Monday, March 12, 2007

Holy Smokes, What's Up, Chuck?

So just how close will that vote be tomorrow at the Statehouse to up the cig tax? Governor Chet Culver with his Catholic, former smoker, Lt Gov Patty Judge, by his side, told us that the Catholics are behind the effort. That's an argument I haven't heard so far in this debate. But Tom Chapman, the Exec Director of The Iowa Catholic Conference, said this is a pro-life issue. A higher cig tax will stop people from smoking, so it will save lives and it will help insure the uninsured and Catholics, he says, believe in covering the uninsured.

Jamie Van Fossen, the anti-taxer and Catholic Republican Rep. from Davenport, called the approach, "interesting". He doesn't remember learning the parable in Church of the importance of raising taxes.

How about that announcement-that-he'll-make-his-announcement-later from Chuck Hagel today? Sunday night, I was thinking of pitching to my boss to send me to Omaha to cover Hagel's 10 a.m. address. I assumed Hagel would announce he was running. Instead, he's going to think it over with his family and decide later. Sure glad I never called my boss last night...

4 comments:

The Deplorable Old Bulldog said...

Dude, these guys will truly say anything. Anything.

Anonymous said...

Hey, how about a 6% decrease in the budget and lower a taxes? Hmm, this would make up for the hundreds of millions that our state evidently hasn't had for many years now. What surplus?

Let's see, I don't care either way with smoking, but lying through your teeth to say it will actually go for expanded health care? Wow, if you believe that, I have an 86 Escort I'd like to sell you for $20,000. It has a nice new coat of paint too.

As a side note: If the tax of $1 goes through. I am buying a crap load of smokes out of state and am selling them illegally here. Wow, I can rake in some cash. Have to pay for all the other tax increases somehow.

Churches: Stay out of government and get your own houses in order. The second a church even makes an opinion of political interests, it is no longer a church. It is a political action group and should have their religious tax exemptions revokes immidiately. Stick to religion.

Hagel? That was just too funny. Watched it on CNN and was laughing quite a bit. That's like Hillary comparing to herself to JFK or McCain standing half a chance at even the republican nomination.

Anonymous said...

Hagel = moron

Anonymous said...

PRICE OF POLITICS!
Lets see first it was for your own good, lets make seatbelts mandatory, but its ok to ride a motorcycle with no helmet, or to give your kid a ride with no helmet but they have to have one on to ride a bicycle. NOW ITS CIGARETTES, OMG, they kill, lets raise the tax and figure how to spend that money! WHAT ABOUT ALCOHOL, more teenagers die each year from ALCOHOL and more die from those driving under the influence, including a good friend of mine who was a Polk County Deputy Sheriff, Kip Hayward. The news story said, kids who did a set in believe everyone deserves to breath clean air, well then we should ban GAS, DIESEL, airplanes, automobile and factories, they pollute too! Whats next, McDonalds and other fast food is BAD FOR YOU, lets make them illegal. PEOPLE wake up!! This is cowboy politics! A totalitarian state begins with chipping away small portions of the constitution, and if there is no outcry, lets keep going to see how far we can go, one day you will wake up and there will be no more elections. You are missing the basic point! When government decides what should be your freedom of choice to ban what it bad for you, that is a dangerous signal. Id like to know where all the money that was paid to the states by big tobacco went. IT SURE DIDNT GO TO THOSE WHO SUFFERED FROM THE ILLS OF SMOKING, DID IT. NO IT WENT INTO THE DARK COFFERS OF THE STATE with the explanation, WE WILL USE IT TO EDUCATE PEOPLE. GET FOR REAL, LIKE MORE LOCAL OPTION TAXES ARE REQUESTED, ALL THE STATE IS DOING IS FEEDING THEIR LITTLE PIG WANTING MORE MONEY FOR SPECIAL INTERESTS, I HAVE YET TO SEE MY PROPERTY TAXES GO DOWN SINCE PRARIE MEADOWS WAS BUILT, HAVE YOU ?

Think about it