And smoking bans are good for businesses tooooo!!!

http://www.smokersclubinc.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4164

IA Tax Update

Carlson: Iowans head for border to snag cheaper cigarettes
April 1. 2007
By JOHN CARLSON, REGISTER COLUMNIST
Lamoni, Ia. - It was very quiet in the little southern Iowa convenience store.
A few people were filling their cars with gas, but the cigarette business here was, well, nonexistent.
"We haven't ordered cigarettes in two weeks," said Desirae Silver, working the cash register at the Cenex store in this town on Iowa 's southern border. "I've sold one pack today."
Want some action?
Drive south for about five minutes, park a few steps over the Missouri border, and talk to the folks at Stateline Conoco - if they have a second to spare.
"It's nuts around here," said Tammy Escrogin, ringing up a couple of cartons of Marlboros for a guy with Iowa plates on his truck.
"Crazy," said Jennie Hancock, unloading boxes of cigarettes and frantically stocking shelves. "I've sold 27 cartons since I walked in here. It used to be five or six by this time. We got a shipment of 788 cartons today. It used to be 200 cartons."
Of course, that was before the Iowa Legislature passed Gov. Chet Culver's top-priority tax bill, adding $1 to the tax Iowans already paid for a pack of cigarettes.
That made Iowa 's cigarette tax $1.36 a pack, the 17th-highest in the nation. Missouri 's tax, at 17 cents, is the second-lowest in the country.
Stores in northern Missouri are filled with Iowans stocking up on cigarettes.
What about the Iowa law that prohibits people from bringing more than two packs of cigarettes at a time into the state? Forget it. Nobody is paying attention.
"The first day the Iowa law went in, we tripled our sales," said Tammy Carlson, manager of the Kwik Zone store in Bethany , Mo. , 23 miles south of the Iowa border on Interstate Highway 35. "We've had double the sales since then, and it's not letting up."
The biggest sale so far at the Bethany store: the guy with Iowa plates on his car who drove out with 35 cartons of cigarettes.

The Same DesMoines Register article - with comment section.
Good read...
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=...010335/-1/BUSINESS04

Obviously the legislators in Iowa and many other states have no concept of world trade or the global market.

They must also believe the statistics given by the antis that we are all dumber than a box of rocks.

It should be interesting to see how this tax effects their benefits under the Master Settlement Agreement. It will be a benefit to the surrounding states in many ways.

Crack downs will add to a resident's reasons for relocating to a friendlier state.

How many of the 120,000,000 smokers have children who might benefit from government provided health care? As an aging boomer I have neither children or grand children who would benefit, so why should I finance their health care?

Health Care, provided by government agencies is just welfare for the medical profession.

quote:

Originally posted by Bruce Fox:
Obviously the legislators in Iowa and many other states have no concept of world trade or the global market.

They must also believe the statistics given by the antis that we are all dumber than a box of rocks.

This is OT;but,Iowans do have a sense of humor.

Original Becoming Illegal: An actual letter from an Iowa
> resident and sent to his Senator
>
>The Honorable Tom Harkin
>731 Hart Senate Office Building
> Phone (202) 224 3254
>Washington DC, 20510
>
>Dear Senator Harkin,
>
>As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue
>Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance.
>
>I have contacted the Department of
>Homeland Security in an effort
>to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred
>me to you.
>My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to
>illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the
>Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill's
>provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United
>States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a
>$2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years.
>I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process
>started before everyone figures it out.
>
>Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes
>every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of
>taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine.
>Is there any way that I can apply
>to be illegal retroactively? This would
>yield an excellent result for me and my
>family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.
>
>Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local
>emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped
>paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could
>save almost $10,000 a year.
>
>Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter
>would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school
>applications, as well as "in-state" tuition rates for many colleges
>throughout the United States for my son.
>
>Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden
>of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car
>insurance premiums.
>This is very important to me given that I still have college age
>children driving my car.
>
>If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal
>(retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would
>be most appreciative. Thank you for your assistance.
>
>Your Loyal Constituent,
>Donald Ruppert
>Burlington, IA

I love the letter, did he receive a response?