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September 30, 2007
Making Smokers Pay for Child Healthcare Expansion
by Tina Grazier
There are times when I think we should just go right ahead and send those little men in white coats off to Congress to cart our legislators away for a nice medicated rest. This is one of those times.
Democrats recently got together and decided to do something dramatic…something that the people would lap up like thirsty pups at the water bowl after a good run…something that would help put check marks in the “D” box at the voting booth…something for the children.
First legislation was written to expand eligibility for child healthcare benefits. Next the funding aspect of the bill was addressed. They weren’t in a position to increase payroll taxes, and they didn’t want to be seen as adding to the deficit anyway, so what could they do? They needed a bad guy…a group that already had a really negative image so the public would buy it. Smokers! YES!! Smokers were the natural choice for least liked group. The proposed 156% increase on the federal cigarette tax is the result of this cowardly inclination. Senate majority Leader Harry Reid loved the idea...but some suggest this is a really stupid way to fund a health care program for kids...as reported by the AP:
"I'm very happy that we're paying for this," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in an interview Friday, noting that the plan would not add to the deficit. "The health of the children is extremely important," he said. "In the long run, maybe it'll stop people from smoking."
"I know there is very little sympathy for smokers these days," Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said during the House debate. "But it is still a tax increase on the backs of the smokers. And in order to get enough money to pay for this, it would require 22 million new smokers."
Representative Jack Kingston is on to something.
How sane is it to fund a beloved program for the children with a source you hope (and know) will dry up as a result of the very legislation you passed to fund that program in the first place? How sane is it to target poor people who, statistics show, are more likely to be smokers?
A few facts:
Nearly one-third of all U.S. adults living in poverty are smokers, compared with 23.5 percent of those above the poverty level, according to government statistics. *** The American Heart Association reports that 35 percent of people with no more than 11 years of schooling are smokers. Those with 16 or more years of formal education smoke at a 12 percent rate. *** Non-Hispanic black men smoke at slightly higher rates than do non-Hispanic white men. But the reverse is true among women. *** State and federal governments received more than $21 billion in cigarette excise taxes in the 2006 budget year.
$21 billion from cigarette taxes already and they want more. Incredible. Americans have favored so called sin taxes for years but this proposal, making smokers carry the entire burden for a $35 billion program expansion, is NUTS never mind that ultimately it won't work.
Thankfully President Bush will most likely veto this crazy legislation; legislation that purportedly includes children of persons visiting illegally in our country, 21 year old children, and children of families not usually considered “poor”…but that’s another insanity for another day. Meanwhile, we'll just keep those guys in white coats on standby.
Find the AP story posted at FOX online:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298663,00.html
Completely sane information, and a better approach to coverage for children in poor families, can be found at the Heritage Foundation website:
http://www.heritage.org/research/healthcare/schip/
Posted by Post Scripts at September 30, 2007 03:02 PM