Posted on 05/05/2005 6:20:00 AM PDT by SheLion
In the end it seems this is a set up for anonymous purchasing methods. Using Visa gift cards, and package stores.
Can you say BLACK MARKET????????? I can and it is scary.
They have alrady broken up at least one blackmarket cigarette ring with ties to Hezzbollah.....how many others are operating?
Organized crime exploded during prohibition......history is starting to repeat itself, this time with tobacco instead of alcohol.
By balancing their budgets on the backs of smokers the various governors and legisltures of the states encouraging the black market and thus providing aid tot he enemy in a time of war. If that is not a true definition of treason, I don't know what is.
The lawmakers have been going nuts trying to find a way to get their greedy paws into the Internet. They make me want to throw up.
>>>> major credit card companies announced that they would no longer accept payments for tobacco products <<<<
But they can't do this to SPAMers.
Follow the money!
This is absolute BS. If I had any credit cards that did this to me, you can bet that I would pay them off and tell them to go to hell.
Your recollection is on target.
Between 1970 and 2000, Detroit lost 60,000 housing units. The real blight in the city is high taxes, onerous zoning laws and crooked unions and politicians. The three create citizens leaving the city in droves. There isn't much blood remaining for the liberal vampires to suck out.
Never fear, though, Gov. Granola has her Marxist fingers on a $100 million pot of cash stolen from productive citizens to build "cool cities." She's going to build gerbil lofts in abandoned factories, refurbish vegetable stands on the city streets and finance couscous stalls in back alleys.
If it were up to me I'd order a million trucks of kitty litter and bury Detroit and Lansing.
I remember vaugly about reading an effort to "gentrify" the area. (or as you say attract homosexual residents because they do not have children and thus do not need schools and still pay taxes)
Actually in all seriousness, I am surprised we don't have more talk of UNincorporating municipalities that have died.
Can you imagine the result of ending the existence of the "city of detroit" as a municipal entity?
I wonder what these states would do if people stopped smoking for a set period of time. Not one day , but one month?
I wonder what these states would do if people stopped smoking for a set period of time. Not one day , but one month?
I would love nothing better. But it would take all smoker's in the state to accomplish this. It would be a huge endeavor.
But I would love nothing better to just stop cigarette tax revenue to the state for just ONE month.
Can you image? State government would come to a complete halt. LOL!
Technically, you are supposed to fill out a state form, claiming the purchase and send it in with a check.
Nobody does it, of course, but thanks to technology, that may change, as states are able to discover your online purchases.
In my state, Washington, the sales tax is almost 10%. For major purchases, I DRIVE to Portland and pick up the goods, paying CASH. My uncle went down there and stuffed a horse trailer with a big screen tv, washer and dryer, computer and a bunch of furniture...
I just purchased from a reservation online using my debit card/visa. It still went through. (confused look)
I'm not worried about it. In Maine, the surcharge on a bag of loose tobacco is only 25 cents. There is no tax on loose tobacco.
I believe that the state would go after online carton's ordered by smoker's before they start on loose tobacco.
I order loose tobacco from an online company for several months using my debit card.
So far, no problems. The box is delivered and no repercussions.
>> So far, no problems. The box is delivered and no repercussions.<<
Just an FYI on a related topic. The State of Illinois let people illegally use the IPASS lanes at tolls for years. On a visit there a few years ago, a relative there told me he used it all the time, no problem. That is what I did in the rental car.
Last year, he and several thousand other state residents received cumulative tickets in the mail for thousands of dollars per person - some deep five figure amounts - with 30 or so days to pay.
States are getting really creepy about enforcing laws these days.
Imagine getting a bill from your state for speeding 75 times in the last year and would you please send in a check for $32,000 to cover the fines or find your wages garnished and a lein slapped on your home.
Slavery aint much different.
Maybe you can Freepmail me the url. My husband needs some pipe tobacco.
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