In the second of two opinion pieces to appear in the Omaha World-Herald in support of LB 436, former Congressman John Cavanaugh offers his support for the bill that would increase taxes on a pack of cigarettes by $1.35. His argument in favor of this tax increase essentially amounts to acknowledgement that the state needs money to pay for the nearly $1 billion deficit it is facing so why not target an unpopular minority to scrounge up some funds and hey, we might even “save lives” in the process. He points out that 73 percent of Nebraska voters surveyed support this tax increase. I noticed in another article in the OWH that 19 percent of Nebraskans smoke, so essentially you have one larger and therefore more powerful group of people trying to stick some other guys with the bill. Don’t you just love democracy? When one group of people can use force to pilfer the funds from a weaker group in any other context we would call it theft. What is even worse about this state of affairs is that this is essentially modern day Robin Hood in reverse, taking from the poor (smokers tend to be underprivileged) and giving it to the relatively rich.
Concerning the financial toll this tax increase would take on smokers, I want to put in perspective the fact Cavanaugh points out that Nebraska currently ranks 38th in tobacco taxes per pack. According to data by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research of the University of New Mexico, Nebraska is the 37th lowest state in average wages (as of 2009). So not only does this tax target the poor it will hit them good and hard, as this tax would push Nebraska up to the 16th highest cigarette tax in the country even though Nebraskans make less money than the citizens of most other states. Seems to me 38th is right about where we should be if you base any merit on that standard.
Elsewhere in his article, Cavanaugh can’t help but make a “would somebody please think of the children” argument stating that some kids would be prevented from smoking if this tax increase is passed and also mentions that some adults would quit smoking as well. While I don’t doubt it would encourage some folks to quit and others not to pick up the habit in the first place, I always take a principled stance against this kind of social engineering. It is not the duty of some to compel others to live their lives the way they see fit. So I do not care that the majority of people in Nebraska support this tax increase. Fortunately we created things like constitutions in order to save people from the tyranny of the majority. In this case constitutional government will do just that, as Governor Dave Heineman has stated that he would veto any tax increases including a tax increase on cigarettes. Looks like all of the opinion pieces in the world aren’t going to do any good in trying to pass this legislation.
