Smoke ‘em if you can afford ‘em ($10 per carton tax increase)

The Somerset Daily American ^ | March 12, 2009 | Rick Kazmer

[bluecollarman]

“I’m proud to be called an a**s H**le/fascist by those who pimp death or are addicts.”

Fine, just don’t call your self a conservative.

[jacquej]

I beg to differ, Drango. I am as conservative as they come, and I smoke. I am 65, started when it was “fashionable”, and do not think one’s political views have anything to do with one’s personal choice to smoke.

Did you know that smoking reduces your chance of getting Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by 50%? My mom (non-smoker) died of Alzheimer’s last year. My beloved husband (non-smoker) now is dying of Parkinson’s.

I view all smoking “statistics” with suspicion. What demographic were these studies carried out on, have these studies ruled out “correlation” so that they are sure of “cause and effect”? Have they ruled out genetics?

The WHO ruled out second hand smoke being a factor, and why doesn’t that study get published? True conservatives take a look at the basic information, assess their individual risk factors, and make a decision based on their own circumstances.

I have no desire to live to be 100. I am just doing my part to save social security for those of you who do.

[Drango]

Did you know that smoking reduces your chance of getting Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by 50%?

As I've said many times....If you believe smoking is good for you, tell lots of people. It's a winning strategy in the smoking wars. (I'm sorry to hear about your mother and husband. My MIL has Alzheimers and it's rough on everyone)

[jacquej]

Drango, I do not tell other people how to live their lives, and I want no part of the smoking wars.

I am sorry about your MIL, because I just buried my mother. It was a long, hard, depressing, and exhausting decline. Now I am the sole caretaker for my beloved husband, and facing it all over again.

I am pretty depressed, as you can imagine. Smoking helps alleviate the tension, the stress, the anxiety, and the frustration I often feel. I am sure there are drugs I could take, but rolling my own, up until now, has been cheaper and healthier than the drugs pushed by the different big pharma groups.

What would you prefer I use, considering that I have to be on duty 24 hours a day?

[christx30]

I read this story on that DUmb website. You know the one. The whole “soak the rich” crowd. The ones that want to raise income taxes on the rich to 50 or 60 percent. I like going there sometimes just for the fun of it. Also like posting to stir up the pudding.
About 60% of the people there are complaining about the higher taxes and are talking about getting taxes shipped to them from overseas so they won’t have to pay the higher taxes, even if it means they will cheat that healthcare system that they want to put in there. I’ve made several posts pointing out the hypocrisy of the whole thing. Some guy was talking about finally being about to justify buying Cubans because of the higher costs...
This was my response:

“What would you say if you heard about a rich person that hid his money in an overseas account that the IRS couldn’t touch? Would you say that he was guilty of a crime? Would you say that he was a selfish asshole because he didn’t want to pay his fair share for the services that he enjoys in this country and should be charged and sent to jail for tax avoidance/evasion?
This isn’t just directed at you. Just anyone that wants to raise income taxes on some people to 40 or 50% but not pay their fair share by smuggling cigarettes from overseas.”

I know there is no sport in finding hypocrisy among the left. But it is sure fun to point it out.