and just remember, the more you smoke, the more money becomes available for childrens health care. A bill now signed into law provides for spending an additional $32.8 BILLION on the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP.)
Wheres the money coming from to pay for it? Lawmakers generated the extra revenue by increasing the federal tobacco tax. The bill (now signed into law) boosts the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes to $1.01 a pack. That means an awful lot of smokers wont be able to afford the habit anymore and theyll have to be replaced by new smokers.
In the original stimulus plan, on page 61, it included 75 MILLION dollars for smoking cessation programs. So, the one hand, we have the politicians introducing bills to try to get people to STOP smoking, while on the other hand, encouraging people to smoke MORE to pay for childrens health care, yet adding exorbitant taxes to make it more difficult.
On the one hand, were told smoking and second hand smoke kills while on the other, were encouraging people to smoke in order to pay the bills for children health care insurance. While smokers are encouraged to keep lighting up for the sake of the children, politicians write laws so lawyers can sue tobacco companies, making the price go up, which discourages people from smoking, and lessens the amount of revenue being generated.
For smokers that can still afford the habit, they find it increasingly difficult to find a place to light up. How do they expect people to run up all that lovely revenue if they cant smoke?
So, for the time being, smoke em if you can afford em, and can find a safe AND legal place to light up. Just remember, the more you smoke, the more money will be generated FOR THE CHILDREN.