October 13, 2007
VOLITIONAL TAXATION:
State lives by taxing dumb folks (MARK LENNON, October 11. 2007, Concord Monitor)
Some call it "The New Hampshire Advantage." Some call it "The New Hampshire Way." The realistic call it "Tax the Poor Dumb People."This year state lawmakers needed tens of millions of dollars. Where did they find it? Cigarettes! They raised the tax on smokes by 28 cents. Who buys cigarettes? Not you and me. Poor dumb people!
The best thing is, we can say that the tax will encourage people to quit, knowing that they won't, because they're not only poor and dumb, they're addicted. And get this, our tax is still lower than the one in Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont, so their poor dumb people will keep coming here to buy smokes.
Stroke of genius!
People with disposable income to squander on cigarettes and lottery tickets are, by definition, not poor. They are dumb. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 13, 2007 1:59 PM
Better to tax something you want less of, like smoking, rather than something you want more of, like income.
Posted by: PapayaSF at October 13, 2007 7:24 PMPapaya,
"If you want less of something, tax it, and if you want more, subsidize it."
This is an immutable economic law.
Though I have issues with the moral hazards, the growing ubiquitousness of gambling is another example of taxing the stupid.
Posted by: Bruno at October 14, 2007 11:10 AM