Alcohol taxes

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I vote hell no. Cigarettes should be though.

[danwxman]

Yes. I love sin taxes more then I love alcohol.

[Nation]

I vote hell no. Cigarettes should be though.

That's because you're like me, drink a lot and don't smoke. Luckily, the smokers don't outnumber us.

[??????????]

Neither should be taxed more.

[minionofmidas]

Both should.
Not too high though.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I don't like sales taxes except on Alcohol, Tobacco, etc

[opebo]

Of course not - nor on cigarettes.

Also all drugs should be legalized and not taxed discriminatorially.

[David S]

Of course not - nor on cigarettes.

Also all drugs should be legalized and not taxed discriminatorially.

Ditto.

[WalterMitty]

i generally dont favor any new taxes.

however, here in nc we have a 2% food tax, which of course hurts poor people.  i would certainly favor an increase in alcohol or cigarette taxes if it meant the abolition of the food tax.  i would also support higher 'sin taxes' if it meant a reduction in the sales tax.

[The Duke]

Tax the stuff and spend the money on road repairs.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

i generally dont favor any new taxes.

however, here in nc we have a 2% food tax, which of course hurts poor people.  i would certainly favor an increase in alcohol or cigarette taxes if it meant the abolition of the food tax.  i would also support higher 'sin taxes' if it meant a reduction in the sales tax.

In Minnesota food is exempt from sales tax altogether (so is clothing). Definately the right thing. So the current sales tax is higher, but I think it's better although I hate extra taxes on alcohol. Instead I'd like to eliminate that and increase taxes on cigarettes, honestly as far as I'm concerned cigarettes can't be taxed enough.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

however, here in nc we have a 2% food tax.

Taxes on food are immoral

[David S]

i generally dont favor any new taxes.

however, here in nc we have a 2% food tax, which of course hurts poor people.  i would certainly favor an increase in alcohol or cigarette taxes if it meant the abolition of the food tax.  i would also support higher 'sin taxes' if it meant a reduction in the sales tax.

The poor are more inclined to be smokers than the rich, so taxing cigarettes would hurt them more.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

It's their fault that they smoke. People need to quit, and if they aren't going to do it on their own and keep polluting their surroundings with their disgusting habit, we need to lean on them a little.

[David S]

It's their fault that they smoke. People need to quit, and if they aren't going to do it on their own and keep polluting their surroundings with their disgusting habit, we need to lean on them a little.

Newsflash- Hell freezes over. _ BRTD says the poor should be taxed more... for their own good!

[WMS]

however, here in nc we have a 2% food tax.

Taxes on food are immoral

And for a long, long time [not removed until this year!], NM taxed food at a higher rate that that - 5.00% to 7.1875%! With horrible exemptions such as: baby food is taxed, horse feed is not. And guess who was most staunchly opposed to getting rid of the tax on food?

Liberal New Mexico Democrats, who wanted to keep the revenue spigot flowing.

See why I hate them?! Argh! Despicable corrupt statist b*stards!

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

But if I believe that getting rid of that tax was one of Richardson's campaign promises.

I'm not for taxing the poor more, simply everyone who smokes, and not just for their own good but the good of the environment and surrounding people.

[The Man From G.O.P.]

sin tax to pay for USEFUL things (not homeless people or clean needles)

[David S]

But if I believe that getting rid of that tax was one of Richardson's campaign promises.

I'm not for taxing the poor more, simply everyone who smokes, and not just for their own good but the good of the environment and surrounding people.

Cleaning up the environment by eliminating cigarettes is doubtful. A large railroad coal car holds about 100 tons of coal. A modern coal fired power plant can burn through 2 or 3 of those in one hour and there are hundreds of such plants around the country. By comparison cigarettes don't contribute much. Of course you could shut down the coal-fired plants to improve the environment and then watch the lights go out over half the country.

[WMS]

But if I believe that getting rid of that tax was one of Richardson's campaign promises.

And so it was. He needed Republican support to get the ball moving. And for that matter, the Dems blocked every attempt to remove the tax on food for years  - including in 2003. I remeber well the staunch opposition of Ben Lujan, the Democratic Senate Majority Leader. They all of a sudden changed their mind, and insisted that revenues to make up for the lost revenue go to the local governments...which means more taxes elsewhere. God forbid they trim the source of patronage jobs bloated state government instead. Details at  http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/04%20Regular/firs/hb0625.html

These are bad, bad, Democrats...they've run NM for decades and yet it took them until 2004 to repeal a regressive tax?

[Gabu]

however, here in nc we have a 2% food tax.

Taxes on food are immoral

And for a long, long time [not removed until this year!], NM taxed food at a higher rate that that - 5.00% to 7.1875%! With horrible exemptions such as: baby food is taxed, horse feed is not. And guess who was most staunchly opposed to getting rid of the tax on food?

Liberal New Mexico Democrats, who wanted to keep the revenue spigot flowing.

See why I hate them?! Argh! Despicable corrupt statist b*stards!

Food tax?  That's weird.  Here in BC all forms of non-candy/junk foods are exempt from all taxes (or at least provincial taxes; I forget if it's both) and I personally think that that makes a lot of sense.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

yeah that's the system in Minnesota, food and clothing items are exempt from sales tax.

[WMS]

however, here in nc we have a 2% food tax.

Taxes on food are immoral

And for a long, long time [not removed until this year!], NM taxed food at a higher rate that that - 5.00% to 7.1875%! With horrible exemptions such as: baby food is taxed, horse feed is not. And guess who was most staunchly opposed to getting rid of the tax on food?

Liberal New Mexico Democrats, who wanted to keep the revenue spigot flowing.

See why I hate them?! Argh! Despicable corrupt statist b*stards!

Food tax?  That's weird.  Here in BC all forms of non-candy/junk foods are exempt from all taxes (or at least provincial taxes; I forget if it's both) and I personally think that that makes a lot of sense.

More: The Gross Receipts tax on food was originally adopted as a temporary measure back during the Great Depression, but generations of NM Dems decided they'd rather have the money to entrench themselves in power rather than, you know, actually help people out by removing it from food. What you describe is much better. That's NM; the Republicans are, at times, more on the ball than the Democrats...

[Nym90]

No. They sound good in theory, but sin taxes do more harm than good. They are too regressive.

[A18]

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How does one determine what junk food is? I like the tax code to be as simple as possible.