Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Great Tobacco Contradiction

If cigarettes are so bad, then the government ought to ban them and be done with it, right?

Obama's Tobacco Law is, in the words of "The One," designed to protect the children from the tobacco industry. We've been hearing for decades that those evil tobacco companies are dealers of death, and that they prey on children, and the tobacco industry is one of the reasons that health care costs are so high, due to all of those cancer cases brought on by people being lifelong smokers. Second hand smoke kills, and even smoking in your apartment is dangerous because some kid a few floors up might inhale your toxic fumes if the ventilation is opened up.

Reading what I just wrote, the average liberal will assume that I believe, then, that cigarettes are good for you. After all, that is how they think. Either you are for something, or against it, with no explanation beyond that.

If I thought cigarettes were not a health risk, I would not have quit smoking in 2005 after 21 years of inhaling a couple packs a day. And, as a Christian, I believe it was not a very good example of my faith. In other words, I agree that it is better not to smoke, than to inhale toxic fumes.

Cigarettes are deadly. Being a heavy smoker may lead to lung problems, heart problems, and various other medical complications. But, if cigarettes are that deadly, then why doesn't the Democrat controlled, all-knowing, nanny-state bureaucrats in the Federal Government just ban them?

Is it because they understand that as Americans we should have the freedom to decide for ourselves whether or not to smoke cigarettes as individuals?

Of course not. The Democrats will demonize the tobacco industry for political reasons, because it they think it makes them look like they are some kind of moral giants out to save America from itself. However, they will never ban the use of tobacco products because the tobacco industry represents too large of a revenue block.

Ever hear the saying, "Republicans treat every day like it is the Fourth of July, Democrats treat every day like it is the April 15th tax deadline?"

Every time someone buys a pack of cigarettes, it is tax day for the Left. In some states, well over fifty percent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes goes to fees, taxes, and other government added costs. S-CHIP is funded by smokers, as is planned a number of other nanny-state programs.

The Democrats may be making smokers suffer with their high tobacco taxes, and tough regulations on the industry. They may be demonizing your habit, and are trying to make you out to be a bad person for daring to light up. But they want you to keep on smoking, and they want kids to light up to replace the dying smokers, so that they can continue to rake in the revenue through hefty tobacco taxes. And you better keep smoking, too - because if that golden goose of cigarette smokers dries up, the Democrats will have to get their money from elsewhere, and invariably, that will mean higher taxes across the board for even that 95% of people who were promised tax cuts by Obama.

Read my lips: Lots of New Taxes!

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

By Douglas V. Gibbs

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