My letter to the RNC.

[LordBrownTrout]

And the heavy hand of TM strikes again....handing down edicts from on high.

 

[S.J.]

Liberals have no problem electing somebody who will screw "the other guy", but when THEY start getting screwed, it's a different story.

 

[auditor0007]

I just sent the following message to the Republican National Committee:



Here's a demographic you can capture right now: Smokers. I'm one, and though I've voted Democrat in the past 3 elections and am not a single issue voter, I HAVE had enough of higher tobacco taxes! As you well know, the President is proposing even more tobacco taxes in his budget request and its high time the nanny-staters find some other whipping boy to pillage. Why not get out front on this tax right now and style it as an issue of fairness, which it is?

Almost 1 in 5 adult American's still smoke, which equates to a potential 40 million + voters. The GOP doesn't have to be pro-smoking to be pro-fairness and you have the opportunity right now to attract perhaps millions of votes simply by standing up for the right of smokers not be continually raped by those who claim to know what's best for them. There is little to be lost by opposing the health-Nazi's and much to be gained.

Will you?

I always felt that tobacco taxes were unfair until I quit smoking. Let me explain. It is a known fact that smoking kills. This is a fact that tobacco companies have tried to deny forever, but there is no denying that smoking takes years off of one's life and adds to medical costs. Yes, government wants to be big brother when it comes to smoking, and this is one case where I don't mind them being big brother. Now, while I do see it as somewhat unfair to those who already smoke, these are not the true targets of the higher taxes. The target is the young person who does not yet smoke.

When I started smoking around 1980, cigarettes cost $.75 per pack. Minimum wage at that time was $3.10 per hour, so I could buy four packs of cigarettes with one hour's pay. Basically, smoking was a fairly cheap habit, even for an high school kid working a part-time job. Paying that $.75 for a pack of smokes wasn't going to break my bank or make me think twice as to whether or not it was a good investment. Now, let's look at the cost for a pack of smokes today. In almost every state, the cheapest decent pack of smokes you will find costs well over $5.00. Minimum wage is $7.25 in most states, so a young person earning minimum wage would spend nearly an hour's pay for a pack of cigarettes. If that person works 20 hours per week, then smoking a pack per day will cost the kid over one quarter of his/her total earnings, just to smoke. That's enough to make a lot of kids think twice about making smoking a permanent habit or even trying it to begin with.

As far as smoking being a choice, that is an excuse that addicted people use to justify their need to quench their addiction. If there was no addiction, knowing the reality of the harm cigarettes cause, hardly anyone would smoke today. I smoked for nearly 30 years. After quitting, my only regret is that I ever started in the first place or that I didn't quit much sooner. Luckily, I am not experiencing any negative consequences and hopefully never will, but I missed out on a lot of things due to smoking. Luckily I still have some time to make up for it.

Anyway, my bottom line is that anything that stops young kids from starting to smoke is worth it, even if it hurts you or anyone else. You are old and wise enough to know that you really should quit, so I don't feel too bad for you having to pay some more if it helps stop a young person from starting. That young person just might be one of my kids or yours.

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXT...K:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:376601,00.html

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Liberals have no problem electing somebody who will screw "the other guy", but when THEY start getting screwed, it's a different story.

It's worse than that even. These people are utterly confused. Demanding more government interference, more taxes on income, capital gains, etc..to fund the big government (the same one that wages wars they then cry over) that they pray to the alter of, while at the same time feeling it is unfair of the government to impose a user tax on an item that is not even necessary for survival or prosperity.

 

[Darkwind]

I just sent the following message to the Republican National Committee:



Here's a demographic you can capture right now: Smokers. I'm one, and though I've voted Democrat in the past 3 elections and am not a single issue voter, I HAVE had enough of higher tobacco taxes! As you well know, the President is proposing even more tobacco taxes in his budget request and its high time the nanny-staters find some other whipping boy to pillage. Why not get out front on this tax right now and style it as an issue of fairness, which it is?

Almost 1 in 5 adult American's still smoke, which equates to a potential 40 million + voters. The GOP doesn't have to be pro-smoking to be pro-fairness and you have the opportunity right now to attract perhaps millions of votes simply by standing up for the right of smokers not be continually raped by those who claim to know what's best for them. There is little to be lost by opposing the health-Nazi's and much to be gained.

Will you?

Knowing full well that you will not vote GOP, you decided to exhibit your dishonesty on a more national stage. Way to go.

 

[auditor0007]

I've tried to quit sooooo many times, i'm just a weakling!
Ya...it seems everytime you turn around they're raising the tax on cigarettes!
I roll my own cigs now...so much cheaper, and you get used to them. I spend about $7.00 a week doing it this way. So the tax thing probably won't hurt me that much, but it still isn't fair that we
get the raw end everytime the gov't needs a little more money!

Heck...I even tried the e-cigs, they worked pretty good, and now i find out they have something that's a chemical in anti-freeze. Can't win!!

If you really want to quit you can. It seems hard, but it really isn't. It takes two weeks after cutting out all nicotine to get dopamine levels back to normal. Higher than normal dopamine levels due to nicotine are the culprit behind your physical craving for nicotine. Regardless of how much you smoke, after two weeks being nicotine free, your body will stop craving nicotine. The worst of your withdrawal symptoms take place the first three days. After that it's just a matter of getting through some rough patches. It's not something that nags at you every single minute.

I quit cold turkey a little less than two years ago. It really wasn't that hard at all. I was a pack a day or more smoker for nearly 30 years. When I quit, I started going to the gym and working out, and eventually I started running also. I lost 17 pounds after quitting due to the fact that I could work out more. I did this while I started eating more than I had. I can now run a 5K in about 21 minutes and I'm shooting for 20 minutes. That isn't too bad for an almost 50 year old guy who smoked for nearly 30 years. Life is so much better since I quit. I feel better, I know my health is better, my resting heart rate is around 45 (shocked my doctor), food tastes better and I can eat more of it without gaining weight, I can play ball with my two kids, I can do all kinds of things now that I couldn't when I smoked. My clothes don't smell like shit anymore, I don't have to worry about others breathing in my second hand smoke, and how much more do you want to hear? Life is good. Quit smoking.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

I've tried to quit sooooo many times, i'm just a weakling!
Ya...it seems everytime you turn around they're raising the tax on cigarettes!
I roll my own cigs now...so much cheaper, and you get used to them. I spend about $7.00 a week doing it this way. So the tax thing probably won't hurt me that much, but it still isn't fair that we
get the raw end everytime the gov't needs a little more money!

Heck...I even tried the e-cigs, they worked pretty good, and now i find out they have something that's a chemical in anti-freeze. Can't win!!

If you really want to quit you can. It seems hard, but it really isn't. It takes two weeks after cutting out all nicotine to get dopamine levels back to normal. Higher than normal dopamine levels due to nicotine are the culprit behind your physical craving for nicotine. Regardless of how much you smoke, after two weeks being nicotine free, your body will stop craving nicotine. The worst of your withdrawal symptoms take place the first three days. After that it's just a matter of getting through some rough patches. It's not something that nags at you every single minute.

I quit cold turkey a little less than two years ago. It really wasn't that hard at all. I was a pack a day or more smoker for nearly 30 years. When I quit, I started going to the gym and working out, and eventually I started running also. I lost 17 pounds after quitting due to the fact that I could work out more. I did this while I started eating more than I had. I can now run a 5K in about 21 minutes and I'm shooting for 20 minutes. That isn't too bad for an almost 50 year old guy who smoked for nearly 30 years. Life is so much better since I quit. I feel better, I know my health is better, my resting heart rate is around 45 (shocked my doctor), food tastes better and I can eat more of it without gaining weight, I can play ball with my two kids, I can do all kinds of things now that I couldn't when I smoked. My clothes don't smell like shit anymore, I don't have to worry about others breathing in my second hand smoke, and how much more do you want to hear? Life is good. Quit smoking.

A RHR of 45 is awesome after smoking for thirty years. My aunt had smoked for 40 years and quit. She went in for a chest xray about a year later and her lungs had almost completely gone back to their normal state.

 

[LoneLaugher]

I am also an ex smoker. Quit cold turkey 15 years ago after smoking for 17 years.

Old Guy...................if the thought of dropping a few hundred bucks a year more for smoking would move you to vote for Paul Ryan's budget proposal...............you suck.

 

[jknowgood]

yes becuase you are making the same choice as them

No, actually take the food stamps away that they are using to buy the fatty foods. Then they can get a job and get off their lazy butt and burn off the calories they are. consuming

you are a member of the sociopathic party huh

No, I'm a member of the common sense crowd. I don't mind helping people out, but from cradle to grave? Then when you do they get fat from sitting around doing nothing. They get diabetes and I'm suppose to pay for that too. Then you expect me to pay more tax on fatty foods? So let's get this right I'm suppose to feed, clothe, pay for housing, pay for their healthcare? Then pay an extra tax on fatty foods, because they made bad judgments. I Don't cuss, but fuck you, you stupid bitch and the ass you rode in on. I'm tired of stupid fucks like yourself keeping people on welfare on my dime, so you can get a vote.

 

[auditor0007]

I've tried to quit sooooo many times, i'm just a weakling!
Ya...it seems everytime you turn around they're raising the tax on cigarettes!
I roll my own cigs now...so much cheaper, and you get used to them. I spend about $7.00 a week doing it this way. So the tax thing probably won't hurt me that much, but it still isn't fair that we
get the raw end everytime the gov't needs a little more money!

Heck...I even tried the e-cigs, they worked pretty good, and now i find out they have something that's a chemical in anti-freeze. Can't win!!

If you really want to quit you can. It seems hard, but it really isn't. It takes two weeks after cutting out all nicotine to get dopamine levels back to normal. Higher than normal dopamine levels due to nicotine are the culprit behind your physical craving for nicotine. Regardless of how much you smoke, after two weeks being nicotine free, your body will stop craving nicotine. The worst of your withdrawal symptoms take place the first three days. After that it's just a matter of getting through some rough patches. It's not something that nags at you every single minute.

I quit cold turkey a little less than two years ago. It really wasn't that hard at all. I was a pack a day or more smoker for nearly 30 years. When I quit, I started going to the gym and working out, and eventually I started running also. I lost 17 pounds after quitting due to the fact that I could work out more. I did this while I started eating more than I had. I can now run a 5K in about 21 minutes and I'm shooting for 20 minutes. That isn't too bad for an almost 50 year old guy who smoked for nearly 30 years. Life is so much better since I quit. I feel better, I know my health is better, my resting heart rate is around 45 (shocked my doctor), food tastes better and I can eat more of it without gaining weight, I can play ball with my two kids, I can do all kinds of things now that I couldn't when I smoked. My clothes don't smell like shit anymore, I don't have to worry about others breathing in my second hand smoke, and how much more do you want to hear? Life is good. Quit smoking.

A RHR of 45 is awesome after smoking for thirty years. My aunt had smoked for 40 years and quit. She went in for a chest xray about a year later and her lungs had almost completely gone back to their normal state.

If you quit before cancer sets in, you have a great chance of getting your lungs pretty much back to normal. They say it takes 90 days to get rid of 90% of the crap that has built up over the years. The last ten percent can take up to fifteen years before it all is out. I am still continuing to get stronger as time goes on. I'm at 20 months now and my 5k times keep improving. I can tell my lungs are functioning better compared to even six months ago as I can push myself harder without becoming completely winded. When I first started running, I was hoping to maybe run a 24 minute 5k eventually. After 15 months, I ran a 22:11, and now I'm under 21:00, so 20:00 is a possibility. If I can hit 20:00, that would take first place in my age group in a lot of 5k events.

 

[freedombecki]

I just sent the following message to the Republican National Committee:

Here's a demographic you can capture right now: Smokers. I'm one, and though I've voted Democrat in the past 3 elections and am not a single issue voter, I HAVE had enough of higher tobacco taxes! As you well know, the President is proposing even more tobacco taxes in his budget request and its high time the nanny-staters find some other whipping boy to pillage. Why not get out front on this tax right now and style it as an issue of fairness, which it is?

Almost 1 in 5 adult American's still smoke, which equates to a potential 40 million + voters. The GOP doesn't have to be pro-smoking to be pro-fairness and you have the opportunity right now to attract perhaps millions of votes simply by standing up for the right of smokers not be continually raped by those who claim to know what's best for them. There is little to be lost by opposing the health-Nazi's and much to be gained.

Will you?

Old Guy, I assure you that of the current Republicans in the Senate, you wouldn't even have to ask 90% of them to vote against increased taxes, because they already do, and they always have, for which Democrats have pilloried them mercilessly.

Some say less than half the working population has steady, full-time work these days, and Republicans certainly aren't going to overload them with anything in the nature of higher taxes for any reason.

If you don't believe me, just read their votes on any given tax-raising idea that has been set forth in the last 7 years, except it may be higher than 90%. I'm just trying to safely say our Republicans just aren't in the mood to raise taxes on people right now.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

I just sent the following message to the Republican National Committee:

Here's a demographic you can capture right now: Smokers. I'm one, and though I've voted Democrat in the past 3 elections and am not a single issue voter, I HAVE had enough of higher tobacco taxes! As you well know, the President is proposing even more tobacco taxes in his budget request and its high time the nanny-staters find some other whipping boy to pillage. Why not get out front on this tax right now and style it as an issue of fairness, which it is?

Almost 1 in 5 adult American's still smoke, which equates to a potential 40 million + voters. The GOP doesn't have to be pro-smoking to be pro-fairness and you have the opportunity right now to attract perhaps millions of votes simply by standing up for the right of smokers not be continually raped by those who claim to know what's best for them. There is little to be lost by opposing the health-Nazi's and much to be gained.

Will you?

Old Guy, I assure you that of the current Republicans in the Senate, you wouldn't even have to ask 90% of them to vote against increased taxes, because they already do, and they always have, for which Democrats have pilloried them mercilessly.

Some say less than half the working population has steady, full-time work these days, and Republicans certainly aren't going to overload them with anything in the nature of higher taxes for any reason.

If you don't believe me, just read their votes on any given tax-raising idea that has been set forth in the last 7 years, except it may be higher than 90%. I'm just trying to safely say our Republicans just aren't in the mood to raise taxes on people right now.

Is this another joke?

 

[Oldguy]

So you are offering a group you've never voted for advice on how to get your vote? And in that you're complaining about a user tax on cigarettes while advocating to rob people's income for all the big government you like?




Is this a fucking joke?

Sorry, but I voted Republican in every presidential election from 1968 until 2004, when I finally got sick of the Neo-Con's.

And, please show me where I've advocated "to rob people's income for all the big government you like?"

 

[Oldguy]

I just sent the following message to the Republican National Committee:



Here's a demographic you can capture right now: Smokers. I'm one, and though I've voted Democrat in the past 3 elections and am not a single issue voter, I HAVE had enough of higher tobacco taxes! As you well know, the President is proposing even more tobacco taxes in his budget request and its high time the nanny-staters find some other whipping boy to pillage. Why not get out front on this tax right now and style it as an issue of fairness, which it is?

Almost 1 in 5 adult American's still smoke, which equates to a potential 40 million + voters. The GOP doesn't have to be pro-smoking to be pro-fairness and you have the opportunity right now to attract perhaps millions of votes simply by standing up for the right of smokers not be continually raped by those who claim to know what's best for them. There is little to be lost by opposing the health-Nazi's and much to be gained.

Will you?

I always felt that tobacco taxes were unfair until I quit smoking. Let me explain. It is a known fact that smoking kills. This is a fact that tobacco companies have tried to deny forever, but there is no denying that smoking takes years off of one's life and adds to medical costs. Yes, government wants to be big brother when it comes to smoking, and this is one case where I don't mind them being big brother. Now, while I do see it as somewhat unfair to those who already smoke, these are not the true targets of the higher taxes. The target is the young person who does not yet smoke.

When I started smoking around 1980, cigarettes cost $.75 per pack. Minimum wage at that time was $3.10 per hour, so I could buy four packs of cigarettes with one hour's pay. Basically, smoking was a fairly cheap habit, even for an high school kid working a part-time job. Paying that $.75 for a pack of smokes wasn't going to break my bank or make me think twice as to whether or not it was a good investment. Now, let's look at the cost for a pack of smokes today. In almost every state, the cheapest decent pack of smokes you will find costs well over $5.00. Minimum wage is $7.25 in most states, so a young person earning minimum wage would spend nearly an hour's pay for a pack of cigarettes. If that person works 20 hours per week, then smoking a pack per day will cost the kid over one quarter of his/her total earnings, just to smoke. That's enough to make a lot of kids think twice about making smoking a permanent habit or even trying it to begin with.

As far as smoking being a choice, that is an excuse that addicted people use to justify their need to quench their addiction. If there was no addiction, knowing the reality of the harm cigarettes cause, hardly anyone would smoke today. I smoked for nearly 30 years. After quitting, my only regret is that I ever started in the first place or that I didn't quit much sooner. Luckily, I am not experiencing any negative consequences and hopefully never will, but I missed out on a lot of things due to smoking. Luckily I still have some time to make up for it.

Anyway, my bottom line is that anything that stops young kids from starting to smoke is worth it, even if it hurts you or anyone else. You are old and wise enough to know that you really should quit, so I don't feel too bad for you having to pay some more if it helps stop a young person from starting. That young person just might be one of my kids or yours.

Economics of Tobacco Control - Myths and Facts

Are you also onboard with any other behavior modification tax in the name of "health," or is just in regards to cigarettes?

 

[LoneLaugher]

No, actually take the food stamps away that they are using to buy the fatty foods. Then they can get a job and get off their lazy butt and burn off the calories they are. consuming

you are a member of the sociopathic party huh

No, I'm a member of the common sense crowd. I don't mind helping people out, but from cradle to grave? Then when you do they get fat from sitting around doing nothing. They get diabetes and I'm suppose to pay for that too. Then you expect me to pay more tax on fatty foods? So let's get this right I'm suppose to feed, clothe, pay for housing, pay for their healthcare? Then pay an extra tax on fatty foods, because they made bad judgments. I Don't cuss, but fuck you, you stupid bitch and the ass you rode in on. I'm tired of stupid fucks like yourself keeping people on welfare on my dime, so you can get a vote.

supposed to

You don't cuss......but........

Sounds like a nutter. You have principles.....except when you don't.

Please answer the question that I pose in my signature. You claim that we are keeping people on welfare for votes. That is a ridiculous claim that you use to make yourself feel better about being a greedy fucker.

Another question.....what percentage of people on welfare actually vote? Do you know?

 

[Oldguy]

Not surprisingly, this thread has gone all over the place, from personal attacks to anti/pro-Republican to the dangers of smoking to cheap advice.

So...let me refocus it: Is this an issue which the GOP could mine for support? I think it is and I hope they do because if somebody doesn't begin to oppose the nanny-state, the health-Nazi's and do-gooders will run us all down.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Not surprisingly, this thread has gone all over the place, from personal attacks to anti/pro-Republican to the dangers of smoking to cheap advice.

So...let me refocus it: Is this an issue which the GOP could mine for support? I think it is and I hope they do because if somebody doesn't begin to oppose the nanny-state, the health-Nazi's and do-gooders will run us all down.

Yes. Because as we all know, NAZI's were all about making people healthy. Especially Jews. It makes perfect sense to label elected officials who want to improve the health of the American people "NAZI's"

Why does it matter to you if the GOP makes this tax a special issue. You already know that they will oppose it. You have made our decision. Congratulations.

 

[freedombecki]

I just sent the following message to the Republican National Committee:

Here's a demographic you can capture right now: Smokers. I'm one, and though I've voted Democrat in the past 3 elections and am not a single issue voter, I HAVE had enough of higher tobacco taxes! As you well know, the President is proposing even more tobacco taxes in his budget request and its high time the nanny-staters find some other whipping boy to pillage. Why not get out front on this tax right now and style it as an issue of fairness, which it is?

Almost 1 in 5 adult American's still smoke, which equates to a potential 40 million + voters. The GOP doesn't have to be pro-smoking to be pro-fairness and you have the opportunity right now to attract perhaps millions of votes simply by standing up for the right of smokers not be continually raped by those who claim to know what's best for them. There is little to be lost by opposing the health-Nazi's and much to be gained.

Will you?

Old Guy, I assure you that of the current Republicans in the Senate, you wouldn't even have to ask 90% of them to vote against increased taxes, because they already do, and they always have, for which Democrats have pilloried them mercilessly.

Some say less than half the working population has steady, full-time work these days, and Republicans certainly aren't going to overload them with anything in the nature of higher taxes for any reason.

If you don't believe me, just read their votes on any given tax-raising idea that has been set forth in the last 7 years, except it may be higher than 90%. I'm just trying to safely say our Republicans just aren't in the mood to raise taxes on people right now.

Is this another joke?

How many tax hikes have gone through since John Boehner has been Speaker of the House and the Republicans just said "no" to tax hikes?

The last tax levied against the American people was the highest one in history--"Affordable" Health Care by Nancy Pelosi's mad push through the Congress telling them not to read, just wait to see what's in the bill after the Democrats forced it through. It's the highest fricken tax in the history of the world, and Republicans fought it tooth and nail, the whole time while Democrats scared elderly people and people who are medically unable to work, lying that Republicans would take everything away from the elderly. It's crazy.

The Republicans are not foisting taxes against the American people. Please. When you take seats away from Republicans, you are just setting Americans up to fund the pet rock projects of every fringe group in the world who wants money, but doesn't want to be bothered with something that will pay for itself.

Haven't you figured it out yet? The Republicans are not hiking the taxes. They're dealing with so much smarm and lies from their political opponents some people actually think they're doing nothing.

They're not. They're still fighting for us, the people, trying not to allow the Democrats turn this nation into Europe.

We can't do that if the people want European/sharia rule.

There's only so much we can do with a minority, and we're doing it with filibusters and by every above-the-table means we can do it. We are after all the party that supports the rule of law.

Yes, you can find a rotten potato in the barrel every once in a while, but we clean house when that happens.

When the dems have a rotten apple, they spoil the barrel starting out with a White House Rose garden lawn party.

Jiminy Cricket.

 

[jknowgood]

Ll, I'm sorry if I offended you, but I sick of a president saying after he got his tax increase they need to pay more. You call me greedy, but you have no idea how much I make. Well it's no much, I live a simple life, but I help slot if people. Now atbout the left and welfare, why is the liberals always say the children will starve if any welfare reform is proposed? To newer your other question, with almost 50% of Americans on some sort of government assistance I'd say a pretty good amount.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Ll, I'm sorry if I offended you, but I sick of a president saying after he got his tax increase they need to pay more. You call me greedy, but you have no idea how much I make. Well it's no much, I live a simple life, but I help slot if people. Now atbout the left and welfare, why is the liberals always say the children will starve if any welfare reform is proposed? To newer your other question, with almost 50% of Americans on some sort of government assistance I'd say a pretty good amount.

Oh! Now you are talking about employed Americans, disabled people and seniors who need some kind of assistance? You are not talking about the "cradle to the grave" takers any longer? That's convenient.

Please answer the question in my signature. Then tell me how many of THOSE people vote.

Thanks. And....I cannot be offended.