Commentüs on: Tobacco=$$=Terror

By: This is amazing.

This is amazing. — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:37:37 +0000

You know what’s great about this. Everyone here sees that this is total BS and what can we do? Nothing. The government is going to continue to do this exact kind of stuff and you know what we’ll do? Take it right in the tail-pipe - that’s what. They’re too strong and there are too many idiot voters. The day our elected officials became untouchables is the day we lost everything. This country is done. I’m out of here.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:49:11 +0000

I’m glad to see that everyone so far that has responded has the intelligence to notice that none of this has to do with anything other than the gov’t losing it’s revenue in taxes. I remember, in the not too distant past, paying $2.50/carton and now it is out of sight. I say tax the booze. After all, it’s not the drunks that are killed, it’s everyone around them. I think $75-100 for a bottle of booze should help the tax revenue for the govt. But, since more than 25% of the people drink, that will never happen. How about taxing people with children. Maybe $10-20,000/year just to have a child. That could help to pay for all the schooling, detention, damage etc caused by the many unsupervised children that seem so rampant. Seems like the logical thing to do… isn’t that the main purpose that was given as far as cigarettes was given… to make it too expensive for people to smoke… well, make it too expensive for people to have children. And the bonus of that is that it will help the environment by creating less stress from humans.

By: David Fulton

David Fulton — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:33:02 +0000

Could it also be that New York is losing cigarette tax revenues because they passed laws that ban people from smoking in public, so people just aren’t buying cigarettes anymore. What did the brilliant politicians think would happen by jacking up taxes on tobacco and then passing legislation that bans people from using it? Obviously people are going to begin to quit which means a decrease in tax dollars. Since the smoking ban took place here in Illinois, I refuse to pay $70 for a carton, and will only buy cigarettes outside of the country or in duty free shops. If they aren’t going to let me smoke in a bar, then I’m not going to give them my tax dollars. And I agree, I don’t think this has so much to do with terrorism as much as it does with tax money.

By: Denise Scott

Denise Scott — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:14:23 +0000

There’s a big chunk of information left out of this report. Most states require a store owner who sells cigarettes to have a tax stamp on each pack showing applicable state/federal taxes have been paid (other than sales tax at point of sale). If a percentage of the 60% of Arab owned tobacco stores are selling cigarettes from Indian reservation sources, which is not required to have the tax stamps, how are they getting by with it? Doesn’t New York have investigators surveying stores to be sure the tax stamps are present on all cigarettes?

How is it smuggling if they get their cigarettes from the reservation and sell them in their store? Tax evasion, yes. Smuggling? If they’re selling the cigarettes retail at a price equal to that collected with state taxes, then again it’s tax evasion.

Sounds to me like they’re picking on the Indians and their tax free status because they want to tax them and up that revenue collection. Perhaps the terrorists are sitting in Albany, New York plotting how to terrorize the Indians into collecting a sin tax on cigarette sales and turning it over to the state.

If the overseas shady orgs are profiting from this venture, it’s not because the Indians don’t have a tax on their sales. It’s because New York is failing to enforce its own laws. Sounds more like New York sour grapes because they’re greedy and want no exemption to their ignorant taxes which do nothing to dissuade the sale of tobacco products.

Are the feds still subsidizing tobacco farmers?

By: YOU CANT FOOL ME

YOU CANT FOOL ME — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:25:17 +0000

The government is too greedy. $1.00 a pack is a fair price. Anything more creates these kinds of issues. I roll my own and I pay less than $8.00 per carton and the tobacco is fresher and tastes better without added chemicals and other junk added. Roll back the price to a more reasonable rate and you remove the incentive for money to be funnelled overseas.

By: Rose Walsh

Rose Walsh — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:01:10 +0000

Katerine, I love your work, and ox News, but if you look in the archives you will see that a ring was broken up in NC right around the time we went into Iraq. I remember it quite clearly. People were buying cigerettes in NC and reselling them in Chigo and NYC. If I remember correctly 1.5 million dollars was raised and sent to Hezbollah.
It sounds to me like NY is just trying to make an excuse to take revenue from the reservations to offset declining profits from sales.

By: Brian from Texas

Brian from Texas — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:35:07 +0000

Everyone who smokes in the US is to blame for all acts of terror worldwide. These smokers should be rounded up along with the illegal immigrants and shot in the head for the damage they have caused to my country.

By: Brian P.

Brian P. — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:14:33 +0000

Has New York ever seen a tax it didn’t like? tobacco tax = outrageous, real estate tax = outrageous, income tax = outrageous. And New York keeps electing officials that……..love raising and imposing taxes. So now in addition to being oppressive to residents, a tax helps create a market that funds terrorism. Why do you people stay there?

By: Michael Hyman

Michael Hyman — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:50:59 +0000

Money from the American Islamic community to fund terror groups is nothing new (nor is cigarette tax evasion, which is, in my opinon, a drop in the bucket when compared to the total scope of illegal funding now going to terrorists). Pick any business area (including, the tax free mosque environment) and one has a major terrorist funding cottage industry. Former Clintonite, Dick Morris, indicated the other night on Fox that when running for his second term, Bill Clinton received donations from Islamic groups which were later shown to have connections to terrorist organizations. And, of course, CAIR, an organization which has clear ties to Islamic terror groups is a classic example of an anti American organization which bases its funds primarily from Islamic contributors.

Frankly, I do not see any difference between Islamic persons supporting organizations with links to terror than I do when comparing the scenario to German Americans who were loyal members of the Nazi controlled German American Bund in the 1930s. When the US entered WW-II, numerous members of the Bund were arrested, deported, detained for the duration, and so on.

M Hyman

By: Nick L

Nick L — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:37:40 +0000

Catherine,
Love your work on Fox, but this has been going on for a very long time. I’ve been traveling to North Carolina on business for over 15 years, and early on, I heard stories of people of Arab heritage buying from cigarette manufactureers and driving up to NY State to sell them on the Indian resevation stores.
It’s amazing, and quite alarming, that we are just making a big deal about it now, almost 7 years after 9/11.

By: Joshua Wickadner

Joshua Wickadner — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:29:52 +0000

Well I agree this is a problem - maybe if the tax happy liberals did not tax a product to generate revenue there would be no chance for illeagal sales, people that can cheat the system will, maybe just maybe we should stop taxing products for revenue and start taxing people, or better yet tax all products equally. If you unfairly tax a product you create an oppourtunity for someone to cheat the system - stop the tabacco tax, it is equal to tea tax. The difference is you are taxing a minority of americans rather than everyone. Now instead of saying no people just find a way around it. This will never change until you stop discriminating against smokers - 25% of the population smokes so how are we every going to stop from being taxed unfairly when it does not effect the other 75%.

END TABACCCO TAXES NOW!!!! Tax everyone equally and lets see how things change - I am betting most elected officals would lose there Job in the next go round.

By: Alan Hanczyc

Alan Hanczyc — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:22:53 +0000

I wonder who thought this one up, since the start against the battle over cigs and second hand smoke began it has been obvious that it was all about money. The Goverment cant have it both ways tax something into excess and expect people will just go along with it, it is now laughable to think that black market cigs are to blame for terrorism. i dont care how many gov reports are made up for it to look like it, it is just another way to tak and get the native american cig mfgs. under the thumb of big brother.
The taxes on alcohol, fast food, soft drinks, candy, etc. should all be brought up to the treasons rate of cigs and see what hapens

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:20:30 +0000

OH PLEASE! We sure are reaching here! There are TONS of things miscreants can do to gather funds to send to terrorists. What is this, another indirect way to put the heat on tobacco and smokers? (No, I don’t smoke.) What’s terroristic is NYC and other places charging $9 for a pack of cigarettes. In a way, I’m almost GLAD they’re losing their precious tax money. Or is that what it’s all about to begin with?

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:52:26 +0000

This is a total political smokescreen. Our politicians continue to extort Americans by raising cigarette taxes. There is NO Coincidence that this article appears shortly before NY again raises the cigarette taxes. A Carton of Marlboro cost $80 in NYC.

Politicians created this mess by overtaxing, and then calling people who look to save a buck Terrorists.

Give me a Break!

By: lars

lars — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:39:22 +0000

Catherine,

I hate to say this, but from the one sentence…”there is a policy of “forebearance,” or refusing to collect on sales of Native American tax-free cigarettes to non-Native Americans….loss of up to $576 million in tax revenues to New York State”…tells me all I need to know. The issue concerning these sales were a shock only to King. As they say a politician’s ignorance is well documented at any time, UNTIL money enters the picture. Do you REALLY believe King cares about Terrorism or could it be the lost TAX revenue?

By: Discount Cigars

Discount Cigars — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:36:42 +0000

It looks to me that the State of New York is simply angry about not getting their tax revenues. This “crime” is just an excuse to jump on the “terror” bandwagon. Just my opinion.

By: Dan Hass

Dan Hass — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:26:10 +0000

And who didn’t see this coming? Maybe if the State of New York wasn’t taxing tobacco products at such an obscenely high level, there wouldn’t be a market for smugglers. Or does that just make way too much sense? Maybe it’s time to spread the burden around to all taxpayers and not just smokers. Peter King and any other moron representing New Yorkers can stop pretending this was a huge surprise. And leave the Native Americans alone. Haven’t we done enough to them already?

By: John F Ryan

John F Ryan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:25:05 +0000

Are these the same people that said there were WMD’s in Iraq.Smoking is injurious to health and the benifits from the taxes collected do not pay for the damages that caused from smoking. So stop making cigarettes and worries are over. J.R.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:16:54 +0000

When federal, state and local taxes push a $2.50 pack of cigarettes to $9 in New York City, you’re going to get a black market. And who profits from black markets? Usually it’s organized crime, and now it’s cousin: terrorists.

So basically these high taxes turn into corporate welfare for the mob and terrorists. Which leads to voilence in neighborhoods.

Ironically, the gov’t is going to have to spend the cigarette tax revenue to chase down the mobsters and jihadis who are skirting the tax.

Solution: lower/eliminate the cigarette taxes. Everyone wins.

By: R. G. Montgomery

R. G. Montgomery — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:10:43 +0000

One must also consider the effect of punitive taxation for the claimed purpose of ‘health programs’ in this undertaking. By artificially raising the price of a commodity, the market for smuggled goods in that commodity is enhanced.

So all the programs around the nation to punish smokers by punitively taxing them is helping to pay for Al Queda, Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist programs. How curious is that?