Jump to full article: Deseret News, 2009-02-08
Author: Jay Evensen Deseret News
Intro: The questions seemed to make the temperature in the room climb a notch.
"How do you feel about working for a company like that?" And the natural follow-up, "Are you working just for the money?"
On the other end were two men representing Philip Morris, the thriving, black-hatted cigarette maker. They had come, along with a representative of the Utah Taxpayers Association, to lobby the Deseret News editorial board against supporting a cigarette tax hike.
The questions took us off topic. Their pitch was to remove the tax-hike debate from morals and put it onto economic development and good public policy. . . .
But at $3 a pack, Utah would go from having among the lowest cigarette taxes in the nation to having the highest, at least for now. With the recession deepening, other states are bound to turn to this revenue source as one of the few socially acceptable tax hikes available.
Until those states act, however, we have this economic argument: Currently, Wyoming's cigarette tax is 60 cents a pack; Idaho's is 57 cents. If Utah's rises to $3, many of the 16 percent or so who smoke here will make weekend visits to Evanston or Burley to stuff their trunks with cheap smokes. Or at least that's what our visitors said. Vote no and save those poor Utah convenience store clerks who might lose their jobs!
They also wanted to argue that increasing the tax won't reduce the number of smokers, and that any tax increase is bad during a recession. . . .
In all, our guests came up with only one argument that ought to give Utah lawmakers pause. It makes little sense to rely too much on money from a habit that is dying about as quickly as its practitioners. The money won't be reliable.
But that wasn't enough to take away the moral question. Why do you do it? . . .
Gee, what nice guys.
This wasn't the first time Philip Morris sent people to visit us. Each time, I'm left wanting to yell, "Wait! Back up. You manufacture and market what?"
It's hard to cry for these guys. They will sell cigarettes no matter what the cost. It's easy to be honest about how your product kills when people are addicted. And that makes arguments about tax policy and consumer choice give you a coughing fit.
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