Mass. Senate OKs cigarette tax hike, from $5.41 a pack to about $6.41

[megimoo]

"watch these liberal Masshole idiots cry foul when people quit smoking due to the price and their tax honey pot dries up,maybe they could tax gay sex !"

BOSTON —— The Massachusetts Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to raise the cigarette tax by $1 a pack and close hundreds of millions of dollars in so-called corporate tax loopholes. The House passed a similar tax package last month. Gov. Deval Patrick generally supports an increase in the cigarette tax, but the $1 boost will be tied up in negotiations over corporate tax rates before it reaches his desk. The Senate tax package, which passed 31 to 6, would raise nearly $472 million in revenue next year. The House passed a tax package last month that would bring in $80 million less than the Senate.

The differences likely will have to be worked out by a conference committee before a bill can be sent to the governor.

Massachusetts smokers already pay a $1.51 excise tax on a pack of cigarettes. The average price of a pack of cigarettes is $5.41, including the state tax, according to Tobacco Free Mass. The cigarette tax was last raised in 2002, when the Legislature nearly doubled it.
Unlike the House, where a number of legislators said smokers were being unfairly targeted, there was little debate on the cigarette tax in the Senate.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080507/NEWS/805070307

[Chris_]

Who'da thought that another liberal state, facing budget shortfalls, would consider slapping another tax on an unpopular group.........

As an aside, it was this topic (or a similiar cigarette tax issue), that got me crossways with Gator over at CU, and ultimately resulted in my migration here.....

/end threadjack/

doc

[megimoo]

Who'da thought that another liberal state, facing budget shortfalls, would consider slapping another tax on an unpopular group.........

As an aside, it was this topic (or a similiar cigarette tax issue), that got me crossways with Gator over at CU, and ultimately resulted in my migration here.....

/end threadjack/

doc

Its easy to get the Gators skivvies bunched up !
An old fart with an attitude like his gets off on a bunch of issues.
With Gator it's 'His way or the highway',what a way to run a web site !
Lots of nice people there though !"

[Uhhuh35]

I love cigarette taxes. Poor people smoke more than any other group, and that's how we get rich right, on the backs of the poor?
If Liberals really cared for the poor then they would eliminate taxes on tobacco. But they don't, so they won't.

[Rebel]

Its easy to get the Gators skivvies bunched up !
An old fart with an attitude like his gets off on a bunch of issues.
With Gator it's 'His way or the highway',what a way to run a web site !
Lots of nice people there though !"

People like that jackass don't understand something about taxing certain segments of people. What happens when the smoking population dwindles and they've already gotten used to all of that tax money? Are they just going to settle with the decrease in revenue? Hell no. They'll make it up elsewhere.

[megimoo]

Its easy to get the Gators skivvies bunched up !
An old fart with an attitude like his gets off on a bunch of issues.
With Gator it's 'His way or the highway',what a way to run a web site !
Lots of nice people there though !"

People like that jackass don't understand something about taxing certain segments of people. What happens when the smoking population dwindles and they've already gotten used to all of that tax money? Are they just going to settle with the decrease in revenue? Hell no. They'll make it up elsewhere.

How about Florida taxing critters who have sex with alligators ?

[Wretched Excess]

the tax code should never be used to influence people's choices, especially on that level.  it's a matter of
individual liberty.

it smacks of government getting too involved in people's lives.

today cigarettes and alcohol.  tomorrow, chocolate.  the next day, who knows?

[Chris_]

the tax code should never be used to influence people's choices, especially on that level.  it's a matter of
individual liberty.

it smacks of government getting too involved in people's lives.

today cigarettes and alcohol.  tomorrow, chocolate.  the next day, who knows?

I agree WE, but one of our two political parties, (and one could assume roughly half of the population that supports them), believes that using the tax code as a bludgeon to hammer the populace into submission on issues they support is perfectly OK with them......

doc

[USA4ME]

"The Massachusetts Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to ...... close hundreds of millions of dollars in so-called corporate tax loopholes."

watch these liberal Masshole idiots cry foul when people quit smoking due to the price and their tax honey pot dries up,maybe they could tax gay sex !

Watch them cry roul when companies decide that doing business in Massachusetts cost too much.

.

[DixieBelle]

totally agree - first the smokers, then the drinkers, then the fatties, then the rest of us!

our county is struggling to make up their budget shortfall. they are slashing programs left and right because property tax revenues are down. they were spending that money like crazy as long as housing was overpriced and bozo's with sketchy credit were buying them.

[JohnnyReb]

South Carolina just passed a 50 cent per pack tax on cigarettes. Now the house and senate or arguing over how to spend the expected extra money. Balanced budgets not as long as there is a single breath left in a politician.

[Wretched Excess]

South Carolina just passed a 50 cent per pack tax on cigarettes. Now the house and senate or arguing over how to spend the expected extra money. Balanced budgets not as long as there is a single breath left in a politician.

it's not about balancing the government budget.  it's about starving the beast until it is out of our lives.

[JohnnyReb]

I forgot to mention this. The state of Massive-2-shits will now be an even bigger target for Muslim untaxed cigarette sales to fund terrorism. The Muzzy profit margin just went up $1 a pack.

[Wretched Excess]

I forgot to mention this. The state of Massive-2-shits will now be an even bigger target for Muslim untaxed cigarette sales to fund terrorism. The Muzzy profit margin just went up $1 a pack.

that's worth mentioning.  the blackmarket for cigarettes will explode, regardless of where the profit goes.