Just notice how much of the article is about $$$ and how much is NOT about "it's for the children".
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20030401-1718-ca-onlinetobaccosuit.html

Lori

quote:

---

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed lawsuits against five out-of-state online cigarette retailers Tuesday, alleging they are selling to California minors and avoiding responsibilities to pay California sales taxes.

---

All these California minors they are selling to have credit cards and their parents don't check where the money is going?

Yeah, right!!! Gimme a break!!! They're suing the WRONG people.

Let's round up all these "kids" and put them under state control so they can monitor their purchases. Yeah, that's the ticket.

quote:

---

California smokers pay 87 cents per pack in cigarettes taxes or $8.70 a carton. But Gov. Gray Davis has proposed raising taxes on smokers another $1.10 per pack, which would make California's taxes the nation's highest.

---

Uh, at $58 a carton or $5.80 a pack, the taxes have to be much, much higher than $.87 per pack.

At $1.38, which is a high estimate to make, package and ship cigarettes, $.87 is way, way too low.

Do these swindler's think we can't add?

Try these ‘honest’ numbers AG Lockyer; 5.80-1.38=4.42 in taxes per pack or 44.20 per carton.

Even considering a 20% markup for middlemen, that would still make the taxes $35.36 per carton. Not enough for Lockyer though, he wants $45.46 per carton or $4.50 a pack.

Hmph, it’s enough to make a person roll and even grow their own, I tell ya. (Hmm, oh yeah, I did that)

Greedy bastids!

quote:

---

Originally posted by lockjaw02:
All these California minors they are selling to have credit cards and their parents don't check where the money is going?

---

The antis' can't trust the parents to do that, not when there's all that extored tax revenue at stake. They can't even trust the parents to teach their own kids about smoking. Their anti smoking propaganda classes in grade school attests to that.