View Follow Up Post: Coca-Cola vs Cigarettes
Here are a few statistics obtained from the American Heart Association - there are over 40 million cigarette smokers in the United States - 26.2 million men and 20.9 million women. These are astronomical numbers considering we are talking about addicts.
The US government declares by an oath to defend the Constitution.
The oath of office is as follows:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
My first question is this: Are cigarettes a domestic enemy? They kill over 400,000 Americans annually. If a country invaded the US and killed almost a half a million Americans there would be a war without rest until that enemy was destroyed. Cigarettes do this every year, but INSTEAD of eradicating this enemy our government embraces it and makes money off each puff? I'm sorry, but my mind can't wrap around that.
Now, let's look at cigarettes - we have study after study that says they kill. They are infused with poisons and an addictive substance. As a result, government to an extent regulates their distribution.
I say, job well done! Age minimums were a great start at combating this deadly product.
Then some state governments, consistent with the above point, continued their fight against the enemy by keeping the general population free from smoke in public buildings. State stood by the premise of second hand smoke health hazards and eradicated this enemy where the general welfare was at stake.
Now, let's look at hypocrisy at its best - government knows cigarettes kill and destroy American lives. Recorded annually from the year 1997 - 2001 over 438,000 Americans died EACH YEAR from smoking related illness and government fills its pockets with cash? Is that allegiance to our people? Is that defending our general welfare on point and principle? I'm sorry, but I can't see anything but blood money here.
There seems to me to be only a couple of consistent approaches: government stands by their stance against cigarettes and eradicates them completely as a domestic enemy OR government on principle WILL NOT make money off of the addiction, illness, and death of its own people. This point supersedes all other points government could possibly make regarding the good they do with the money they receive from cigarettes.
Government tries to spin this and call it a sin tax. Come on, what are they smoking? Realistically, it's a huge money maker and politicians don't want to let go of this sort of infusion of cash. BUT they really need to look at how many lives we lose each year to this enemy and ask themselves if making money off of killing our people is a faithful allegiance to our own?
In conclusion, government needs to remain consistent in their support of the general welfare by eliminating this "sin tax" not increasing it. Government can't have a fist on one hand pounding a pulpit while the other hand grasps a wad of cash at the expense of our lives.
The Answer IS Simple! View follow up post: Coca-Cola vs Cigarettes
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