On Sept. 12, 2008 in Dover, N.H., President Obama said "I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes." He repeatedly vowed "you will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime." He also included individuals making less than $200,000. His running mate quoted the same thing, adding "not one penney."

But how can you finance an "audacious agenda" without an "audacious budget?" Well, on April 1st (was it meant to be a joke?), the administration enacted the largest increase in tobacco taxes in history: from $0.39 cents to $1.01. The largest previous hike was $0.10. In fact, this hike of $0.62 is larger than the last 7 increases put together.

Now, we don't want anyone to smoke, so you could argue that a huge tobacco tax is a good thing. But if you can tax smokers, why not tax people who eat fast food, or people who drink carbinated drinks, or.... The other problem I have with this tax is that it disproportionately affects the poor, who are more likely to smoke than the rich. Hum... I thought we were going to have just the rich people pay for all the new government programs.

The extra money will supposedly be used to finance a major expansion of health insurance for those 30 and under. So, if the tobacco tax really works, and encourages people to stop smoking, then they will have to find some new tax to finance the ongoing new health programs.
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