how far do you think the Smoke Nazis will go? no smoking = no taxes?

Question

the smoke nazis in the entire state of illinois (half of which is considered "the south," tobacco rich) are rubbing their hands together in glee and antsy anticipation of the complete ban of smoking at all restaurants and bars as of midnight on 1.1.08.

how far do you think they will get? do you think that all the tax coffers won't begin to choke "i want the money, i want the money!!!" when they are not receiving it from all the bar and restaurant owners that are going to lose their customers as a result of what only one part of our population wants for ITSELF?

do you know what will happen? up in the city of chicago, many different ethnic groups rent storefronts to sit and shoot the breeze in, whether it is about upcoming al-quaeda terrorist attack plans on us soil or other things, like their wives and mistresses. they speak in their own tongue in ratty and cold

WAIT! more follows below!

storefronts that have linoleum tiles on the floor, cheap tables, a coffee machine, styrofoam cups, a soda pop machine, and ash trays on every table. more of these "clubs" will open with a bring-your-own-bottle and food policy and then the excessive taxes imposed on restaurant and bar owners will no longer get paid to all the municipalities that impose them any more in the state of illinois. wow! that is a lot of $$$ to lose! gee...

state tax = $$$. county tax = $$$. city tax = $$$. liquor tax? not too much $$$ because politicians, a/k/a attorneys (commonly known as "liars") drink booze every day after a long day at court in their law offices with their partners and smoke cigars no matter what the building policy is--i know, i know hundreds of lawyers from my profession of 24 years and see it all the time.

go to the tobacco web sites and look up the number of cans of beer you can buy for the taxes paid on one package of cigarettes.

MORE BELOW:

the smoke nazis are getting to the point where they vote out owners of townhouses and condos attached to their own to go outside of their own homes to smoke! so how far will this go?

they hate the sight of a smoker that is smoking a cigarette 25 feet away from them and begin the dramatic gesticulations of waving and covering their noses. they tell their children that such a person is "bad," for i heard it with my own ears. a person is BAD because he smokes legal tobacco? really? since when?

how far will this ludicrous stripping away of rights by SOME citizens done to OTHER citizens go?

do you think that the smoke nazis will like when their taxes on their real estate, car licenses, liquor, food, clothing, and transportation all are raised to compensate for the loss in tobacco taxes?

then what will they have to squawk about? what you wear? what kind of car you drive? what else can they figure out to battle how much they will pay to make up for lost tax $$$$$$$$$$$???!

nice answer, katydid, not an angry one, well thought out. however, the city of chicago now placed into law that if you smoke a cigarette on the BEACH, you get a ticket for $500! do you realize how big chicago beaches are?

no one goes up to children or wildlife to blow smoke into their faces; neither do smokers deliberately blow smoke into non-smokers' faces. if you leave your office for a break and someone is smoking, ask them politely to move, and unless it is raining cats and dogs, they move. but if you are rude and gesticulate, they get angry and will turn at you to blow smoke AT you. that is because they feel that you have no RIGHT to make them do anything they wish to do to THEIR OWN BODIES and by spending THEIR OWN MONEY.

the senseless beach law's history follows:

1. a group of non smokers decided that they would "volunteer" to walk on 3 beaches (which ones, there are so many?) to show how many cigarette butts they could pick up on them, in the sand, mind you...

2. musta been great exercise, since:

3. they claimed to have found 28,000 cigarette butts on 3 beaches combined, but never said:

4. which of them counted out 28,000 cigarette butts;

5. which beaches they walked along, stooping down to pick up all those cigarette butts;

6. what time of the year they supposedly found 28,000 cigarette butts;

7. not one picture was provided as evidence of the supposed 28,000 cigarette butts (how could they be so exact?); and

8. they never named the brands on the butts, so who knows if they were, in fact, cigarette butts or the illegal marijuana that they smoke all the time?

CONTINUED BELOW:

so there. now you have a concrete example of how the POLITICIANS are cooking up more ways to get more money and not to save your health, since:

A. on the very next day following the news article in chicago newspapers, my 2 friends and i walked an entire MILE, from montrose to lawrence (4 blocks) and back (another 4 blocks) and found, amongst all of us:

B. 32 cigarette butts on the whole beach until you got to the dog run (place for DOGS to pee, have sex, doo-doo and bite stray children should they venture over there), which is sort of fenced by a chain link fence, and then, turning around:

C. 107 cigarette butts and other various "butts" in only one tiny area no larger than 50 square yards of sand where dog owners climb down from "the rocks" to get into the dog run, and then:

D. no greater than an additional 15 cigarette butts going back to montrose.

the montrose beach is about 3 city blocks wide, BTW. so why a $500 "ticket?"

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who of you actually BELIEVES the story by the "volunteer" group of non smokers? may it have been crocked up by the mayor, hiz honor, who sits with the governor smoking cigars atop city hall, in the private "natural" prairie garden of illinois (which turned to forests a long time ago, which are now cut down to create false prairies with taxpayer money)--a garden that no citizen that paid taxes to have built can go to, to see the "prairie rooftop garden," the "living green" garden on the rooftop of city hall?

where will the almighty mayor daley get da money to pay city workers union wages, health benefits, uniforms, pens, pre-printed "tickets," and pension moneys to patrol the beaches to spot THE ERRANT SMOKER? from taxes? what taxes? a measly $500 here and there? and how will the smoke police PROVE that said smoker SMOKED that cigarette? with photos? who will pay for the cameras? how will the judges get paid? where is da money $$$?

rev ron: why ban tobacco sales and throw smokers into jail? what has been proven way far and above the false "studies" "proving" "disease" attained from SECONDHAND (not firsthand, secondhand) SMOKE done back in the 1970s (read the studies and you will see what poppycock is in them) to non smokers is that anyone put into prison is a worse person when he leaves.

yes, it is absolutely and positively a FACT that even kids that smoke pot and are put into prison for having an illegal substance on their person literally become CRIMINALS when they are in prison. they are worse when they get out than when they went in.

besides: elderly people do not get benefits amounting to $44,000 a year each, as does each prisoner in the tawdry prison system of the usa. if they are lucky, they get about $17,000/year to live on out of their SSA funds!

with your sick attitude infecting the public, there may come a time that YOU get thrown in jail for the polluting car you drive.

ann coulter's nemisis, miss prissy: the weather is warm enough in CA to ban smoking inside of bars and restaurants, because then the smokers were allowed (but not anymore) to go to the patio and smoke outside. THAT was fair.

i wonder where you live. do you live where there are freezing temperatures for months on end, such as the state of illinois and many others?

re: the beaches/other public places. watch smokers put their butts into ashtrays that are combined with garbage cans. is that littering? and there are ALREADY LAWS ON THE BOOKS FOR LITTERING--no special ticket is even needed for smokers. smokers can also put their cigs/cigars out on the sidewalk, smashing out the ash, then put the butt into little packets that are sold by tobacco companies, then put the fire-proof packages into their pockets. does that offend you, miss prissy? this smoke nazi law is BS dreamed up by mayor daley to get more $$$, nothing else. i live here, i know the politics of chicago, but :

... but ms prissy, ANN COULTER'S NEMISIS (who is she...?), YOU are a nemisis to liberty. and apparently you live in the LA, CA area, which you talk about in your own rant.

you are willing to pay special taxes to make up for lost taxes on tobacco? name the special taxes that you will pay. on what that you do now?

when your liberties are stripped away from you in the form of excessive taxation for your own habits and way of life, you are going to cry bloody murder.

in reference to health coverage: study up. there are SO MANY people in the world that have NEVER in their lives smelled even one whiff of tobacco smoke that die of (1) cardiac problems; and cancers of all kinds, particularly (2) lung cancer.

england's public health is planning to disallow smokers from getting a HIP REPLACEMENT over non smokers! what does smoking tobacco have to do with degenerative joints/cartiledge?

sorry your father died from smoking, so did mine, but not all that smoke die from it.

ann coulter's nemisis & nemisis to freedom & liberty:

where did you find FACT of this:

"The $500 fine for smoking at beaches is more about the accumulated trash at beaches that has to be cleaned up. Cigarette butts account for more than half of the trash on California beaches" ???

i also wonder how old you are, since i have been to the beaches in HI and seen them littered not half way with cigarette butts, but by styrofoam containers, paper plates & napkins, plastic forks, knives, spoons, cups, filthy, smelly plastic baby diapers, & used condums, & they all get into the diving waters. i have seen it myself!

in fact, since i dive, i go to dive places worldwide. on the eastern shore of cozumel Mexico, ships dump MEDICAL WASTE such as used hypodermic needles into the ocean there CONSTANTLY. the eastern beaches there & many other beaches in the world are nightmarish wastelands of truly dangerous TRASH from GARBAGE BARGES.

don't drive a car/burn oil: think of your carbon footprint!

dear rabble rouser (you must be young too): don't you know that ALL farmed products are subsidized by the us gov in the usa because if not, a glut of any farm product on the commodities market would cause a depression?

do you also know that the best tobacco is grown in the southern states of the usa and then is shipped all over the world and that the gov makes plenty of $$$ on exports?

do you know that CORN is subsidized? now, do you know that the prices of groceries have gone out of the roof since CORN ETHANOL that is not even in gas stations & cannot fuel diesel truck engines (to deliver the groceries to the stores that you buy from)? do you know that ETHANOL "gas" gives off 53% more CO2 than does burning gasoline?

do you know the politics behind CORN, in so many of the grocery products that you buy? hint: it grows in IOWA. do you know ETHANOL is easily made from the weed switchgrass, sugar cane, and pond scum?

it is all about the lies to take your $$$, but worse, your LIBERTY

hmmm, this helmeted person down there, "nothoughtpolice," brought up some interesting points that "ann coulter's nemisis" seems to be responding to (???):

as much as gay people want us to believe that they were "born" gay, they were not. there is no "gay gene." it is a lifestyle choice. it's okay by me that they make that choice, as it is okay by me that non smokers choose not to smell the smoke of smokers.

"a.c.n." claims that being gay is the same thing to being born asian, black, caucasian, etc., but it is not. and there is no race issue when it comes to smoking: chinese smoke american tobacco ALL THE TIME, and so do the french. the rest of the world population smokes, but how are they welcomed to chgo o'hare INTN'L? they are forced, after they have traveled thousands of miles, to go all the way to the baggage area, then step out into the freezing cold chicago weather to have a smoke! THAT bothers you, "a.c.n.?" they are not blowing it at you, out in CA!

MORE FOLLOWS...

PLENTY of gays smoke. so? do you give preferential treatment to a gay that smokes?

"n.t.p." down there says that buggering produces AIDS, which eats up bookoo $$$ for treatment.

face this: non smokers that never smelled a breath of smoke in their entire lives die of the same diseases that smokers die of, and not necessarily when they are much older. you, a non smoker, may very well die of such a disease. you are going to drop dead like all the others. based on your anger, you probably will get cancer from your stress, a.c.n.

then n.t.p. points out, rightfully so, that muslims and jews (chosen RELIGIONS, not races) and gays, minorities as are smokers, are dictating rules to smokers, but also, i see them dictating how americans worship, for example: washington, dc was all lit up for ramaden, but almost banned references to christmas.

a.c.n., can't you read? i said that the Smoke Nazis should concern themselves with true issues in this world rather than CIGARETTES. then YOU

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blabber about the state of affairs of the war in iraq (muslims DO smoke our tobacco, and our gov makes $$$ from that--particularly in the UAE, in dubai--where the rich & famous purchase parts of "the world," a false set of islands & shop in dubai, where ANYTHING can be bought, in rampant consumerism as they are allowed to smoke their cigs in public each february), that bin laden walks the earth (if not for american tolerance, he would be dead, but his kids were present), and you have the audacity to claim that our government is the worst in history and lies to us. what does that have to do with this smoking issue? besides, you & i know NOTHING abt why our forces are still in iraq--perhaps there's good reason, as well as good reason for formerly illegal search and seizure: the terrorism that bin laden is to blame for.

BOO HOO to you, prissy--you are a young angry punk, a frustrated despot that wants to dictate how ALL people live based on how YOU live. you're a nazi, stripping LIBERTY

Answer 1

I'm not a smoker, but I don't see what the problem is with smoking in a bar. Everyone's drinking poison.

I predict that eventually you won't be able to smoke under any circumstances, but it will still be perfectly legal to buy cigarettes.

And obviously you shouldn't smoke around children, and I was right with them when they put smokers in the glass cage in restaurants, but I think it's going too far when you're not allowed to smoke outside.

Answer 2

1) "Besides the cost in terms of public health far out strips the amount of taxes accumulated from cigarette sales." Can we see the figures for this?

2) If smoking is so bad for health and so many die before they should have, don’t their deaths mean that their social security and public health care funds can now be spent on others who are still alive? So actually, smokers do the public a favor by dying early!

3) "Its putrid"---so?????? Is the purpose of government to protect your delicate nostrils from olfactory offences? Whats next, a fine for farting in public?

4) So what if smoking is filthy? So is buggery. And buggery causes AIDS, which costs taxpayers hundreds of millions in health care costs.

5) Smokers are the minority, but so are gays, Jews, and Muslims, who have power far out of proportion to their numbers. It’s always the minority which tells the majority what to do nowadays.

6) The US Supreme Court decided, in Kelo v. New London that it is OK to take away people’s private property away via "Eminant Domain" and give it to recipients (a city, for example, in order to develop it into condos, for example) who will pay higher taxes, right? Well, smokers pay more taxes than non smokers. So don’t the massive tax revenues brought in by smoking entitle smokers’ rights to supersede the rights of nonsmokers? Or does that principle apply only to private property, which used to be protected by the US Constitution?

Answer 3

Fanatics will take it as far as they can until you politely tell 'em "%$#@ you & the horse you rode in on!"

Answer 4

I think people should have the right to breathe clean air. And, smokers inhibit that right as do high polluting autos and trucks and the coal industry.
What's the matter, you can't get enough of that toxic crap in your lungs that you want the freedom to blow it in someone else's airspace and disease them up too. Sorry, you don't have to literally blow it in someone's face for it to be in their airspace. TSK TSK TSK. California banned smoking in restaurants and bars years ago. It's for the better and it hasn't stopped anyone from having a great business. As a matter of fact it's created a much better and cleaner business atmosphere. It's actually helped business prosper. There isn't any yellow walls or ceilings anymore. And, the waitresses don't talk with raspy voices anymore either.
Rabble rouser is right. The farm industry and especially the tabacco farmers get way too many subsidies from the government. It's not a crop that does the people good. Why should we be sending our tax dollars to them.
As far as people smoking 25 feet away and others flailing their arms around so they can't smell it. It's true. But it is also true that you can smell it 25 ft away and it's a putrid smell. If you smoke, you've been desensitized to it. Hey it's your lungs, but don't expect people to tolerate your poison and adopt your second hand smoke habit for themselves. It has been proven that second hand smoke kills. And, it has also been proven that many waitresses have developed lung and throat cancer as a result of inhaling second hand smoke in the bars and restaurants they work in that still have smoking allowed.
I'll take a little raising of my taxes over getting lung cancer any day. You? Besides the cost in terms of public health far out strips the amount of taxes accumulated from cigarette sales. Cigarettes should be taxed more because if you think about it, we are subsidizing your habit because eventually you'll need health care to deal with your onset of diseases due to your years of smoking. More than likely you won't be able to afford the healthcare and your insurance may or may not be willing to pay for it. That's reality. Trust me, my father died of emphezema from over 50 years of smoking. I know how the system works.
The $500 fine for smoking at beaches is more about the accumulated trash at beaches that has to be cleaned up. Cigarette butts account for more than half of the trash on California beaches. It takes lots of money to clean it. More than what the tax that is collected from selling cigarettes. People have a tendency to think the big beach is their giant personal ashtray. You may have 'combed' the beach for cigarettes but you do know people bury them as well, just under the surface. In California, they have a giant machine that racks the sand and accumulates the cig butts. I've seen it and I've seen the huge piles of cigs after the racking. It's disgusting.

Get over yourself, get a life and quit b*tching about the non smokers. It's obvious that you are not only unhealthy physically but you seem pretty unhealthy mentally if smoking is something you're fighting for. Sheesh, we have a war in iraq, BinLaden is still free, and the most corrupt and secretive government in the WH this country has ever seen. And, you're selfish enough to whine about not being able to pollute your own lungs. Well BOO HOO for you. The rest of us have the right to breathe clean air and you have no right to infringe on that. Take your cigarettes and smoke them in your own house where they belong.
And, while I fully understand the politics and the BS behind the corn lobby and ethonal, what does that have to do with smoking? Nothing.

The spouses of smokers usually get the SSI checks now. So, no it does not save the U.S money. And, the healthcare that it takes to keep someone with emphasema, lung disease, heart disease, chronic broncitis, and other horrible diseases associated with smoking is far more expensive than the taxes generated by buying cigarettes. Those moneys collected from the taxes on cigarettes usually go toward other things, not health care.

Smoking is a choice, being gay or being a Jew, a Black, a Hispanic, or Asian is not a choice. So you cannot come close to labeling yourself a minority like that just because you are smoker. And, none of those people cause harm to your health like being around a smoker does. Sorry, but your reasoning and argument is really wrong.

Healthcare costs versus taxes from cigarettes:
http://www.mit.edu/people/jeffrey/House_Testimony_Nov_1993.html

http://www.inforesearchlab.com/smokecost.chtml
http://www.who.int/tobacco/health_priority/en/index.html
http://www.smokefreekids.info/01env_main.htm
http://www.ehponline.org/docs/1999/107-12/forum.html

Answer 5

I am actually a smoker who is about to quit using Chantix...

I think Tobacco Farmers get a ridiculous amount of Government subsidies which translates to TOO MUCH TAXES.

Answer 6

let's classify it as an illegal substance and ban all the nicotine addicts and throw them in jail.

Answer 7

This ban has been in effect in the State of Arkansas for 2 years now...there has been no business that closed down because they stopped allowing smoking on the premises or inside the business....to the contrary, some businesses have thrived because more non-smoking patrons have visited their establishment. The allowance here is that you can smoke in a bar as long as you are 21 years of age (which only makes sense since that is the legal age to drink) and the establishment has to post a sign at the door notifying you that you are entering an establishment that allows smoking. YOU just have to realize that smokers are a MINORITY in this country, not the majority. So deal with it!

Answer 8

If you don't like the "smoke Nazis", quit supporting them everytime you visit your doctor! Your doctor will be the first person to tell you to quit smoking!

I myself, have been a "quitter" for about 2 days now. I got up Christmas morning, and had my last cancer stick. thank you Chantix!

that is always the excuse to refute change....
cries: "it will harm the economy!"
That is the con answer to everything.

Answer 9

I live in a state that has a smoking ban in restaurants and bars. People still go to bars and out to eat. It changes little. Where it makes a big difference is in towns on the border with states that do not have the ban.

This is a simple issue. I should be able to go out to a restaurant and not have to sit in a room with smoke. You want to smoke in your house, do it. You want to smoke in your car, do it. But I should not have to stay away from a place because I cannot tolerate the smoke. That is a health issue and smokers should not have more rights than I do.

Answer 10

Most smokers don't realize that non-smokers understand the rights of those who smoke. We do. We just don't want to go down with the sinking ship, and we don't want our children to breath smokers 2nd hand smoke.
It is a smokers right to smoke but I think the non-smokers right to breath clear, clean air should take priority.
I don't have a problem with smokers but I do have a problem with breathing smoke in a restaurant because I CHOOSE not to smoke. There are smokers who don't care if I have to breath their smoke or not.
California has a "no smoking" poliy in restaurants and it doesn't seem to hurt their businesses. Go ahead and smoke, just don't make the rest of us breath it.