Massachusetts Raises Cigarette Tax $1.00 a Pack
As you can read here Massachusetts’ Governor Deval Patrick has signed a bill that will increase the tax on cigarettes by $1.00 a pack to a total of $2.51 a pack. Once again a tax is being imposed on a group of politically incorrect people to help to pay for the government’s penchant for overspending.
The mostly absent, vying for a cabinet position in a Barack Obama presidency governor of Massachusetts had no problem getting into town to pass more taxes onto the people who were foolish enough to vote for him.
The part about the cigarette tax that irks me the most (and I am a non-smoker) isn’t just that this tax unfairly targets a small percentage of the people, it isn’t even the fact that this tax is imposed on this group of people while all the other lesser taxed people benefit from it, it is the fact that this tax hurts the poor much more than anybody else.
Let’s face it, the less fortunate are hit harder by this tax than anyone else, plus they are addicted so it makes them easy targets. The government knows that they can keep on raising the tobacco tax because the people that use the product can’t stop using the product. The fact that Democrats claim that they care about the poor and less fortunate while evil Republicans only care about themselves is what really ticks me off about this.
This tax increase went into effect , and in some cases before the bill was even signed (more on that in my next post), because the Massachusetts government was so eager to increase revenues before the start of the new fiscal year.
The Massachusetts government doesn’t care about the residents, it only cares about how much of the resident’s money can it steal. And they are doing a great job at stealing money.
If this were the 1700’s the tobacco would find it’s way to the bottom of the fucking harbor.
America's Watchtower 
…right next to the tea bags….
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So we might as well have casinos then too, right? Get $$ out of people who really can’t afford it even quicker!
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In response to Deb, Not really. This is seen as a disincentive. The fact that it targets the poor both with the added health care and the attempt to get them to quit smoking is not a coincidence. Don’t like it? Go to New York where packs usually cost like 9 bucks a pack. (And NO system for better health care).
And yes, I am a smoker.
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Geez im commenting on all the forums but the author here pretty much covered it. Just remember dont vote for the current govenor again no matter who he runs against. Also, with all the negative campaigns to promote hate against smokers and the fact that they made a it illeagle to speak up against that propoganda. No one seems to remember that smokers also have familys and kids that are going to go hungry because of this. Is a hate commercial really that powerfull to get people riled up into thinking they even deserve this?
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If cigarettes are as dangerous as the Government would have us believe, why aren’t they banned like Marijuana. Isn’t taxing cigarettes a tacit way of the Government informing us that even if it kills us, we must pay taxes–or can it be that the Government is lying to us about the evil effects of tobacco just as it is lying to us when the Pelosi’s of Congress tell us that there is no “OINK” in the Stimulus Bill?
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