Comments on: Bootleg cigarettes, Prohibition and the death of Eric Garner

By: Loosie in the streets, with patdowns | Free State Notes

Loosie in the streets, with patdowns | Free State Notes — Sun, 28 Dec 2014 15:45:34 +0000

[…] The New York policy has proved a highly effective way to bring petty and not-always-so-petty crime to New Yorkers’ everyday lives. With I-95, I-70 and other corridors, Maryland is already one of the most accessible states for […]

By: Marty Murphy

Marty Murphy — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 23:05:33 +0000

Bacchys raises the important point of why Eric Garner was being arrested.

There were 4-5 Police Officers attempting to subdue Mr. Garner. They did not spontaneously decide to jump on Mr. Garner. Someone issued an order.

There was a NYPD SGT present at the scene. A NYPD SGT is visible to one side at the end of one of the videos. NYPD SGTs are supervisors; when no higher officer is present, the SGT is in charge. Why is all the media and legal attention focused only one Police Officer and not the SGT?

Could it have anything to do with the fact that the SGT is female and she is Black?

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 05:42:34 +0000

What I find even more curious is

– the same political orientation that supports these sumptuary taxes seems to think it’s no big deal if people beat them
– the Left in general thinks its AOK if people who are perceived as minority or disenfranchised beat taxes. They truly believe that only the “1%” should pay for anything, everyone else deserves a free ride.

By: bacchys

bacchys — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 04:02:06 +0000

The “loosies” rationale for the arrest of Garner was a johnny-come-lately excuse by the NYPD. Until they present evidence he was selling “loosies” at that time, it ought not to be treated with any credibility. Until they produce the evidence, Garner was simply killed without reason or justification.

By: jack listerio

jack listerio — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 22:04:41 +0000

Tobacco Taxation and Unintended Consequences: U.S. Senate Hearing on Tobacco Taxes Owed, Avoided, and Evaded

Drenkard Statement to U.S. Senate Finance Committee July 2014

Hearing on Tobacco: Taxes Owed, Avoided, and Evaded
Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

Chairman Wyden, Ranking Member Hatch, and members of the Committee:

I appreciate the opportunity to submit this statement on tobacco taxes and their impact across the country. In the 77 years since our founding in 1937, the Tax Foundation has monitored tax policy trends at the federal and state levels, and our data and research are heavily relied upon by policymakers, the media, and the general public. Our analysis is guided by the idea that taxes should be as simple, neutral, transparent, and stable as possible, and as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, we take no position on any pending legislation.

We hope that the material we provide will be helpful in the Committee’s consideration of the issue.

Executive Summary

Tobacco taxes are the highest they have ever been in the United States. The federal rate currently stands at $1.0066 per pack of cigarettes, and state and local rates add as much as an additional $6.16 per pack (as in Chicago, Illinois). These combined rates are equivalent to a tax in excess of 200 percent in some locales.

The high tax burden on tobacco results in de facto prohibition of the products, bringing all the undesirable outcomes associated with alcohol prohibition in the 1920s. In our research we have found evidence of substantial tobacco smuggling from low to high tax jurisdictions, violent crime, theft of tobacco and tobacco tax stamps, corruption of law-enforcement officers, and even funding of terrorist organizations through crime rings.

http://taxfoundation.org/article/tobacco-taxation-and-unintended-consequences-us-senate-hearing-tobacco-taxes-owed-avoided-and-evaded