An Open Letter to Mr. Obama

sleepy

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Dear Mr. President,
Congratulations. In only two months time you have succeeded in violating My First Amendment, My Ninth Amendment, My Fourteenth Amendment, and the Uniform Excise Tax Clause of Our United States Constitution. I am 55 years old and a SMOKING resident of California, though hopefully not for much longer. I already pay in excess of $5.00 per carton for other people's mistakes. I do not believe you mentioned a CIGARETTE TAX HIKE WHEN I VOTED FOR YOU. You said that you would END THE WAR AND RESOLVE HEALTH CARE ISSUES THROUGH EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT IN ORDER TO PAY FOR HEALTH CARE.

I WILL NOT BE BACK FOR SECOND HELPINGS OF CHANGE. AT THE LOSS OF MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. YOU SIR ARE A DISPARAGEMENT!.
http://www.aoc.gov/cc/plaques/c_m_hotel.cfm

Now for an explanation. On February 4, 2009 the prez signed in to law the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, better known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program or SCHIP. Did Mr. Obama finance it by ending the War in Iraq? No. Did he finance the program by redirecting management while cutting pork. No. The fact of the matter is, the dear prez did the exact very wrong thing that every cowardly crusading hack Liberal sycophant does.
He decided to support the kiddies by raising the Federal tobacco tax (again and again when including State taxes), even though he has promised to quit smoking. He should. He's buying his smokes and Nicoderm patches on taxpayer's dollars, so what does he care if he taxes the smokers out of existence?

I live in California and 11 years ago the voters passed a tax increase of
$0.50 cents a pack "to cover the costs of smoking-related illnesses". The campaign for this increase was spearheaded by Rob "Meathead" Reiner of "All in the Family" and "Spinal Tap" fame. Did the money go to the stated purposes. No. The money is now covering for the State's deficits and for children's afterschool programs and...to pay for anti-smoking commercials directed by...Rob "Meathead" Reiner. His last several movies were bombs, though he did strike gold with "The Bucket List", unfortunately. I wonder how much of my cigarette taxes which were designed to discourage my habit went to pay for that stupid film?

So, I am already paying extra tobacco taxes well above the general sales tax on any other taxable item (other than alcohol and cars) for a similar cause at the local level, but Obama don't mind his promises. Now the problem is that the idiot Liberals think they have a Mandate due to overwhelming voter approval and that they can do what they want. the voters defeated a $2.60 a pack tax increase on ciggs several years ago, but the bloody local Libs now think they will go ahead and pass even higher tobacco taxes through the Legislature instead, so now the increases are threatening to rise another $1.50 a pack in California in addition to the $0.62 a pack from our Meathead prez on top of Reiner's $0.50 a pack and other price increases due to the idiot State suing Big Tobacco for $500 Billion but hording the loot (total => $3.52) while other greedy States are doing the same or worse.

To make matters worse, the dip knows the State taxes in Cali and New York are intolerable, though not as severe on loose roll-your-own tobacco, so the prez raised the taxes HIGHER on loose tobacco because the potential tax difference was available for his fucking turncoat kiddie programs which will, just like California, probably result in paying hack directors like The Meathead for his unwanted anti-smoking commercials-for-dollars.

The Federal tax increases are $0.62 a pack, $6.20 a carton, and $7.89 for 6 oz. loose tobacco to roll a carton of ciggs. The paradox is that the anti-smokers are raising the taxes in order to force people to quit, but the Tax Stamp on every pack is my license to use it, as long as I pay the tax. Of course the damn government puts all taxes on the merchant in advance so the customer cannot withold paying the tax in protest, exactly to avoid any Boston Tea Parties and the Right to Object.
http://www.smokersoutletonline.com/

I believe in programs, but I think taxes should be equal and never, ever served on any one segment as a persecution for unpopular yet lawful behavior. It's not American to do so.
 
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Now the problem is that the idiot Liberals think they have a Mandate due to overwhelming voter approval and that they can do what they want.
Does this really surprise you? Does any of it?

Lets face it, the world is full of shitheads that dont give a fuck for anything but their own agendas and they become more every day. Just look around you, to see them you dont even have to look that far if you know what i mean. So why would that be different elsewhere? And particularly in politics? After all it seems to work pretty well for them, and since they have no conscience nor problems with stupid shit like ethics and morals in general, why would they even care? What have they to fear? No pudding for dessert? No unlimited peanuts on the flight to Hawaii? No Hawaii trip at all? Wow, they are really trembling now,...:roll:

No, the only language they understand anymore is blatant mindless violence, and God knows if i had my way they would get it. Any one of them, exactly as they need it, until they cry and beg for mercy. Not because i am a violent person mind you, (quite the contrary is the case, i HATE to use it), but because it will never stop unless someone shows them in unequivocal terms what is not acceptable. More than one asshole King had to make first-hand experience with this,...if they could still talk they could tell you how well that ultimately worked for the people they so happily tyrannized and exploited. Unfortunately its hard to talk with the head chopped off, so,.......


It's not American to do so.
Actually it is. It was like that in the past and it certainly is now.

At first its 'We are your friends, we mean well and only want the best for you', [Operation Harmless], eventually everything thats not tied down is being seized and declared 'own property', [We Had A Right To Take It], then they use that newly 'acquired' property to do with it as they please, [We Have A Mission To Fulfill], and short time later they even have the gall to think they have the right to take every measure they deem appropriate if you have the audacity to refuse to dance after their pipe or, god forbid, even try to get back what has been unrightfully taken away from you. [Ultimate God Mode.]

See any parallels concerning current events? I bet you do, its the old story all over again, practically no matter where you look, and its typically american, which is why it fills me with shame to be half american myself. My only comfort is that im half native-american, which practically puts me on the side of the exploited and therefore in the camp of the good ones. At least in a historical sense,...
 
Ah no Phoenixx, the behavior of Kings that you speak of was and is never the principle of Liberty or Justice, but is the policy of mindless mongrel Democracy with power to the majority against all Rights which will be denied the core instance of the individual. This is not the behavior of the American Ideal, but the behavior of the pre-Revolution Colonies under a monarchy which demanded inequalities such as those which led to our Tea Party.
The phrase "We, the People" is still allowed the misinterpretations which find tyrants and their followers seizing control against true Rights and true Equality by forced compliance at the point of a Gun or by Brute Authority, instead of by explicit acceptance of People and the Rights of People as Individuals exactly by their Differances, so long as co-mutual respect is maintained by Law. Unfortunately, the United States has never succeeded at realizing this perfect ambition.

Yes, I am surprised by the Smoking Hypocrite and his bending over for the Cancer Police. Personally I do not mean to promote tobacco use, but I do believe that matters of cancer, like diabetes or like alcoholism, are a result of predisposition coupled with errors in diet and neglect. That is also not to blame anyone for mishaps when we are at the same time misinformed by such industrial complexes, including those 'well-meaning cancer police" who cannot identify proper detox methods to the public when indicated without risking losing millions of dollars in continued tax and donation funding "in order to find the cure" which they have deliberately or otherwise failed miserably to do in at least the last 50 years or more, same as Mr. Reiner and his bogus commercials, in a time of severe State Financial Crisis in California, which violate my Free Speech by forcing me to pay for his Free Speech without equal consideration. I can boycott his misspent theatrical bullshit however, and I WILL protest when these cancer police think they will take my money without asking through corrupt taxation and kickback schemes and when they think they will outlaw smoking in the privacy of my own home.

EDIT: Pardon my edit. I'm still pissed about the boy.
 
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Go Sleepy! I'm a smoker too, and I respect your right to kill yourself any way you like. Fast or slow, it's all the same in the end.

Should be bloody free. But....

EDIT: Pardon my edit. I'm still pissed about the boy.

'boy'?

Aren't there certain cultural implications in that? Just askin'
 
good to see you post again, arne (i wondered where you were).

but it's hard to commiserate with any advocacy of smoking.

the standard practice of smoking tobacco spreads radioactive particles into the immediate environment and into the bodies of people nearby. how can you possibly think that that is acceptable in an intelligent society?

personally i have a problem with drinking and would have no objection to obama raising the tax on drinks to gain funds to support kid's health insurance or whatever worthy cause. ie, if i'm acting stupidly then let me pay for it.

obama was only my 5th choice to be president, but even i can see the huge pressure that his admin is under and the need to make hard choices all along the line. tobacco is many times more harmful than marijuana, for example, and hopefully the screwed-up laws can get rectified somewhere along the line.

or do you think you would have been better off under mccain-palin?
that is a team which might have left cigarette taxes at the status quo but would probably have allowed huge businesses to collapse while ramping up wars and spending against iraq and north korea.
 
nicolas.b. Radioactive??? Toxic, sure. Cancer causing - certainly, but Radioactive - like over and above background levels (everything's radioactive to some extent) ?
 
nicolas.b. Radioactive??? Toxic, sure. Cancer causing - certainly, but Radioactive - like over and above background levels (everything's radioactive to some extent) ?
check out the science articles, meecro. it's been well-known for at least 5-10 years now.

what kills most people from cigs is not tars that accumate in the lungs but the radiocactive particles that lodge there, then spread throughout the body. (can't remember if it's alpha or beta particles offhand)

either way, you can measure it with a rentchen (sp?) detector.

apparently the cause of the radioactivity is phosphate-enriched soils that tobacco thrives in. that is the whole problem. tobacco is only a mediocre crop in an average soil but takes off in phospate-enriched soil (and given some shade).

so which soil do you think the growers opt for?

problem is, the phosphate molecules lead to plutonium breakdown products if i remember my science correctly. which leads to a constant level of radioactivity. which is the real reason people get cancer from tobacco.

feel free to search the articles on this to get much more specific science...
 
Not 100% on topic here, but it's "Roentgen/Röntgen".

The McD, grammar nazi extraordinaire.
 
wow am I glad I quit ciggies 16 yrs. ago! personally I disagree on the outlandish taxes on cigarettes! why is smoking so bad? ok it can kill you, but you can smoke a pack and drive ok, but have as few beers and try driving! now why doesn't the government treat booze the same way as cigs? it kills you too. ok there is no such thing as second-hand drunkenness killing you as there is with second-hand smoke, but still it is a drug too, just like tobacco. In New Jersey(USA) where I am from originally and in Philadelphia (close to where I now live) it is illegal to light up in a public restaurant OR A BAR! did ya' ever try to have a drink without a cigarette? (talking to the smokers here only!) yet people can still drink till they can't even stand up then leave said bar only to cremate some poor innocent family out for a drive. hell why not bring about prohibition again? or just tax the hell outta booze? make THAT illegal too while you're at it.
But about Obama, personally I'd rather have a democrat in office than another dick head republican like Bush any day (no I didn't vote for him, I am not registered to vote, never have, never will!) But I am for him IF he can bring our economy back to life! damn man, give him a chance, he DID say it'd take about a year and this first year would be the toughest, it can't happen overnight, especially with the war. I was always against that war anyhow, it didn't help matters at all and what are we spending over there something like 3 billion per month? god but that can do alot for our health care system or education (or lack thereof), but hey let's send another shuttle into orbit at the cost of about 30 billion or so cause we need that (like we need the proverbial hole-in-the-head)
 
I don't think he's ever going to have time or a chance to read this - ever think of writing a letter to him?
 
Yeah Destruk, I posted at whitehouse.gov.

The radioactivity in question is polonium and is present from the soil quality. The British Government ran a test of plants grown near nuclear power stations and roadways and away from man-made sources and found the polonium level in plants highest from the expected sources. You get radioactive polonium from burning, whether from a cigarette or from soils and desert sands burning in contact with the hot (up to 600 degrees) undercarriage of vehicles on the road.

When grown in clean soils not containing polonium or it's sources and not exposed to burning by-products, there is no polonium in the plants.

Obama was the better choice, except for jacking off on sin taxes instead of ending the War in Iraq to pay for it. Even if you believe the cancer theories, then Obama is ripping off the victims to pay for other peoples children. The children's insurance plan in question pays for children who's parents make too much money to qualify for Medicaid. Now, isn't that fair to tax the poorest people who also happen to smoke in order to pay for the richer poor? Coupled with the literal floodgate of liberal bastards at the State level screaming because they want $1.50 a pack State tax and Obama did it, why shouldn't they do it to? No Sir. I will not accept paying 200% tax on anything I buy.

I see that Obama is ramping up the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) war on drugs in Mexico. Five will get you ten it's about cigarette smuggling and not drugs at all.

As for the 'boy', it's a crack. He sure didn't jack the tax as a man. He bent like a boy sucking up the approval of his big brother cronies and courting the majority non-smoking voters while turning a blind eye to Justice. Don't you think he meant to be seen with that cig in his mouth, like "Hey, I'm cool"? Now that he's in, he can afford to axe the 13-20% smoking voters with more exclusive oppressive taxation, I'm sure.

I'll tell ya. I'm dead when I can't afford to pay for anything. Tax people equally or shut up and go home.
 
The radioactivity in question is polonium and is present from the soil quality.
no.
my research (granted, from reading science papers five years ago) found that standard tobacco is extraordinarily radioactive specifically from the phosphorus-enriched fertilisers that are added to help the plants grow. radioactivity is taken up through the trichomes of the plants IIRC.

he British Government ran a test of plants grown near nuclear power stations and roadways and away from man-made sources and found the polonium level in plants highest from the expected sources. You get radioactive polonium from burning, whether from a cigarette or from soils and desert sands burning in contact with the hot (up to 600 degrees) undercarriage of vehicles on the road.
first of all, were they tobacco plants?

second, there are myriad sources of man-made radiation, probably many of which come from cars, so i'm not sure what that study actually proves.

better to compare results from a remote, uninhabited island, i'm thinking.
When grown in clean soils not containing polonium or it's sources and not exposed to burning by-products, there is no polonium in the plants.
that is entirely my point.
but how many smokers bother puffing clean tobacco? how many have even heard of this issue?
 
I wouldn't be surprised as phosphorus is a powerful oxidizing catalyst with other materials which in burning produces free radicals.

All the same, my point is about respect and fair taxation, though I still support progressive taxation on income as long as what the high-bracket taxpayer keeps is still substantial.

The jacking of an unpopular habit through unjust taxation to pay for matters unrelated to the habit under attack still does not explain why Mr. Obama has turned his back on promises to finance health care from the money saved by ending The War in Iraq and bureaucratic reorganization. What happened to those plans?

I now read that Mr. Obama is interested in fining RIAA offenders $150,000/track for unauthorized downloads. Why not charge for the track at the normal $0.50 to $0.99/track when caught. Both the tobacco tax and the RIAA plan do little but to penalize the (mostly) poor for their inability to pay from the start.

As for taxes, obviously Mr. Obama means to raise revenue for the programs benefiting the almost poor by taxing things that Mr. Obama believes will not impact the poor or for things that Mr. Obama believes the poor have no right to be using. He could have devised a duty-free system where the poor are not taxed, but that would only allow poor people an affordable smoking habit...wait a minute. What happened to representation in government and what does that have to do with playing 'Mother May I'?
 
I am with you!
Prove you are better than Barry
Refuse his idiot tax, refuse to smoke
That will teach the ratbag
 
That trick never works.
The imbeciles lose the tobacco taxes through cessation and they'll be picking off the next voiceless segment of the public. Who knows? Maybe Obama plans to finance health care with $150,000 fines for illegal downloads?
 
check out the science articles, meecro. it's been well-known for at least 5-10 years now.

what kills most people from cigs is not tars that accumate in the lungs but the radiocactive particles that lodge there, then spread throughout the body. (can't remember if it's alpha or beta particles offhand)

Will do, but I believe you - it makes sense. Probably Alpha (Helium Nuclei) or Gamma radiation as Beta particles are just high energy electrons with not much ability to penetrate, but I could be wrong.

Anyway dead is dead. One more reason to quit the evil weed.


sleepy said:
did ya' ever try to have a drink without a cigarette? (talking to the smokers here only!) yet people can still drink till they can't even stand up then leave said bar only to cremate some poor innocent family out for a drive. hell why not bring about prohibition again?

Don't do Alcohol any more, but coffee is hard. Going to have to quit them together.

Prohibition doesn't work, anyway. It's been shown over and over and is costing the world a stinking fortune (especially the U.S). Big political issue though. Why one drug is legal and another not is quite beyond me. Maybe we (as a species) should tax cocaine, pot and smack instead of paying exporting countries biliions to pretend to crack down on them (hello Colombia and Afghanistan) - then use the money to deal with the health and social issues which will exist whether we prohibit or not...

and then make sleepy happy by lowering the tax on tobacco!
 
I now read that Mr. Obama is interested in fining RIAA offenders $150,000/track for unauthorized downloads. Why not charge for the track at the normal $0.50 to $0.99/track when caught. Both the tobacco tax and the RIAA plan do little but to penalize the (mostly) poor for their inability to pay from the start.

That could work for Parking Tickets as well!!! (Whoops, how about I keep my $72 and give you the $2 I forgot to put in the little machine instead)

Actually I agree with you on sales tax on basic items - it disproportionately affects the poor as it consumes a greater proportion of their income than those better off. This also works for Parking Tickets.

Did I mention I got a Parking Ticket last week?
 
Don't ask, don't tell about the ticket because they might want to raise the fee.
 
Actually it's not so bad, last time I got one it was a decade ago and cost $60.

Pretty happy with that sort of inflation rate....
 
I wouldn't be surprised as phosphorus is a powerful oxidizing catalyst with other materials which in burning produces free radicals.

All the same, my point is about respect and fair taxation...
that's fine, but now you know why it's almost impossible for me to sympathise with smokers or any amount that they are taxed.

if you folks were 'just doing your own thing and hurting nobody', then it would be a completely different issue for me.
 
that's fine, but now you know why it's almost impossible for me to sympathise with smokers or any amount that they are taxed.

if you folks were 'just doing your own thing and hurting nobody', then it would be a completely different issue for me.

What's the half life of this radiation?

Also I would say it has negligible effect outdoors, which in this day and age is the only place anyone is allowed to smoke, at least it's like that all over this country.
 
It really is about excessive taxation of a habit that should be protected by the 9th Amendment, as long as smokers aren't interfering with anyone else. With all of the doomsayers supporting these taxes, why are the excess taxes going to unrelated programs?

Nic, I wonder whether the radiation is permanent or instantaneous because the act of burning anything produces radiation. The light from a fire is radiation. Does anyone know whether the radiation is the product of neutralization? If so, then it is at the point of combustion, same as anything else, but the Polonium is from toxic soils unsuitable for all plants used for consumption, usually swamp land in states of decay or pollution.
Look at this:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/22/xrays-made-from-scot.html
 
What's the half life of this radiation?

Also I would say it has negligible effect outdoors, which in this day and age is the only place anyone is allowed to smoke, at least it's like that all over this country.
there are still plenty of places that allow smoking indoors around philly, such as bars, so AFAIK it's legislated by municipality, or maybe by state.

what's the half life of the radiation?
why don't you research it and tell me?
WP cites radium, lead 210, and polonium 210 as being the radioactive carcinogens in tobacco fertilisers.

if these radioactives can last in the human body for decades then why wouldn't they last outdoors for even longer? after all, the human body has a cleansing mechanism that removes such things over time. that is probably why when someone gives up heavy smoking it takes about 10 years IIRC to reach a significantly-reduced level of cancer risk.

Nic, I wonder whether the radiation is permanent or instantaneous because the act of burning anything produces radiation. The light from a fire is radiation. Does anyone know whether the radiation is the product of neutralization? If so, then it is at the point of combustion, same as anything else, but the Polonium is from toxic soils unsuitable for all plants used for consumption, usually swamp land in states of decay or pollution.
i don't think i can explain my understanding of this issue any better than i did before.
i could google up the latest research but then again so could anyone else here.

like i said before, my understanding is that the whole problem is that the american growers are using a very dubious class of fertilisers in otherwise clean soils. according to WP the radiation in question comes from something called "apatite." does that help?

AFAIK there is no radioactive phenomenology such as ignition or the breaking of crystals to produce momentary radiation. it's a case of a radioactive substance being absorbed into a plant and mankind dispersing the particles into his surroundings when he smokes said plant. all very much long-term radioactives AFAIK.

as for your issues regarding personal betrayal and amendment rights, i'm not saying you're right or wrong. i simply don't know much about those issues and can't say that i take my opinion on them very seriously.
 
I didn't know they were using Apatite, though I doubt that would be the causative material. It depends on the type of apatite. There are several versions of it, but the version we know best is as Tooth Enamel or Bone Minerals, so are they using bone meal?
There is a problem with bones absorbing Strontium in the place of Calcium, though I haven't read anything about Strontium in tobacco, only radioactive isotopes of lead and polonium.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatite

I am disappointed when people support their beliefs as their actions oppose Liberty and Justice for others by enacting unjust laws however, and I wonder if Obama is just a pissed off ex-smoker?
Given his stated goals on the matter, shouldn't he quit too, or be disallowed from buying his smokes with taxpayer's money in case he didn't quit? Actually, I'd like to sue him and members of Congress for infringing on my 9th Amendment Rights, but I doubt I'll get that far. More like a phone call maybe, and that's as far as I get. I wonder if he thinks about others at all?
 
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