The demand for tobacco is relatively inelastic, but my demand curve has been stretched too far. Mission Accomplished. The state wants me to quit smoking, I will quit smoking. I hope many others do as well, and I hope that the state recovers drastically too few tax dollars from tobacco.

To be fair, the program (Children's Health Insurance) is a worthy beneficiary of American tax dollars, far worthier than irresponsible executives, but the government cannot have its cake and eat it, too. If they want smokers to quit, they cannot also hope to fund programs by taxing their addiction. If they want money, they ought to gradually increase taxes on tobacco as well as other things.

I should have voted for Ron Paul.