Largest Proposed Pipe Tobacco Tax Increase Ever
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Kevin Godbee - Aug 23, 2011
- 1 min read
New Bill Proposes a 1,650% Tax Increase on Pipe Tobacco
In January of 2010, we had H.R. 4439, the Tobacco Tax Parity Act of 2010 which proposed raising the tax on pipe tobacco 775% from $2.8311 to $24.78 per pound.
Thankfully that bill died in committee.
Now we have S. 1403: IDEA Full Funding Act.
Instead of suggesting that pipe tobacco’s tax rate be brought up to the level of roll-your-own at $24.78 per pound, this time, they want to DOUBLE the tax rate on RYO first, and then bring pipe tobacco to that level of $49.55 per pound, which is a 1,650% increase.
Detail of the bill are as follows –
S. 1403 of the 112th Congress was introduced on July 21, 2011, by Sen. Thomas Harkin (D-IA) and referred to the Finance Committee.
S. 1403 (The IDEA Full Funding Act) proposes to provide increased educational funding for disabled and mentally retarded children with exorbitant increases in Federal tobacco taxes.
For example:
It specifies a tax increase on cigarettes from $ 50.33 to $ 100.50
It specifies a tax increase on Roll-Your-Own Tobacco from $ 24.78 to $49.55
It specifies a tax increase on Pipe Tobacco from $ 2.8311 to $ 49.55
That is not a typographical error. The intent is to raise the Federal tax on pipe tobacco to the same as Roll-Your-Own Tobacco – after they double the tax on RYO.
It specifies similar tax increases for all other tobacco products.
You can view the bill here: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112-1403
You can voice your opinion here: https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/s1403/report#nation
Please also tell us what you think in the commenting box below.
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Written by Kevin Godbee
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Pundit is a pipe smoker who never sleeps. No, thatâs not right. Pundit is a pipe smoker who is always thinking about pipes and tobacco. Even in his sleep. Well, thatâs close enough. Itâs May. Blooming flowers, weeds, trees, and grass, have taken over the yard, and pollen scatters and sprays like rain. We asked for spring, and we got it in barrels. But this is also a time when thoughts turn to new pipes and new tobacco blends. Itâs like that runaway elephant when it freed itself recently from a circus show in Butte, Mont. The Pundit herd rules, but it is too large, despite thoughts and urges for more pipes and more tobacco. What to do? If you are like Pundit, you eat, sleep(less), and think pipes and tobacco blends. Right now, everywhere, all pipes, all the time. Call it pollen-crazed mind. And just so you know, Pundit has already set aside a stash for new pipes. Weâll just let the herd run amok. Itâs the Butte syndrome. Now that weâve settled the weather and runaway elephants issue, itâs time for a couple of Pipe Lessons from the Past: Do take your pipe when you go fishing, say. Your pipe pal tends to calm the nerves when the big one takes the bait, doncha know. I once hooked a large brown trout while fly fishing a pristine Missouri trout stream. Its waters glimmered in the early morning dawn and trout were rising to a variety of emerging bugs. Mouth open, pipe drops to the bottom of said stream and heads out toward somewhere in Missouri with the rest of the brown trout. Leaning over to quickly grab the disappearing pipe, my brand new German-produced Puma trout knife drops from the leather sheath dangling from a leather strap around my neck. Donât become wildly flailing with excitement when you hook the big one and lose a pipe and knife worth more than said fish, hand-tied trout fly, line, and rod and reel! Patience, as in pipe smoking, pays off. Do keep your precious pipes clean with regular pipe cleaners and solutions. I used soft and bristly cleaners with alcohol (50 percent isopropyl). In some cases, it took stronger stuff, grain alcohol, or even special pipe sweetener found at pipe and tobacco brick and mortar shops and online. Uh, I hope it doesnât need to be said that you donât drink grain alcohol. A dab on a bristly pipe cleaner will do. Do not ream out the inside of the bowl with that hard-won cake buildup with a pocket knife. Pundit ruined a beautiful Peterson with a pocketknife, ala Jack the Ripper. You can find great tools for that job. In fact, for newbies and veterans alike, check out the Smokingpipes.com âHow to Clean a Pipe.â It is a Master Class on the proper way to clean a pipe, inside and out. Do store your treasures in pipe racks. It keeps them safe and out of harmâs way. Refrain from tossing pipes into an old shoe box or drawer. Thatâs the heartless approach. Do not try to move your pipe racks if fully loaded with pipes. Invariably you will come down with a case of the jitters, like yours truly. Pipes will rock and roll like Elvis and invariably one or two will hit the floor. I broke the stem of a one-of-a-kind Pete, and the tenon out of a wonderfully carved Danish. Mind you, this was in one big rattle-and-roll. And one more final painful lesson learned from the past: If you drop a beloved meerschaum on the floor, it being composed of ancient sea critters and sea shells, will shatter into a thousand and one shards. One of my treasured meers hit the floor and scattered like so much white dust across the floor. Pipes are my BFFs. I have learned over time they deserve attention and TLC. Ok, time for a note or two from Pipe Smokers of the Past : One fellow who was rarely seen without his pipe is Harold Wilson, two-time former United Kingdom Prime Minister. He ran the political show from Oct. 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. Wilson was born March 11, 1916, in Huddersfield, West Riding, Yorkshire, and died May 24, 1955, in London. He was looked upon, politically speaking, as the peopleâs Prime Minister who smoked a pipe and was down-to-earth, just a regular guy. I’m an optimist, but an optimist who carries a raincoatâHarold Wilson And one from Americaâs tinsel town, Glenn Ford, a longtime actor not only famous for his roles but also for his pipe smoking. He loved Dunhill pipes, naturally. Glenn Ford, Gwyllyn Samuel Newton “Glenn” Ford, was born May 1, 1916, in Sainte-Christine-dâAuvergne, Quebec, and died Aug. 30, 2006, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Fordâs movie and television career began in 1937 and lasted until 1991. He won a Golden Globe Award as Best Actor for his performance in Pocketful of Miracles in 1961. If they try to rush me, I always say, I’ve only got one other speed and it’s slowerâGlenn Ford And a Pundit parting thought: Pipes and books are two good friends to have.
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His grandfather came to the US with a $50 gold coin in his shoe, opened up a cigar shop, and his most famous customer was Babe Ruth. He holds the record for the longest slow smoke in the world at over 24 hours, and he is the only man who stopped Chuck Norris from round-house kicking the Nording Pipe Statue. The most interesting man in the world, Jonathan Goldsmith, stopped by the Chicago Pipe Show this year to get kissed on the cheek by Neal Osborn. Wait, what? OK, I kid. Jonathan came to honor his friend and fishing buddy Steve Norse of Vermont Freehand at the annual Doctors and Masters of Pipes award dinner. Steve was one of the two recipients of the Masters of Pipes award and asked Johnathan to show up and add some color to his acceptance speech. Slightly overshadowed but no less important! Jay Furman was also honored as this year’s hobbyist Master of Pipes, joining me and a pipe-star-studded list of great contributors to the hobby and profession of pipes. 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When I first started with the pipe as a quirky and precocious teen, the only tutelage I had at my disposal were scenes from old movies in which a well dressed chap would stick his pipe into a pouch, scoop tobacco into the bowl and press it down unceremoniously with his thumb. Then, with great flourish, heâd strike a match and light the thing with all manner of cinematic excess, puffing up vast clouds of smoke falling just short of completely obscuring his visage. While it may look good on film, it’s a terrible approach to actually enjoying the thing. Somehow, though, this âtechniqueâ seems to have survived in the contemporary vernacular, at least to some extent, even with bit-loads of information handily at our fingertips that should dissuade us from the practice. But, at the time, this misguided approach was all I had; itâs no wonder my early days of puffing were fraught with difficult lighting, harsh, bitter smokes and tongue bite, all culminating in a fireproof mass of ye old soggy dottle in the bottom of the bowl. Ultimately, the resulting frustration made me give up the pipe, at least for a while. While the idea of it was still very appealing, the practice of it was not. It wasnât until a few years later when, still full of curiosity and romantic notions of pipe smoking, I wandered into a real tobacconistâs shop, and learned my âmethodâ was a long way from the techniques that would bring me to any sort of pipe smoking bliss. So, after my poor start, and under the guidance of someone who actually seemed to know how to do it right, I was given the opportunity to approach the process anew, this time with much greater success. It was only because I was both perseverent, and fortunate to have a local shop staffed with knowledgeable people, that Iâve been able to enjoy the experience ever since. At least mostly⌠How many fledgeling pipe smokers have simply given up on an enjoyable pastime because of similar early mis-starts? Fortunately, today, itâs not hard to find helpful guidance at the press of a key or ten. But, at the same time, not all roads lead to Valhalla, and sometimes the advice offered might well be labeled with, âHere be dragons.â The other day, I came across a short video on-line in which a well-meaning tobacconist suggested packing a bowl of an âEnglishâ mixture ânice and tight.â Perhaps somewhat ironically, I was smoking, or trying to smoke a bowl that Iâd filled on auto-pilot, packed too tightly, and not only was having the devil of a time trying to keep it lit, I really wasnât enjoying the acrid smoke the tobacco issued during the brief periods in which it was actually burning. âNo, no, NO!â I found myself muttering at my pipe, and at the figure on the screen, my protests joined by the guttural growling noises that sometimes accompany my discontent. Defiantly, I grabbed a pipe nail, shoveled out the dense, asbestos-like clog from the bowl, swabbed out the shank with a pipe cleaner, more out of habit than need since I hadnât actually smoked enough of the mass to foul the shank, and started over, this time paying proper attention to what I was doing. (For as long as Iâve been doing this, I still screw it all up sometimes.) Much better. This got me thinking about a couple things that are so important to the maximal enjoyment of our pipes, yet not often enough discussed, namely how different tobaccos respond to variations in filling density, and moisture content; two separate but related parameters. Once Iâd been shown the proper way to fill the bowl, or at least a proper way, everything had changed for me. I also began drying my tobacco down as a matter of course. Suddenly, there was greater cooperation between leaf and flame, the smoke was rich and flavorful, and it burned mostly to the bottom of the bowl with few relights. Given that, at the time, I smoked latakia mixtures almost exclusively, there didnât seem to be a reason to explore beyond my ânewâ approach. It wasnât until my attention turned in the direction of Virginia blends that I had to look a bit deeper. The same technique that worked so well for me with latakia mixtures resulted in bland, and often harsh smokes with Virginias. I attributed this to the tobaccos, convincing myself that I just didnât like the stuff. At one of our pipe club meetings, I was talking with a friend who smoked Three Nuns exclusively. When he offered me a bowl. I thanked him, and told him that I just didnât seem to get along well with Virginias, that they werenât for me. âMaybe itâs the way you pack them. Here, let me fill your pipe for you.â I watched as he rubbed out a few coins to fine ribbons, moister than I was then accustomed to, and filled the bowl carefully in stages, pressing it tighter than I would have. Prepared for a nightmare, I was instead treated to a pipe dream. The tobacco smoldered slowly and almost continuously, delivering a rich, cool, sweet and delicious smoke. After that, I spent some time exploring the impact of these two variables, moisture content and packing density, on different mixtures and blends, always with similar results. Latakia mixtures, and to a lesser extent, those with a high percentage of oriental leaf, taste and smoke better when theyâre on the dry side and the bowl is filled loosely, while Virginia blends tend to work best with a little more moisture and a denser fill. Burleys seem to work best somewhere in between, except for cube-cuts, which donât like to be packed with much pressure at all. (Gravity fill, tap the bowl to settle the cubes. Repeat until full.) For such a simple act, pipe smoking is filled with undefined complexities! The point behind all this? Often […]
are they fuggin NUTS!!!!
why dont they understand higher taxes means lower revenue and where in the Constitution give the fedreal government any power for education?
This is ridiculous, it never ceases to amaze me how greedy the government can be, it’s never enough. I’m a tax paying adult who needs no “nanny” government to tell me that’s they’re doing this in my best interest. All I can say is, keep your grubby paws out of my wallet, you already get more of my money than you deserve!
Well, I just signed into that site and stated my opposition.
Once again, we have the feds funding a worthwhile idea with a stupid one. IF this passes, and smokers quit due to simple economics, where does the funding come from then?
From the states and organizations that have bought into the federal trough! Which means either higher local taxes or organizations suddenly having to cut programs that people have come to depend on.
The unspoken, hidden idea here is that smokers are weak-minded addicts, and can be counted on to fund this on a continuing basis. It’s interesting to me that e-cigs are now being included; obviously Senator Hanes has gotten information from his staff that tobacco tax revenues are down now that electronic cigarettes are available.
What’s even more ludicrous is using the tiny population of pipe smokers as your cash cow. Good Lord!! Does anyone in Congress actually think these things through?
Opinion voiced, shouted, screamed, written on the wall with blood. If this **** continues I’ll have to move… Or become President.
This is beyond ridiculous. It is an idustry killer. Lets put more people out of work in this already very troubled economy. Looks like its time to really stock up on tobacco before it goes into effect…if it passes which hopefully it won’t. To quote my ex boss, “Behavioral modification through taxation is tyranny.”
300,000,000 v. 555. This only has traction if silence is the only opposition; follow the link, write your representatives, use your voice.
Deplorable! đ
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As I’m on record as saying:
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This is both a reminder and a wake-up call for all of us: smokers and non-smokers alike. When legislators kill the goose that was laying the golden eggs, theyâll turn their attention to other taxable activities. Then, even non-smokers will have some âskin in the gameâ.
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The solution lies in fiscal responsibility in government: spending less; streamlining or privatizing bloated bureaucracies; and finding creative ways to generate revenue, like stimulating business with tax incentives, not squelching it with tax levies. As things are, the morons in office only see one solution, tax increases that strangulate the economy.
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I’m wouldn’t vote for a Democrat even if he was my brother running for dog catcher!
Don’t think that because this bill died in committee that it is gone. Our present President has an unfortunatew habit of legislating through Presidential Order that which his minions can’t get through congress legally. Look at the illegal immigration policy he just affected.
Thanks for linking to POPVOX, a nonpartisan neutral platform that makes it easy for individuals to send messages directly to their Senators and Representatives.
The link to weigh in on S. 1403: IDEA Full Funding Act (aka “The Saving Lives by Lowering Tobacco Use Act”) is https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/s1403 . POPVOX will then deliver your message to your Senators. (By the way, this bill is the most commented on bill on POPVOX this week!)
This is De facto Tobacco Prohibition…what a bunch of clowns…
http://pintpipepolitics.blogspot.com/2011/08/clowns-of-senate-to-impose-de-facto.html
@Rachna – You’re welcome. Thanks for having the platform to link to.
@WinstonS – Great “Clowns of the Senate” picture.
CALL AND WRITE YOUR SENATORS – YOU HAVE THE TIME AND THE MEANS TO DO IT. THIS WILL NOT DIE UNLESS WE TELL THE SENATORS THAT WE’RE AGAINST IT AND TIRED OF FUNDING PROGRAMS. Also tell them that you want to have the SCHIP tobacco tax repealed, another unequitable program using increased tobacco taxes to fund it.
DO IT NOW, before it is too late!
Hey folks, taxes have to come from somewhere.
I for one am delighted that the pipe tobacco increase will help ensure that rich kids can inherit millions tax-free, people with incomes one hundred times mine pay rates about half of what I do, and bankers and oil companies have guaranteed profits.
Just imagine the horrible fallout if we reversed things and raised their taxes! No, no, no – we don’t want that. After all, those are the job creators.
I can´t understand what these guys are trying to do… This is ludicrous. Pipe tobacco is already a very difficult to find delicacy and us fellows who buy and enjoy them do it because we enjoy the nice aromas and flavours and relaxing moments it can provide. Not beacuse we are addicts for Christs Sake! Now if they raise the taxes to this insane magnitude they will simply ravage and destroy the blenders who take so much pride and effort in bringing us nice blends to cheer over.
Ps: No little kids or adolescents will get addicted to pipe tobacco you senate morons.
This is the reason that the “pipe tobacco” is not REALLY pipe tobacco, the RYO disguises as pipe tobacco needs to be weeded out!!! I don’t smoke RYO, never smoked RYO, and don’t plan on buying RYO, but if there is nothing that distinguishes RYO versus real pipe tobacco then were all gonna be in the same boat… RYO is not pipe tobacco and IMO never will… I don’t want to pay more for my pipe tobacco because some companies that produce RYO are trying to fly under the radar!!! Get lost RYO and fight your own fight…
With that said, I hope the bill fails… Which it probably will do
Thanks for the notification. I realize the Boston Tea Party was about taxation without representation. However, taxation with crappy representation is nearly as bad. There is always some nutball senator or congressman out there willing to propose a ludicrous bill. I suggest any of these elected officials simply become Christian Scientists and forgo all alcohol, tobacco, drugs or medication and rely on the power of prayer to solve the country’s fiscal crisis and make everyone in the US abhor all vices. LOL
None of the ranting matters. You can write humor, logic (lack of), ludicrousity by nutballs and changing to some type of religious order, RYO vs already rolled, pipe tobacco vs RYO or cigars, it won’t change ANYTHING – UNLESS YOU CONTACT YOUR SENATOR TO OPPOSE THIS BILL. As much as we appreciate Kevin giving us space here to rant, Pipesmagazine message is a WAKE UP CALL TO US, and giving you the info to have the testicularity to move forward and do something about this! The only thing that will do ANY GOOD is to PERSONALLY contact (phone and letter – forget email) your Senators’ offices. Tell them that you would appreciate a return message when this matter appears in front of your Senator, as you would like to know what he/she has done to oppose this bill, and his vote of record on it. Find out when it is going before committee (I asked – it’s not known yet – Congress recessed for the hurricane) and call the Senators’ offices the day before, speaking to a representative, saying that you oppose this bill! Work on it, or end up paying for it.
Enough is enough. Pipe smokers have taken unwarranted hits in our wallets long enough. It is time for the tobacco nazis and the non-smokers to find something else to attack. I am a 61 year old adult and do not need some “sitting on his ass” politician to decide if I am allowed to smoke.
Nothing can be “beyond ridiculous”. “Ridiculous” is an absolute. And this proposal is IT.
….you say you want a revolution….well-el…ya know…
Check out the great piece Fred Brown wrote on his site –
http://pipesmokersintelligencer.org/archives/1470
Where were all of you when the F.T.C.A. was passed and regulation of Tobacco was handed over to the FDA? I knew this was coming. Didn’t you? It angers me that now it is too late in the game. When we all had a chance to voice our opinions, did we? I did! Many times! To no avail, of course. So here we are. Please voice your opinions to your Represetatives (once again). If you do not, forever be prepared to hold your peace.
Yes, this is very sad, indeed. But, make no mistake about it, it is real!
I’ll second what Linwood said. We shouldn’t be demonizing the RYO makers for doing what they need to do in order to survive. You don’t want to blame the victim. After all, whether it be pipe, RYO, cigars, or manufactured cigarettes, who’s profiting more from the sale of a pound of tobacco here, the tobacco-maker or the government? Rather than laying the blame on RYO or other tobacconists, we should be concentrating on trying to tell the government to reduce ITS take. Sign the POPVOX petition above as supplied by Rachna, and let’s remember to vote the rascals out.
The answer, as Linwood stated, is to eventually get SCHIP repealed, then there’d be no confusion. Personally, I don’t care. You can spot the RYO tobaccos fraudulently labeling themselves as “pipe” tobaccos a mile away. You’d have to be daft not to.
Thanks for your reinforcement, Motownmick. Congress, well, certain ones in Congress, want tobacco – no matter what tobacco type – to be taxed at a HUGE rate. Why? You can name quite a few reasons, but looking into it further will SHOCK you. well, maybe not. but, they’re doing it, no matter what. The only way to stop it is to raise enough stink to YOUR SENATOR. How many PIPE smokers are in the USA? Let’s say 1/2 million. .5/300 or 0.0016 of the population. How many have heard about this? (Well, it it weren’t for Kevin and PipesMagazine, only a few of us would have….) MAYBE 2,000 of us. So, this bill can only be opposed by how many? “Heck, they’re stupid smokers – the addicted will pay anything (see what happened when we taxed cigarettes that much? only a few fussed – then kept buying them)! They can’t do anything abotu this with such a small number of votes. AND the orgs that will put their name on it – because it’s for handicapped CHILDREN for gosh sakes – will overwhelm the stupid,addicted smokers – no problem.”
SO FIGHT THIS AS INEQUITABLE – ASK WHY SMOKERS – remember, only 0.0016 of the population – is supposed to fund this (and the SCHIP funding, and……). YOUR SENATOR IS STUPID IF HE THINKS THE HYPER-TAXING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS will completely fund this effort – and tell him/her so. So what happens then? The taxes increase, and we get fed more lies, saying it is for good – for the children, and to save us from ourselves. ATTACK this logic. WRITE LETTERS TO YOUR EDITOR AND YOUR SENATORS. GET OTHER ORGANIZATIONS involved. DO SOMETHING TO EXPOSE THIS TO SOME MORE OF THE PUBLIC. Visit your Senator’s office – with your written letter and let them know that you think this is inequitable taxation, a lie that it will fund this program, and that you will fight it publically.
I followed the link suggested and registered at POPVOX and they said both state senators would receive what I said. This is what I said:
I oppose S. 1403: IDEA Full Funding Act because..: This bill is counterproductive no matter what you think about tobacco use.
1. It will cause less use of legal tobacco and will increase both the use of illegal drugs and also contribute to the development of an underground tobacco economy as tobacco users attempt to bypass an oppressive tax.
2. The government will then receive less money from legitimate and reasonable taxes on tobacco and will end up losing more money as they attempt to enforce taxes which some will try to bypass – enforcement will cost more money and instead of gaining money government will lose money.
3. It furthers an agenda to make smokers feel like second-class citizens even though such notables as Walter Cronkite, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Gerald Ford, Franklin D. Roosevelt, etc., etc., were smokers. {Most were pipe smokers but FDR smoked cigarettes}.
4. “WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES” does not exclude smokers. And “ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL” does not make smokers less equal.
5. For now we will ask you nicely:
“PLEASE: DON’T TREAD ON US.”
In the UK 40% of tobacco sold is black market thanks to the stupidly high taxes. Result is less for the treasury more for the organised criminals. It’s insane don’t go down this route.
As an interested party in Pipe smoking we have massive taxes on Tobacco here in the UK.
50g (2 oz) pack retails for ÂŁ10-ÂŁ12 0r $16-$19. so we travel to Belgium or Holland and buy at discount, tax reduced for ÂŁ4.00 or $6.50 ( all legal).
Fight the fight guys Taxes never come down, all they do is drive business underground or overseas.The UK government loses out on this revenue if it were less greedy it could increase sales here instead of send business overseas. BTW in a 20 minute session in a tobacco supermarket in Belgium I witnessed ÂŁ4,500 in transactions ($7,300) and most of these places are open 24/7 , search the net look for tobacco shops in Belgium.
Let see if I get these rates correct a large tin of Half and Half in NY State will cost about a C-Note.
Also, sellers lighten up on the âLuxury Tobaccoâ verbiage, that only encourages the folks who never meet a tax they did not love and I would think most of them do not like smoking to begin with.
Does anyone know if that POPVOX link is working? After I posted a comment {see above}
the website for POPVOX said I would be notified when comment was sent to senators – I never received any notification. Last time they tried to to pass a huge tax hike on pipe tobacco we had a valid link and as I followed it we had 20,000 responses And the bill died in committee. So what is going on now? Do we have a valid email campaign going or not? What is the latest status of the bill?
Hey Rekall,
I’m a co-founder of POPVOX and happy to answer any questions. The link to weigh in on this bill is working (https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/s1403). If you go to your POPVOX home page at https://www.popvox.com/home, you’ll see confirmation of when your comment to your Senators was delivered by us.
The bill was introduced recently (7/21/11) and hasn’t moved through the committee process yet. (If you really want to get in the weeds and the connection between the tobacco tax and IDEA funding: http://www.popvox.com/blog/2011/08/29/idea-funding-lowers-tobacco-use/)
You can see opposition (and support) for the bill at https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/s1403/report#nation and from there, you can see a map of where support/opposition is stronger geographically. Right now, the bill has 7% support and 93% opposition among POPVOX users. I hope you’ll share with your friends and networks this mini-link http://pvox.co/pQBBpZ so they too can learn about this bill and send a message to Congress.
Hello Rachna from POPVOX, [RE: S. 1403: IDEA Full Funding Act]
I keep checking and all I see is the letter I composed and all kinds of other information and data on this and other bills BUT on my computer screen there is no indication or confirmation of my letter being sent out. Was this letter sent? To who?
When?
Hello again Rachna from POPVOX, [RE: S. 1403: IDEA Full Funding Act],
Yes, I now see confirmation of delivery written under comment.
THANKS!
weigh in on S. 1403: IDEA Full Funding Act (aka âThe Saving Lives by Lowering Tobacco Use Actâ) is https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/s1403 . POPVOX will then deliver your message to your Senators.
Awesome Rekall! Thanks for letting us know.
I hope you keep using POPVOX to urge others to weigh in on S 1403, and other bills related to tobacco. You might want to check out: the Traditional Cigar Manufacturing & Small Business Jobs Preservation Act (http://pvox.co/QsQpTM) or the Candy Tobacco Tax Parity Act, which taxes certain smokeless tobacco products (http://pvox.co/0QofDX).
Smokers have rights, too! When I buy a new pair of shoes I like to try them on first.Same with a new tobacco blend or cigar. Do we need to beg our government to allow us to smoke in a SMOKE shop? Reckon so. I voiced my opinion through POPVOX. Thanks for the heads up.
First thing first, we have lobbying for us in Congress and the Senate? You would think that the tobacco companies would have petitions for people to sign. And are they lobbying hard for us? Has Congress and the Senate become the new mob? Because it seems like every chance they get their shaking down the little guy. Action is what needs to be done now. Words cannot express how degrading and insulting the two houses make a smoker feel. Tobacco has helped make this country great, so has beer and wine and liquor. We don’t see 1000% increase in the spirit industry. The public would not stand for that. We need help, and we need it now.