That's not exactly true either.. Just last night 60 minutes lead off their hour with a whole segment on drunk driving, increased penalties and murder charges.

I think the PR has actually come off smokers in the past few years.. No one really cares anymore.

And I agree, they should tax McDonalds, Burgerking, and all the other crap, transfat heart attack mongers.. Though if they go near In-N-Out with a tax, I'll blow somebody's head off. lol.

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"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary" - Arliss

Come off smokers? You're kidding right

MD just passed laws last year banning smoking damn near everywhere in the state but your own home in a bathroom with the blinds closed

FYI...I don't even smoke cigarettes, never have, just don't believe in "opinion" dictating which items are taxed on the whim to drive up state revenue that should be captured with more scruples in their spending.

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An unwavering defender of those I see worth protecting.

"promote the general welfare, not provide the general welfare"

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

How about if the smokers just pay for their own healthcare, RATHER THAN US, and the rest of the money we give to the government pays for all the crap we can't afford now. If you all want socialized healthcare, then someone needs to step the hell up.

Whats the difference between a drunk driver and a blazed driver?
The drunk runs the stop sign, the blazed one waits for it to turn green.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...57C0A9649C8B63

I seriously doubt we blow a ton of our money on "uninsured smokers" Check local state laws, bet your state spend "tobacco tax dollars" on "education"

Remember 76% of all stats are made up on the spot. And what exactly is "lost productivity"???? I see that at work every day and it doesn't require smoking. I can't think of anything more "made up" to prove a point than this:

The agency estimated the nation's medical costs related to smoking at $3.45 per pack, and said job productivity lost because of premature death from smoking amounted to $3.73 per pack, for a total of $7.18.

__________________

An unwavering defender of those I see worth protecting.

"promote the general welfare, not provide the general welfare"

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Yeah, because our states have cut funding for education bigtime. I went through public schools in one of the communities in the country that spends the most per student, and there were so many budget cuts, I can't even remember them all. Our teachers put ice packs on the thermostats (when gas was 1.00 a gallon) because they could barely afford to heat the buildings above 60º. No printing, no lights on, no field trips, cutting teachers. I shudder to think what it was like in less affluent districts.

Tax flippers (oh wait, they already are. But they all bought Hummers and wrote it off)

Uh another statistical problem. What's the population like in your area? Y'all had what.......1200 kids in high school?

700. There were about 6 of "us" in our circle of schools and thats after I moved out of a similar Boston suburb with thousands of kids and a lot more money. Same damn thing. Know what? My cousins in CT and Westchester were the same way.

Yeah, my town had a smaller population than some of the "supertowns" in clusterfuck hell with hundreds of thousands of people and multiple zip codes and all that great stuff you get with urban sprawl (mall rats, crime, fake EVERYTHING). Why do you think we all left! My community was a bunch of transplants from California NY and Boston. We cared about education, 9K/12K of our property tax goes straight to the school district. The state and federal cuts are what I'm referring to.

Now that's pretty funny. Assuming it's a joke

I think there are other "health and safety" issues that place a greater burden on the healthcare system than smoking, which is already somewhat limited in the US compared to many other countries. Try going to Spain and finding a smoke-free restaurant.

I don't think anyone here is talkin' about socialised medicine. If folks want to smoke, they can pay their own co-pays at the doctor's office.