I do not normally surf the lefty Blogs often, but when I do, I find gems like this:
Tobacco tax affects mentally ill
By Peggy O’Farrell • pofarrell@enquirer.com • April 12, 2009
In general, Robert Anthenelli is a fan of cigarette tax increases.
When Kentucky doubled its tobacco tax earlier this month, Anthenelli, director of the TriState Tobacco and Alcohol Research Center at the University of Cincinnati, praised the move, believing it would push some current smokers to quit and keep some youth from starting.
But the tax increases burden one group not usually high on anyone’s radar: The seriously mentally ill.
“These tax increases have unintended consequences, especially for the seriously mentally ill, people with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder,” Anthenelli said. “They smoke at rates three to four times the general population, and they can ill-afford the tax increase. They’re mostly on fixed incomes.”
Anthenelli said that with their degree of addiction they’re going to be most adversely affected by these kinds of tax increases.
If you really want people to quit put the money in smoking cessation and improvement in quality of life for the poor. This is just an easy out tax because Obama decided to let Bush’s tax cut expire on its own. It is really cowardly. I really wouldn’t have voted if I had known he would do this.
via Open Left.
Hmmmmm… What about actually wanting to improve the health of the mentally ill, by forcing them to stop smoking by increasing the amount that they have to pay. Sooner of later, either they’ll hopefully figure it out or their caretakers would explain to them, that if they don’t quit they will go broke.
Besides all that, whatever happened to the liberal idea of the state controlling every aspect of everyone’s life. Could it be that there is dissension in the ranks of Hope and Change? Wow. Color me shocked! 😮
Besides that whole idea of improvement of quality of life; what the hell do they want, a fluffy pillow??!? Listen, I’ve been out of work since 2005, because in a time of desperation and because I thought it was a really cool idea at the time. I took advantage of the Liberal Democrats Social programs and you want to know what it did for me??!?! Nothing! That’s right, not a DAMNED THING! So, I sit here, and I blog, because there’s no fucking jobs around here, because of the Democrats stupid bullshit of taxing small business and because of the fucking housing crisis and Wall Street’s meltdown. So, don’t hand me no stupid fucking bullshit about improvement of the quality of life for some idiot fucking mental midget okay? ‘Cause I ain’t fucking buying it. I say, if they cannot afford to buy the damn smokes, let ’em quit cold turkey, LIKE I HAD TO, WHEN I RAN OUT OF MONEY!
Them liberals man, I’ll tell ya! 🙄 fucking leeches, all they are… Gimmie Gimmie Gimme and a fluffy pillow to boot! 😡
Update: (fixed rather stupid typo… gotta slow down a little and write stuff properly…. Yeeesh…)