Jump to full article: Savannah (GA) Morning News, 2009-03-02
Author: amy haywood hughes
Intro: In 1776, three things were considered "extremely proper subjects" for taxation: Rum, sugar and tobacco. They were taxed, not because they were evil, sinful products, but because they weren't considered "necessities of life."
Last Wednesday, a state legislative subcommittee listened to three hours of testimony concerning the timeless topic of tobacco taxation. House Bill 39 by State Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, increases Georgia's 37 cent cigarette tax by $1 per pack and raises the 10 percent tax on smokeless tobacco to 25 percent.
In the recent Savannah Morning News column "Sin taxes: A big lie," former talk radio shock jock Ben Crystal called the tobacco tax increase "an easy way to shovel money into the state coffers in the guise of nanny-state style wrist slapping."
What was he smokin'? Crystal's use of extremist rhetoric and his distortion of the facts obfuscated the truth about this important issue. . . .
HB 39 is not about sin. Nobody is trying to place a scarlet "S" for "Smoker" on anyone's chest. It's about common sense, personal responsibility, equity, economics, child protection and public health.
Should the state subsidize health care for persons who choose to smoke . . . .
Nobody likes taxes, however as a society this is the way we fund our government and some taxes are considered more palatable than others.
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