Austinist: See Kids, Smoking Can Be Good For You, At Least If You're a Homeowner

lou

Sun, 21 May 2006 00:18:04 -0600

It won't end the lawsuits. They'll start again. The Court said that the schools were "drifting toward constitutional inadequacy." Making all schools start on the same day in late August, giving teachers a 2K bump, and requiring all seniors to take math and science doesn't, probably, stop that drift. The lawsuits will start within the next 18 months. Tops.

deb

Tue, 16 May 2006 23:22:34 -0600

truecraig has an excellent point. but get this: where i'm from we do this crazy thing called income tax. basically (in theory at least), the more money a person makes, the more tax they pay. and a portion of that money actually goes to public schools.

truecraig

Tue, 16 May 2006 18:12:28 -0600

Go ahead and increase the tax cigarettes. Triple the booze tax. 10x the tax on Dolly of Parton cassingles. Make a new "bullet tax" of $500 per bullet (plus one in the left thigh). Tax shiny things more than dull things, and put anyone in jail who wears fake nails on Saturdays. I'm not so sure that charging the spread on cancer to give teachers a raise and homeowners a tax break follows a healthy spirit in civil government. After all, this puts teachers and homeowners in the ethically awkward position of hoping people smoke more.

adam rice

Tue, 16 May 2006 15:48:31 -0600

When will we be getting black market gasoline? And... no one's getting anything smuggly from Mexico now that Bushy's prepped the invasion force. Now we can finally get low cost 'scrips. Huzzah!

spyglass

Tue, 16 May 2006 14:11:32 -0600

It will be interesting to see how much of a black market for cigarettes develops in Texas as a result of this tax increase. Certainly cigarette sales over the Internet will increase substantially, but it will be more interesting to see how much smuggling increases over the Mexican border. Based on what I've read of studies on cigarettes smuggling, I think we will see an explosion of black market cigarettes. It seems some people will never understand the lessons of Prohibition.

odam

Tue, 16 May 2006 14:02:04 -0600

litter bug. ok.

anon

Tue, 16 May 2006 13:41:06 -0600

Better yet. If you want to quit, just do so. It only takes a little will power. I smoked for almost 12 years, up to two packs of Camel non-filters a day. One day I just threw one out the car window and said I quit. No problems since. Hell, I can even smoke when I'm really drunk and never have the urge to go buy a pack in the morning (it almost works as aversion therapy). Self control and will power is something a lot of lazy people lack in this country. As for the taxing of cigs, if you don't like it. Stop and don't buy them, then they will have to find another way to pay for this and you'll get your point across. People always talk about sacrafice for their causes.

adam rice

Tue, 16 May 2006 13:24:29 -0600

I'm talking younger: like 8 to 13 range. We need these babes hooked well before 18. The same strategy is keeping big T afloat in South America. Um, actually I quit smoking a while ago. This is for reals, if you smoke read this book: Allen Carr's Stop Smoking the Easy Way. He wants you to smoke while you read it and it's easy. He brainwashes you, but you'll live longer. Hey, it worked for me.

Lisa

Tue, 16 May 2006 11:58:39 -0600

Adam: 90 percent of smokers start at or before the age of 18 and nearly a quarter of high school students smoke (a slightly higher percentage than adults who smoke). So I think the kids are doing their part. If you want to complain about the price of cigs, take it to the tobacco companies. Cigarettes cost pennies to manufacture; the profit margin is huge.

Match Striker

Tue, 16 May 2006 11:36:45 -0600

Why wasn't Match Striker's picture used for this post? Oh, you couldn't find a pic of Match with cigarette in tow? I think not. I am contacting my attorney and realtor.

adam rice

Tue, 16 May 2006 11:07:17 -0600

Smokers are forever getting screwed. White guys in suits prevail! Hoo-ray. Why not get the Big T to pay for schools themselves? That wouldn't make sense. Instead let's just gouge people who are addicted to an unnecessary product that we convinced them they can't live without... What smokers should do: quit smoking, buy a carton, head down to the school yard, get the little nippers puffin', and let THEIR addiction pay for the social security/medicaid that won't exist when we need lung-ecthomies. That's so logical it's Supertramp.