The conservative case for taxing tobacco

I am somewhat unique among conservatives in that I don't have a knee jerk reaction over Amendment 3 in Missouri which is the proposed tobacco tax initiative. In other words, I am the only person being consistently conservative on the issue. Conservatives tend to dislike taxes to the extent that they will oppose them without thinking. My problem with conservatives (and liberals for that matter) is their inconsistency on this issue. They are generally opposed to drugs, except alcohol and tobacco. Liberals are generally for all drugs to be legalized, except tobacco. I am consistent in that I am opposed to all drug abuse whether legal or illegal.

Make no mistake, our number one drug abuse problem in this country is alcohol, and our number one drug "addiction" in this country is nicotine. It is not coincidence that they are the only legal hard drugs. Conservatives need to get over their love affair with booze and butts if we are to be taken seriously about any moral or ethical issue. Consistency is the most important thing. Just wait until a liberal figures out how to make everyone think they have a consistent stance on any issue. That is a big reason they cannot win on most issues; people see through their inconsistency.

As for this tax, it is a way of making up for the inequity of the health care cost problems. As we all know, health care costs consistently outpace inflation. A majority of this problem is caused by two little things: alcohol and tobacco.

This tax will be a part of the Missouri constitution so that the politicians will not be able to steal from it. Even if they steal from a program that this funds, it is alright because the smokers cost society more than they are paying for. You and I pay the difference between what the smokers cost us and what they pay for.

Of course, there are those who think that the politians will find a way to steal directly from these funds. Two years ago, an amendment was passed that required gasoline sales taxes and automobile sales taxes to go solely to transportation needs. Even the opponents of this amendment admit that politicians have not been able to steal from this source.

The taxes a real conservative opposes are not taxes that impose a proportionate penalty on people who take away from society. Conservatives oppose taxes that penalize wealth. That is any form of income tax. Conservatives have no problem with optional taxes that are based on luxury goods, or bad habits. And, that is what this really boils down to; this tax is 100% optional. Anyone who doesn't like it can stop paying it and enjoy fewer medical bills, an expanded personal budget, and generally a better enjoyment of a prolonged life. This tax is self limiting, too, in that it will eventually stamp out the source of revenue for itself which flies directly in the face of those who claim that the "government" making money off of tobacco will prevent it from ever being eliminated.

I don't see all of the supposed tobbacco opponents who also oppose this amendment doing anything or proposing any viable ideas during the times when a tax like this isn't being proposed. Seems like they are happy with the status quo of smoker's priveleges trumping everyone else's rights.

Freedom's Cost

I ran for, and won the office of president in the Missouri State University College Republicans tonight. Not that that was such a feat as I was unopposed, so I didn't even get to give the campaign speech I wrote for the occasion. So, I have added to it and here it is:

I know some may want to know my credentials, so you can have them, but I don’t feel that is important for running for such a leadership position. The reason is that according to the US Census Bureau, those with a bachelor’s degree are in the top quarter of the population, and those with a graduate degree are in the top 8.5% of the population. This means that each and every one of us here in this meeting, and on this campus is a leader. We are all qualified to lead this group, and it does not matter who the officers are so much as it matters that we have a dynamic group with goals in mind. To this end, it is the ideas of the leader that are important.

As I was listening to Vincent David Jericho on KSGF talking with the so called Peace Network of the Ozarks the other day, I was thinking about the anti war movement. They want peace at all costs, including letting terrorists and fascists win. Generally they are 99% Democrat, and want socialistic, communistic policy to rule America. They claim they are upset that soldiers die, and they equate that to the deaths on 9/11 for emotional impact. They hate America’s soldiers and America’s first responders, but will use them to justify their doctrine. To me, that is about how we live, and how we die. Do we want to live under social and economic Marxism, or do we want to live under freedom? Do we want peace (the absence of war) at all costs? Do we want to die as helpless victims of oppressive regimes and international bullies, or would we rather die fighting evil and doing what is right for our country and humankind? I know that our soldiers feel the way I do.

Now, I am a science student, and I know that many other science students are conservative. Almost all of the professors are liberal as they come, and they use their classrooms as a bully pulpit to indoctrinate as many captive audience members as they can. I once had a psychology class in which the professor, a licensed professional counselor and PhD level psychologist, stated that conservatives are "retarded in their moral development" according to Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development. When I complained, administration was very uninterested in doing anything. I believe that this campus is not as liberal as loudmouth professors make it seem; I have been here for over three years, and I have reason to believe that this is a conservative campus. I, as president of College Republicans, with your help, want to create a climate on campus where conservatives do not have to fear academic retaliation from fascist professors for expressing their views.