NYC:New York Hits Online Sellers of Cigarettes

New York Times.com ^ | 2-12-05 | IAN URBINA

[SheLion]

Good ole BloomingIdiot!

AND the City COUNCEL!

Some banks that process MasterCard transactions have begun blocking sales from certain Internet tobacco sites to customers

It's ok to purchase porn over the Internet with Master Card and who's to say that CHILDREN aren't getting it?  So how can a credit card company stop a transaction?  I think these lawmakers are blowing threatening smoke.

Why would a CREDIT CARD company care WHAT the money is spent for?  There is a chipmunk in the wood pile as far as "I" am concerned.  I am very suspicious of this.  I believe this is just a scare tactic because they are desperate for the money!

[SheLion]

Unless the Master Card Corporation is based in NY and is working for or being paid under the table by these lawmakers, I really don't believe they will stop the sale of anything.

[SheLion]

How desperate are these idiot lawmakers. This is the most pathetic attempt to collect money I have ever witnessed in my entire life.

[Gay State Conservative]

"Mr. Spitzer emphasized that the effort has as much to do with health as money"

Yah....right.We might have been born at night,Comrade, but it wasn't last night!

[SheLion]

Yah....right.We might have been born at night,Comrade, but it wasn't last night!

Exactly! And they are still spewing "It's about the CHILDREN!" Well, I will tell you that no kid of mine was ever given a credit card. Especially to purchase online.

And no decent well informed UPS driver is going to hand over tobacco products to a kid answering the door. If the UPS driver knows by the label that it is indeed tobacco products.

The NYC Officials are complete A-holes!

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Concerned about the booming trade in online cigarette sales, New York state officials have begun using a variety of techniques to clamp down on the trade, saying New York City alone is losing more than $75 million a year in uncollected tax revenues because of the sales.

Oh and I thought they stopped online sales "for the children", to protect them? Now they admit the real reason, it's about the money, not that we didn't know all along.

[keithtoo]

The greediest institutions of all, bar none, are governmental institutions. The cigarette fraud is just making it more obvious.

We need to continue to starve the beast at all levels.

Hurray for the online cig sellers.

[firebrand]

Most of the people ordering cigarettes online are buying them in enormous quantities and reselling them. It is $75 million in tax money they are taking right out of our pockets.

[lolhelp]

Sounds to me like the United States Government needs to retake the State of New York, looks as if the Blooming Aliens have taken it over.

[gidget7]

I'm with you, it has absolutely Nothing to do with health. Or with children buying them. Children do not have credit cards, and most sites do require age verification.

As long as officials are promoting the deadly homosexual lifestyle, there is NO WAY anyone is going to take their so called health concerns seriously.

It's about getting a lot of money out of a small group of Americans, and for a legal substance!

[gidget7]

I'm with you, it has absolutely Nothing to do with health. Or with children buying them. Children do not have credit cards, and most sites do require age verification.

As long as officials are promoting the deadly homosexual lifestyle, there is NO WAY anyone is going to take their so called health concerns seriously.

It's about getting a lot of money out of a small group of Americans, and for a legal substance!

[jocon307]

Eliot Spitzer is a power mad freak. He should be STOPPED, but he'll probably by the next governor.

Let's face it, they think ALL the money is THEIRS FIRST.

Cripes how I hate them all.

[conservative in nyc]

Welcome to New York! If Spitzer actually convinces anyone to stop this, I think we should change our nickname to the Nanny State (although I think California might have beaten us to it).

Did it ever occur to our politicians that maybe people are flocking to Internet sites to buy cigarettes because our cigarette taxes are too high, and they'd likely collect more in taxes if they LOWERED them?

Amazon.com and other Internet retailers that legally refuse to collect New York sales taxes are also flouting New York tax law. Why isn't he also targeting them?

BTW - I wonder if Eliot Spitzer has ever heard of the U.S. Constitution or the Commerce Clause?

[lolhelp]

If that is true, it would not take the ATF long to arrest the ones doing it. Where did you get your information?

[gidget7]

We need to continue to starve the beast at all levels.



Exactly, cigarettes are legal, and there is NO law that requires anyone to buy anything form the state or city they live in.

I can go to a state where I have relatives and buy them there, then what can they do? This is BS

[firebrand]

Either the New York Post or the New York Sun.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Did it ever occur to our politicians that maybe people are flocking to Internet sites to buy cigarettes because our cigarette taxes are too high, and they'd likely collect more in taxes if they LOWERED them?

Those lucky enough to live near Indian reservations in NY can get their smokes a lot cheaper as well. I suspect legislators will keep trying to put a stop to that too, for the children.

[Marak]

Sounds like the real fraud being perpetuated is by the State of NY when they give the reasons for the crack down.

[lolhelp]

I would like to pass along some advise my Dad gave me over 55 years ago, never believe anything you read in the newspaper and never quote it as truth before you check it out personally.

[gidget7]

Extremely few buy them for resale, and if that is the only problem, then they should do what other states have done. You can't for instance, go to NH and buy over 60 cartons. Anything less is ok.

Most sales are far less, and are for the consumers personal use.