Taxing Ourselves into Prosperity

President Obama reauthorized the State Children's Health Insurance Program today, expanding the program by an additional $32.8 billion. Not satisfied to take that money from the trough that is the bailout package, the feds more than tripled the existing tax on cigarettes, bringing the total tax to $1.01 per pack.

I cannot adequately express how fucking brilliant this is.

Sure…let’s take a product that has declining usage rates country-wide, thanks in large part to anti-smoking laws, and make it the cornerstone of funding for this bill. They should tack a surcharge on buggy-whips and whalebone corsets while they’re at it.

I’m not even going to get into the fallacious arguments about the long-term health costs for smokers (you know, those people that tend to die 30 years before non-smokers); I am going to point out that the largest demographic for smoking is comprised of those that qualify as “poor” by government income standards. Why do I mention this? Because Obama stated specifically: “I will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.” There was no “unless they smoke” codicil stated aloud, but I admit he could have had his toes crossed.

What’s really amusing about this plan is the fact that, according to Heritage Foundation estimates, 22,000,000 new smokers will be needed to pay for it. Who has the most in disposable income? Young people.

Forget Joe the Plumber. Meet Obama’s new spokesman for the State Children's Health Insurance Program: