HR 1676

[Dejavu]

What kinda bullshit is this bill that is passing through congress atm. Was anyone aware that there is apparently a huge cigarette smuggling problem in the US? According to this bill there is and "Hezbollah, Hamas, al Qaeda, and other terrorist organizations have profited from trafficking in illegal cigarettes or counterfeit cigarette tax stamps;". Lol when in doubt blame the terrorists cause anything can be done with enough fear.

What this bill will do is make it illegal to order cigarettes online. This bill is targeting online Indian smoke shops which don't have to pay the taxes based upon their reservations rights. Although.. i was unaware the American Indians were members of al Qaeda.

This is just more bullshit from the people that think they can legislate morality by taxing immoral behavior to death and once again they are exceeding their power to achieve their own goals.

For those who may actually want to read the bill.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1676

 

[Rorschach]

What makes me laugh is how they are like "we gotta save the children!... by putting tax on cigs online." So how does taxing cigs stop kids from buying them again? Apparently Congress has never heard of the "Loosy" oh well.

 

[Thelona]

I live in North Carolina, and being where most cigarettes are made and most tobacco is grown, they don't joke around about cigarette smuggling here.
There's already a law against crossing state line with more then 4 cartoons of cigarettes.(which people do alot to sell up north or out west cause cigarettes are cheaper here then anywhere in the country, especially on Indian reservations where there's no taxes on em) Its seems a bit far fetched that terrorist are smuggling cigarettes, but the law doesn't really surprise me that much.

I think its more likely that they just don't want people getting around the cigarette taxes by buying em online from Indian reservations. which makes sense really.

Apparently Congress has never heard of the "Loosy" oh well.

I've never heard of the "loosey" whats that? But yeah, i agree this isn't about "saving the children" at all, its about raising taxes and finding a way to do it and make it look like its "for a good cause" at the same time. Hell if it gets much worse it'll be cheaper to smoke weed then cigarettes.

 

[alanon]

I'm not looking forward to seeing what happens when the government finally taxes a major domestic product out of existence, and then loses the tax revenue that they have come to rely on....

 

[Thelona]

yeah but the problem is there are alot of people that DO look forward to just that.

 

[Eilistrae]

My line foreman at work used to order his cigarettes online thinking he didn't have to pay taxes on it. Initially he didn't, but then he got a bill from the government for $1000 lol

 

[Javir]

My line foreman at work used to order his cigarettes online thinking he didn't have to pay taxes on it. Initially he didn't, but then he got a bill from the government for $1000 lol

I was going to point this out. A lot of sites will tell you that you have to pay taxes on items sent to certain states and will add this tax automatically. But ultimately the buyer is responsible. Since I don't buy cigarettes, I don't know if the Federal Government would send bill to collect, but I've heard of state governments doing it.

In response to the not letting them legislating morality (in the chemical context (cigarette/alcohol/other drugs); I agree they shouldn't find ways to make people stop smoking altogether, including making them completely unaffordable to the average person.

I do think they should legislate where you can't do it. Namely I think anywhere that you could put another person at a health risk without their implied consent. You can wager that implied consent is given if you go into the home of a smoker, or a designated smoking area. If you go in you give consent regardless. But I like that restaurants, bars, shopping centers, etc are constantly being added. Places that anyone should be able to go without threat to their choice to remain healthy and minimize risk. Apartments should be left up to the apartment owner/manager (thankfully mine forbids it and it's instant loss of deposit if they can show you did). General work areas of any sort should forbid it with possibly the exception of a room separately ventilated.

Anyhow, yuh. I agree that specifically this bill is garbage. But I'd like to see bills that impedes smoking in public towns/cities and state/federal buildings. If I have to put up with a smoker or two while out camping, I can just stay up wind or ask them politely.

 

[Dejavu]

Thank you for protecting me... from myself.

Of course this is for hr 1256 which puts tobacco under the umbrella of the FDA... If it becomes a "drug" then the FDA must approve it in order for it to be sold and i doubt it will be allowed to be sold for much longer after that happens... Then at least we have this trafficking bill to make sure everyone understands its illegal to transport cigarettes from Mexico and sell them on the black market. Then we will need to retrain all of our drug dogs to smell tobacco too which will be a pain in the ass.



The other side of the argument you know the side with sanity and facts... and from a dem this time too.