Tomorrow, California voters will be voting on Proposition 29, a bill which legates to raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes from 87 cents, one of the lowest taxes in the country, to $1.87. The estimated tax revenue per year will be 737 million. But where would that money end up going? Perhaps the largest contributor of ads backing the bill could tell you.
The American Cancer Society has spent an estimated 7 million dollars campaigning for proposition 29 . A CNN special lasting an hour aired last weekend strongly vocalizing the bill and running ACS commercials at every break. It is said much of the tax money would be used to fund "cancer research", meaning the money goes directly to this company for them to enhance the products they offer. The idea of public tax money going to a private institution has outraged many, though proponents of the bill claim it will radically reduce smoking. While smoking in California is banned at nearly every public place, the lower tax rate is said to help take the strain off of low to median income workers. If the tax were enacted, the ones who would suffer the most would surly be the middle class.
Healthcare in this country has become a highly profitable business, and while we can certainly be thankful for medical science, this writer firmly believes the simplest answer is usually the correct one. To believe this bill will actually get people to stop smoking is ridicules. This is clearly a big business move on behalf of the American Cancer Society to cash out on tax payer dollars. Their success depends entirely on California voters. If yes, the trend of big capitalism mixed politics will have continued to what was the most progressive part of the country. If no, we evade the quickly spreading cancer one more time.
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