Obama signs SCHIP bill

[Monkeyleg]

On the other hand a career as a bootlegger is looking ever more promising....

Don't think I've never fantasized about that. A semi trailer holds 70,000 cartons of cigarettes. Here in WI a carton runs $50 to $60. The profit from hijacking a load of cigarettes would probably be much greater than any other consumer products. If a person had a reliable fence, and the split was reasonable, a few hijackings could a few million to retire on.

I've watched the cigarette delivery company drop off at my local convenience store. Usually several hundred cartons at a time, and a lazy but armed guard.

I read an article a couple of years ago about street gangs in NYC moving from cocaine to bootleg cigarettes. The profit was about the same, but the criminal penalties were less severe.

[AJ Dual]

You were around for the illegal yellow oleo/margarine smuggling from Illinois, weren't you? 

[Cliffh]

Last I heard, the "stimulus" bill had provisions for $75million for a smoking cessation plan.

And the SCHIP's funding by tobacco taxes??

[Gowen]

+1 for it being a tax on the poor.

On a side note, the very young are covered by government health care, the old are covered...  Next you and me in the middle, yep we're next.  You know the health insurance you have at work, ok, some of you, well kiss it good bye when the government covers you.  Why should your company pay for health care insurance when the government will do it for free.

And that's the point why this is a bad bill.

[Monkeyleg]

You were around for the illegal yellow oleo/margarine smuggling from Illinois, weren't you?

I was too young too drive. My older brother had a tricked-out 54 Ford that he ran the margarine with. Sort of like the Nascar moonshiners of years ago.

[PTK]

...doesn't Obama smoke...?

[KD5NRH]

At the rate it's going, we're going to see a lot more indoor hydroponic grows....  only of tobacco instead of MJ

Nah; if it's like most of the taxes out there it only hits tax class A and maybe B: pre-rolled cigarettes.  Loose tobacco is class J and taxed a few cents per pound rather than per pack.  (Not sure how much actual tobacco is in a pack, but a pound will make more than a carton using a tubes-and-stuffer setup, or a variable number based on individual charateristics by handrolling.)  Around here, a pound of decent cigarette tobacco can still be had for under $15, and papers in bulk are pretty cheap too.  I tend to roll them about half to two-thirds the diameter of a filtered cigarette, so when I'm doing it that way a pound lasts longer than I care to keep count of.

Limiting it to pre-rolled cigarettes also, conveniently, avoids adding taxes to the cigars his buddies prefer.  I do have to wonder why they never seem to go after snuff to the extent that they do cigarettes, though.

[zahc]

Nah; if it's like most of the taxes out there it only hits tax class A and maybe B: pre-rolled cigarettes.

It's not like most of the taxes out there. It hits cigars and loose tobacco too. There is a 40 cent tax on every cigar. I'm not sure if they got the loose tobacco kicked out of the bill, but there were reports of the taxes doubling the price of loose tobacco. Of course originally the cigar tax was going to be several dollars a stick, but it got lowered down to 'only' a 'reasonable' 40 cents.

[Nick1911]

Nah; if it's like most of the taxes out there it only hits tax class A and maybe B: pre-rolled cigarettes.  Loose tobacco is class J and taxed a few cents per pound rather than per pack.  (Not sure how much actual tobacco is in a pack, but a pound will make more than a carton using a tubes-and-stuffer setup, or a variable number based on individual charateristics by handrolling.)  Around here, a pound of decent cigarette tobacco can still be had for under $15, and papers in bulk are pretty cheap too.  I tend to roll them about half to two-thirds the diameter of a filtered cigarette, so when I'm doing it that way a pound lasts longer than I care to keep count of.

Limiting it to pre-rolled cigarettes also, conveniently, avoids adding taxes to the cigars his buddies prefer.  I do have to wonder why they never seem to go after snuff to the extent that they do cigarettes, though.

This, I did not know.  Thank you for the information! :)

[MicroBalrog]

And of course you hold the monopoly on 'forward'?

Get a grip - dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

[lone_gunman]

dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

Dissent is often the highest form of partisanship.  I am opposed to Obama's bailout plans, just like all the Republicans that voted against it.  These Republican  dissenters are therefore patriotic I guess?  Why did they not dissent when Bush was spending money like a drunk sailor?  Were they not patriotic then?  Why could they vote to give people over 65 free drugs with the Medicare drug bill, but cannot support increases medical spending when it is suggested by Obama?

Most of the dissent we see now is simply a bunch of Republicans opposing anything and everything they can in order to maintain some degree of relevance..  They will lie and tell you they are against big government, and big spending.  It is a lie.  They supported big government and big spending when Bush was president.

My Senator from Georgia, Saxby Chambliss, is a prime example.  He voted for every pork filled spending bill he could find when Bush was president. He voted to increase the size and scope of federal government.  Now Obama takes over, and suddenly Chambliss is against all the things he was previously for.

[zahc]

Obama and his ilk wish to destroy America. I cannot abide by that.

The Dude does not abide.

[K Frame]

OK, now that the crap has been cleaned out of this thread, it can continue, on topic, and without tantrums.

[Don't care]

.