Posted on 03/01/2011 7:03:06 PM PST by smokingfrog
Cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong wants the tax on cigarettes in California raised from 87 cents per pack, to $1.87. Other tobacco products would also be taxed with an equally large increase. Mr. Armstrong is a co-founder of the California Cancer Research Act, proposed legislation estimated to generate over $800 million annually for cancer research, prevention, treament and education. Cancer survivor Don Perata is the bill’s sponsor. Perata was a California state legislator for four years ending in 2008, and currently is a lobbyist for a California prison guard union.
Mr. Armstrong said, “The scale of this disease and the devastation that it takes on, not even a daily or weekly basis, but on an hourly basis, is immense. I think the people working in the labs and working in the hospitals are certainly worthy of an initiative like this.” (Source: LA Times)
Tobacco corporation Philip Morris is already beginning to fight against the proposed tax increase by donating $128,000 in February alone for a counter campaign. Organizers for the Cancer Research Act succeeded in collecting over 400,000 signatures to get the bill on a statewide ballot for next February. However, governor Jerry Brown wants to have a special election this June, and voting for the CCRA could take place then. If Governor Brown is successful in getting two-thirds of the California legislature to vote for the June special election, Californians will get their say on CCRA in a little over three months.
Armstrong founded a cancer non-profit years ago called the Livestrong Foundation, which has raised $325 million so far. Those funds have gone to support cancer research and survivor support programs. Armstrong has retired from cycling, and is focusing his attention on cancer awareness and fundraising for research.
(Excerpt) Read more at care2.com ...
Yeah. He’s bringin it to TX. MYOB Lance baby.
He has moved on...
In December 2008, Armstrong announced that his girlfriend, Anna Hansen, was pregnant with his child. The couple started dating in July 2008 after meeting through Armstrong’s charity work. Although it was believed that Armstrong could no longer father children, after having undergone chemotherapy for testicular cancer, this child was conceived naturally. The baby boy, Maxwell Edward Armstrong, was born on June 4, 2009 in Aspen, Colorado. Armstrong announced the birth via Twitter. Armstrong has become a popular Twitter user with over 2.7 million followers in February 2011.
In April 2010, Armstrong, using Twitter, announced that Anna Hansen was having his fifth child. Olivia Marie Armstrong was born October 18, 2010.
Armstrong owns homes in Austin, Texas, and Aspen, Colorado, as well as a ranch in the Texas Hill Country.[53] Armstrong is a fan of the University of Texas Longhorns college football program and is often seen on the sidelines supporting the team.
I think the reason Lance dumped Sheryl Crow was: He wanted to ride something with fewer miles than his bike...
Grow a pair Lance.
He’s just another Texan trying to mess with California Taxes. Raise taxes in your own state we have enough fools here already.
Why is it necessary to state the obvious when it is obvious.
It goes with saying..
Now, that made me laugh.
I can’t stand it. He is a big government guy, perfect match for the toilet paper square girl.
Either leave them alone for awhile or have enough courage to make the damn product illegal and forego some of the "oh-so-precious" tax revenue.
No other group of American citizens is so villified, so put upon, so abused - with the possible exceptions of Christians, of course.
How in the hell is that supposed to help ?
They all ready sell cigarettes that are brought in from Mexico, bought at duty free stores at the borders in the US... you can double your money daily, especially if u live in Mexico and work in the US, and do the daily commute
My thought exactly. Seems like the s*** is about to hit the fan for him. I don’t suppose that he ever smoked, but still got testicular cancer.
Hey Lance! How about supertaxing asshole steroid
users, huh?
Indian reservations are not required by law to charge tax for products bought on their land.
I suddenly have a horrid visual of Armstrong peddling the state of California right down the toilet bowl...
Ping.
[[I thought a pack of cigs was over five bucks?]]
alm ost $10 per pack where I live- Gasoline is also the third highest in the nation- yet this state abounds with poor people- Yep- ole lance- just loves the poor I guess
[[In December 2008, Armstrong announced that his girlfriend, Anna Hansen, was pregnant with his child.]]
I hear he’s trying to get a 1 million dollar fornication bill passed too- himself exempt of course
Well - all this man has ever done is peddle his ass all over Europe, soaking up the idiot-wisdom over there. So what could we expect from him other than more idiocy?
[[No other group of American citizens is so villified, so put upon, so abused - with the possible exceptions of Christians, of course.]]
I was stopped in a parkign lot, and told by the ‘lot police’ (Don’t know what their official title is) that I had to walk clear to the other end of the lot if I wanted to smoke- I felt like tellign the self-rightoues butthead “First of all fella- I’m a smoker, I CAN’T walk that far, Second of all, I’m goign to give you htis cigg butt, you hold onto it for evidence,, and IF, in 40-50 years, someone in this parking loit right now gets cancer from inhaling a few particulates of tobacco from this very cigg- you gimme a call, and I’ll foot the bill the bill for their treatment, BUT- I want proof that their cancer came from a brief encounter with the smoke from this cigg”
But I didn’t-
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