ACTION ALERT!

Call and Urge Your U.S. Representative
To Sustain President Bush’s Veto
Of the SCHIP Bill!

On October 3^rd, President Bush Vetoed the SCHIP Bill
With Excessive Cigarette and Tobacco Tax Increases

The Democrat Leadership in the U.S. House has Scheduled
A Vote to Try and Override the Veto on October 18^th

You Need To Call Their U.S. Representative Now and Urge Them to
Sustain the President’s Veto of the SCHIP Bill!

__________________________________

Call Either of the Following Toll-Free Numbers to Be Directly Connected with Your U.S. Representative’s Office:

1-877-857-8074 or 1-866-527-4494

CALLS ARE NEEDED TO ENSURE THAT
THESE UNFAIR TAX INCREASES ARE
NOT ENACTED INTO LAW

President Bush Vetoes SCHIP Legislation

This morning, President Bush vetoed H.R. 976, the bill passed by Congress to reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). In a press conference this morning, the President’s Press Secretary stated that the administration will work with Congress to ensure the neediest children are receiving health insurance coverage. In particular, the administration is focusing on children in families that have annual income of less than $41,300 which is 200% of the 2007 poverty level for a family of four. The President has always taken the position that he will expand the SCHIP program by $5 billion without raising taxes which constitutes a 20% increase in current spending on the program.

The leadership of the U.S. House has scheduled a vote to attempt to override the President’s veto for Wednesday, October 17^th. Please recall that the U.S. House voted 265 to 159 in favor of the final SCHIP bill which is 25 votes short of the 290 needed to override a presidential veto.

Call Your Representatives and Urge Them to Sustain the Veto

Don't rest on our laurels. You are strongly urged to call your U.S. Representatives and urge them to vote to sustain the President’s veto. One of the easiest ways to make this call is to dial one of the following two toll-free telephone numbers and you will be directly connected with your U.S. Representative’s office in order to leave your message with a staff person:

1-877-857-8074 or 1-866-527-4494

Representatives that voted against the SCHIP bill will be under a great deal of pressure to vote to override the President’s veto and they need support from you and your customers to sustain the President’s veto!

From the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR)

Federal Legislative Update

Compromise Bill Moves Forward for Vote
Cigar Floor Stocks Tax Provision Removed

September 25, 2007-

A compromise bill for the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) funding was finalized late in the evening on Monday, September 24 with mixed news for the premium cigar and pipe industry. The Floor Stocks Tax provision on cigars that was originally in the legislation has been stricken. THERE IS NO FLOOR STOCKS TAX IN THE LEGISLATION!

However, the tax rate was reduced by only a fraction, from 53.12% to 52.988%, and the tax cap of $3 per cigar remains.

The compromised bill now goes to both the House of Representatives and the Senate for an up-or-down vote (members of Congress must vote either yes or no and no further amendments or changes may be added or made at this time.

Once the bill is most likely approved by both chambers of Congress, the legislation goes to the White House where President Bush remains adamant that he will veto the legislation. Following a presidential veto, Congress will most likely approve an extension of the current SCHIP program that expires September 30, relying on existing government healthcare money to fund the extension-the yet-to-be proposed extension will not rely on any tax increases. This extension will give Congress more time to create a bill that the president may be willing to sign.

Many have been involved in this fight, and we will continue working to protect members of our Association, notably Rocky Patel, Jeff Borysiewicz, a retailer from Corona Cigar, in Florida, David Berkebile, your association former president Lito Gomez of La Flor Dominicana, Marvin Samel of Drew Estate, Robert Levin of Ashton/Holt Distributors, Eric Newman of J.C. Newman, Alejandro Cuenca of Hoya de Nicaragua, and Jorge Padron. Due to the incredible efforts of these people the unfair treatment of the cigar industry was clearly brought to Congress' attention. Full, deserved credit goes to this group.

Though the comprise bill is far from what we need to protect our industry we have laid the groundwork for what may come at a later date regarding SCHIP funding relying on increased cigar taxes. We now have the tools in place to work toward a reasonable compromise on a livable tax.

IPCPR's federal lobbyists, Patton Boggs and Public Strategies-Washington, two premier lobby groups on Capitol Hill, and the Cigar Association of America have also been instrumental in this fight. Additionally, the manufacturing countries' governments are fully engaged through their embassies and continue lobbying their Washington, D.C. counterparts on the ramifications of this draconian tax increase, working toward our shared goals.

Thank you to all of you, our members, and your customers for the countless phone calls, emails, and faxes sent to your Congressmen and Senators. Congress now understands that the premium cigar and pipe industry will not stand idly by as they may have their way with our livelihoods and our industry. When this bill is vetoed, we look forward to working closely with Congress on a new bill that provides necessary healthcare funding for children while not driving an entire industry into extinction.

We will continue to keep you posted as this situation continues its legislative process.

Chris McCalla

Legislative Director

News from International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR)

International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR)

Federal Legislative Update

Congress Decides on Framework For Cigar Tax Bill

Senate Version of SCHIP will move forward

In an attempt to get the SCHIP legislation passed before the current program expires September 30, the House Democratic leadership has agreed to accept the Senate version of the legislation for the framework of a compromise bill. The Senate version, H.R. 976, currently proposes to increase the OTP excise tax rate on cigars to 53.12 percent with a $3 cap per individual cigar.

Determined, strategic lobbying continues of key Senate Finance committee members seeking amendments to the proposed legislation before it advances through the process. Of the amendments sought, we are working to have the floor stocks tax provision on cigars removed from the legislation. Additionally, we continue working for a much lower tax rate and cigar tax cap, one that is both reasonable and fiscally-acceptable for all of our retail members.

In addition to our lobbying efforts from our Association position, the Latin American-cigar producing countries also continue to lobby their counterparts in Washington, D.C., at this draconian tax increase will too have catastrophic consequences, specifically on the 3.5 million people, workers and their families, who directly rely on the handmade cigar industry.

The President remains adamant he will veto the Senate bill and it appears that there are not enough votes in the House to over-ride that veto. Following the potential veto, the political game begins as the Democrats face the choice of either keeping the issue alive for political purposes or entering into negotiations with the White House.

Our lobbyists and others heavily-involved in this tax fight view a presidential veto as the most likely end result.  We are leaving no stone unturned in protecting our members against this egregious tax increase and will continue lobbying Congress for these needed amendments.

We urge you to continue contacting the President and members of Congress via IPCPR's Legislative Action Center to oppose this federal cigar tax increase.

Thank you for your continued support.

Chris McCalla

Legislative Director

On July 19, 2007, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee passed legislation on a 17-4 vote to reauthorize and expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) which includes significant increases in the federal tobacco tax rates. Here is a summary of the proposed tax rates (which include a floor tax for the difference between what has already been paid and what will be due for items that retailers have already purchased):

• Large cigars are taxed at the rate equal to 53.13 percent of the manufacturer’s or importer’s sales price but not more than $10.00 per cigar.
• Small cigars are taxed at the rate of $50.00 per thousand (the same rate applied to cigarettes).Pipe tobacco is taxed at the rate of $2.8126 per pound, and proportionately at that rate on all fractional parts of a pound.
• Snuff is taxed at the rate of $1.50 per pound, and proportionately at that rate on all fractional parts of a pound.
• Chewing tobacco is taxed at the rate of $0.50 per pound, and proportionately at that rate on all fractional parts of a pound.
• Roll-your-own tobacco is taxed at the rate of $8.9286 per pound, and proportionately at that rate on all fractional parts of a pound. The rate for roll-your-own tobacco is intended to approximate the rate for small cigarettes.
• Cigarette papers are taxed at the rate of $0.0313 for each 50 papers or fractional part.
• Cigarette tubes are taxed at the rate of $0.0626 for each 50 tubes or fractional part.
• Small cigarettes are taxed at the rate of $50.00 per thousand ($1.00 per pack).
• Large cigarettes are taxed at the rate of $104.9999 per thousand.

So, let's say the wholesale price on a cigar is $2, the tax on that cigar would be $1.06. For a $5 cigar, you are looking $2.66 in taxes. For a super premium cigar that has a wholesale cost of $20, the tax alone would be capped at $10. So now, a cigar that would have cost the consumer about $40 now will run $60! (assuming keystone pricing by the retailer)

This has GOT to stop!

I know I've blogged about this before but the time is coming close so keep the pressure up! I don't know if I could put it better. The folks over at CigarCyclopedia.com has posted the following to his mailing list:

You must act now!
The Finance Committee of the United States Senate is proposing an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) solely through higher tobacco taxes that will have a draconian impact on the cigar industry.
Under the current proposal, the large cigar tax rate would increase 156.4% (from 20.719% to 53.13% of the manufacturer’s selling price) and the current tax cap of around $0.05 per cigar would increase an astounding 20,413% to $10 per cigar. All large cigars would effectively be taxed at 53.13% of the manufacturer’s selling price. In all of the Internal Revenue Code, no other product is subject to an excise tax that approaches this level. The little cigar tax would increase 2,635% – to $1,828 per 1,000 to $50 per 1,000. To compound the injury, a floor stocks tax would be assessed on all products in inventory.
The full Senate is expected to consider the legislation next week, but possibly sooner. We need you to act now and immediately contact your U.S. Senators. A consumer should only contact his own Senators because Senators are most responsive to their own constituents.
Call, fax or e-mail the offices of your own U.S. Senators, give them your name and address and ask that they vote to oppose the punitively high cigar tax increases in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program legislation.
Click here for a contact list of U.S. Senators with telephone numbers and electronic mail addresses. Every call counts, because almost all elected officials will open a new file on a matter if they receive 10 or more contacts of any kind.

Don't wait, act NOW!

Here is a posting from Lew Rothman on the CigarFamily.com website:

Everyone and I mean everyone that even smokes a cigar now and then has to be on alert for messages from all [bricks & mortar] smoke shops AND Internet vendors AND Manufacturers in the next few days regarding the proposed new tax on tobacco products:
“The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a markup on Tuesday, July 17 on legislation dealing with the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The measure is expected to be reported out of committee. Funding would be almost totally via higher taxes on tobacco products. The cigarette tax will increase by $.61 to $1 per pack effective after December 31, 2007. Other tobacco products would be taxed as follows: large cigars – 53.13% of mfr's or importer's sales price but not more than $10.00 per cigar.”
In addition, there will be a floor stocks tax on tobacco products manufactured in the U.S. or imported into the U.S. which are removed before January 1, 2008 and held on that date for sale. The person holding the product on January 1, 2008 is liable for the tax to be paid on or before April 1, 2008.
YES! You read that right! $10.00 PER CIGAR, plus whatever your local state tax is. The people in Washington have absolutely no clue about the cigar business. Their sole focus is on cigarettes and we are about to get dragged along with it.
Not only will this put virtually every manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer out of business, it will also devastate the economy of Nicaragua, Honduras, The Dominican Republic and have a significant impact on Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Panama, Brasil, and Peru. (Whereupon, I’m sure the USA will be called upon to provide additional relief funding!).
You and everyone else who has any thoughts about continuing to smoke cigars or grow, sort, manufacture, distribute or retail cigars need to make a concerted phone, mail, and e-mail bombardment of Congress very shortly. Hopefully, someone more adept at interpreting this new tax law will supply the proper language for this protest.
Be ready and be vocal, and be outraged because this tax is definitely outrageous. It is my firm belief that if passed as it stands right now the entire industry will collapse prior to April 1, 2008 (appropriately named April Fools Day for the Fools we have running the government right now) because no one will have the finances to pay the tax on their inventory.

Well, smokers here in California successfully (but narrowly) avoided an overly onerous tax burden last fall but it appears that this tax has reared it's head at the federal level and we need ALL of you out there to hound your Senators and Representatives at the federal level to knock this one down.

Numbers provided by NATO

Now through end of July EVERYONE who enjoys a cigar, pipe (or heaven forbid cigarettes) needs to be hounding their elected federal officials to oppose this unfair taxation.

In an attempt to expand funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) the feds are proposing to increase the federal excise tax on tobacco products. This amounts to an unfair taxation on approximately 10% of the population to bear the burden that should instead be shared across the entire base of taxpayers!

The arguments to point out to your representatives (in our area that would be Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative John Campbell) are as follows:

•  This tax should be broad-based and not placed on about 10% of the American public, many of whom are at the lower end of the economic spectrum (pipe smokers and RYO consumers are more often than not retirees on fixed incomes and cigarette consumption is higher among lower wage-earners than higher-earning individuals)
• The likelihood of this tax to crush many small businesses is extremely high. Most tobacconists are Mom and Pop businesses that operate on a razor thin margin and a increase in the cost of product will force them to either eat the difference or suffer a reduction in sales. California has seen this in the past that attempts to raise revenue by taxing tobacco forced many small businesses around the state to shutter their operations.
• As borne out by past-experience, the taxes generated by the higher rates will NOT NECESSARILY increase taxes collected. Quite the opposite has happened as consumption of legal tobacco products caused a decrease in collected tax revenues. California voters recognized this last fall and narrowly defeated Proposition 86 which would have accomplished the same thing under the guise of "helping the children."
• As more people attempt to avoid the taxation, a growing black-market will emerge. It is no wonder that ALL of California's law enforcement agencies were against Prop. 86. They recognized that this growing black market demand would not only increase the amount of theft (usually on very large scales) but more importantly that organized crime, always ready to take advantage of these types of situations, will rush in to fill the void with either stolen or illegally imported tobacco products.

Make your voice be heard and stop this insane tax! They figured if they can't snow the voters so now they'll attempt to snow the legislators. In a politicians mind, a sound bite showing them "supporting the children" is going to play much better on TV, radio and print than them standing up to protect a small minority of the population from this unfair burden. It is up to us to SHOW them that we are a force to be reckoned with and listened to!

The Airplane Owners and Pilot's Association (AOPA) believes that user fees would devastate the U.S. economy by impacting general aviation flying for agricultural purposes, medical evacuation, and other missions essential to the country's safety and well-being.

While the airlines may want user fees, it isn't because fees would be good for their passengers. That's why AOPA went public with anti-user fee TV commercials this holiday season.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1750358911738140236&q=aopa

You can also visit the AOPA's GA Serving America Web site to learn more about why the FAA funding debate is important to everyone.

Please pass along the following link to everyone you know to help fight the upcoming GA User's Fee before it sneaks its way into our lives!

Sorry this isn't about Tobacco Taxes, but this is important that everyone pay attention to this appeal!

Six states had tobacco-related questions on the Election Day ballot and only California and Missouri proved to be rays of hope. The remaining ones either increased taxes on Cigars/Pipes and cigarettes or curtailed smoking in various locations. A summary of the final results from yesterday’s elections are listed below:

Arizona:

Question 201 Passed: Prohibits smoking in most workplaces and increases the cigarette tax by 2 cents a pack. Allows smoking in tobacco stores, veterans and private clubs, designated hotel rooms and outdoor patios of restaurants and bars. Because of it's more restrictive nature, this question was opposed by retailers in Arizona.
Question 203 Passed: Increases the tax on large cigars by $.088/cigar. Raises the tax on smokeless and smoking tobacco by $.09/ounce, increases the tax on little cigars by $.178/pack and raises the cigarette tax (however, the ballot question stated the cigarette tax would increase 8/10th’s of a cent per pack when the amount intended was 80 cents per pack; a determination on the amount of the increase has not been made).
Question 206 Failed: This measure, supported by retailers, would have allowed smoking in more hospitality establishments than Question 201 but it did not pass.

California:

Proposition 86 Defeated: This question would have increased cigar and pipe tobacco taxes to approximately 135% while cigarette taxes would have gone up by $2.60/pack. We are extremely pleased to see this poorly written proposition die an ugly death 

Missouri:

Question 3 Defeated: This question would have increased cigar and pipe tobacco taxes by 20% and cigarette taxes by 80 cents per pack. Another victory! 

Nevada:

Question 4 Defeated: This less restrictive smoking ban question was not passed despite the support of NATO and many others.
Question 5 Passed: This question passed and does not allow smoking in most public places and hospitality establishments; smoking is allowed in casinos and hotel rooms. Imagine no longer being able to smoke in bars and restaurants in Sin City any longer. Looks like they are taking out the Sin... 

Ohio:

Question 4 Defeated: This less restrictive smoking ban question was not passed.
Question 5 Passed: This question passed and does not allow smoking in most public places and hospitality establishments; smoking is allowed in retail tobacco stores, hotel rooms, non-profit private clubs (veterans clubs, etc.) and outdoor patios of restaurants and bars.

South Dakota:

Measure 2 Passed: This question will increase taxes on cigars and pipe tobacco to 35% while cigarette taxes go up by $1.00 per pack to $1.53 per pack. Yet another defeat by those who would follow the historical choice of taxing the small population of smokers to pay for programs that benefit everyone.

We had a great turn out on election day of like-minded folks bent on denying those who'd wish to unfairly tax a small portion of the population for their gain. Undoubtedly without their help to defeat the massive marketing machine pushing this flawed proposition, we would have all been weeping in our cereal this morning. Thanks All!

One thing is for certain. The Tobacco Barn has got some great customers (many who stopped in tonight to watch the news and catch the early poll results) who all got a special election night cigar for their troubles.

This Dominican, aged, hand-rolled Churchill cigar with a natural wrapper carried a specially crafted band just for this purpose by the artist who does all of the private-labels we do for customers.

DOCTORS, that's who!

The Los Angeles County Medical Association (LACMA) announced that its Board of Directors voted to oppose Proposition 86 because it would exempt hospitals from state and federal antitrust laws aimed at protecting patients.

Read the full press release.

LACMA is joined by the Association of California Neurologists and six other specialty medical associations in California. In addition, more than 50 individual physicians are opposing Prop. 86 due to the antitrust exemptions written into the ballot measure.

See the complete list of healthcare advocates opposed to Prop 86..

And Even More...

The number of organizations and individuals opposed to Prop. 86 has nearly doubled in the last month. The coalition, including law enforcement, taxpayer, medical and business organizations is now over 370 strong. Below are just some of the newest groups against 86:

League of Placer County Taxpayers
Placer County Deputy Sheriff's Association
Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Turlock Unified School District
UNITE HERE International Union

See the full opposition list.

Taxpayer, law enforcement, medical, small business and community groups held news conferences recently to talk about why they oppose Prop. 86. The first was held in Sacramento and featured former Department of Finance director Donna Arduin, who has concluded that Prop. 86 will bring in $1.3 million LESS than supporters say.

“Given the unprecedented tax increase Prop. 86 represents, there is little doubt that consumers will look to lower-taxed venues from which to purchase cigarettes such as the Internet, bordering states with lower taxes and tribal lands. That behavior could result in as much as $1.3 billion less coming into the state’s coffers than the Legislative Analyst Office predicts,” said Arduin.

The second coalition event, held in San Diego, included law enforcement groups opposed to Prop. 86 due to its potential to significantly increase smuggling and black market activity. Nearly 30 law enforcement organizations across California OPPOSE Prop. 86.

Twenty-nine newspapers have urged their readers to vote NO on 86, including recent editorials from the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Los Angeles Daily News.

“Imagine trying to tax other bad habits, adding $2.60 onto every coffee, tea or cola purchased . . . Even more outrageous is that the money raised from Prop. 86 wouldn't go to help smokers quit or to discourage people from starting or even directly to cover medical costs associated with smoking illnesses.”
“Send Prop. 86 up in smoke” Contra Costa Times, October 8, 2006 (Read More)

"I support efforts to curb smoking, but Proposition 86 isn't really about that. Only 10% of the $2.1 billion in new taxes goes to anti-smoking programs. The rest goes to special interests promoting the measure and to state programs where there is little assurance the money won't be wasted. Now is not the time to saddle Californians with billions in new taxes." - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I couldn't have said it better myself Gov!

Dear friend,

We all want to improve our healthcare system, but Proposition 86 is the wrong solution. Prop. 86 is an unfair tax increase supported by special interests who are amending our Constitution and statutes to benefit themselves. Prop. 86’s proponents say it is about encouraging people not to smoke, but it isn't. It’s really a money grab by huge hospital corporations who will reap hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars each year! Here is why health care professionals and law enforcement, taxpayer and small business groups oppose Prop. 86:

Hospitals Write Their Own Rules

* Prop. 86 provides hospitals with a special exemption from antitrust laws, giving them legal protection to divvy up and limit many medical services. This would enable them to raise prices on those services without worrying about competition.

* Prop. 86 puts no limits on what hospitals can bill taxpayers for emergency services for the uninsured. Hospitals should not be allowed to charge taxpayers several times what they charge insurance companies for the same treatment.

Unfair Tax With No Accountability

* The largest share of the increase in tax revenue - nearly 40% - goes to hospitals, and less than 10% actually goes toward helping smokers quit or keeping kids from starting.

* HMOs will get millions each year from Prop. 86.

* The tax on cigars and pipe tobacco will increase to 135% from 46.76%, and cigarettes, $3.47 per pack from $0.87. This will raise in excess of $2 billion a year.

* Prop. 86 throws millions of dollars at new bureaucratic state programs without adequate legislative or governmental oversight. There are NO GUARANTEES how the money will actually be spent, or assurances the money will not be wasted. It will be nearly impossible for voters to know how the new taxes will be spent. Prop. 86 lists program after state program that gets a cut of the estimated $2.1 billion in new tax revenue.

Increases Our Deficit

* Prop. 86 contains 38 pages of spending mandates. But experts agree that the amount of money raised by this tobacco tax will decline over time. Declining revenues and demands to fund Prop. 86’s programs will only worsen our deficit. Other important programs like education, transportation and law enforcement might have to be cut, or taxes raised further.

* In-State taxable sales will fall because Prop. 86 increases tax on cigars and pipe tobacco by 189%, and cigarettes by almost 300%, which will create a major incentive for consumers to purchase through alternative channels such as the Internet, across state borders, through Native American territories and other illegal sales.

Increases Crime

* Increase crime and smuggling - Stolen and smuggled cigarettes are already a big source of money for gangs and organized crime. If Prop. 86 passes, a single truckload of stolen cigarettes could be worth over $2 million to criminals.

Shortchanges Our Schools

* Under California law approved by voters (Proposition 98), approximately 40% of any new taxes are dedicated to our schools. The huge hospital corporations don’t want to share with our schools and kids, so they included a CONSTITUTIONAL EXEMPTION (Section 15) so that NONE of these funds will go to our schools.

You can get more information from the No on 86 website, http://www.calliberty.org.

I sincerely hope you'll join me in voting "NO" on Proposition 86.

Please forward this e-mail to all of your colleagues, friends and family in your address book!
Paid for by California Association of Liberty and Choice, No on Prop. 86
http://www.calliberty.org
(California Fair Political Practices Commission Committee ID# 1289296)

Forward email

Here is a mailing that we've recently sent out to my approximately 1,500 customers in California:

Michael,

As the November General Elections are less than a month away, we want to take this opportunity to urge you to VOTE NO! on Prop. 86 on November 7!

Prop. 86 is more than just an excessive tax cigars and cigarettes that will go into effect if Prop. 86 is approved! Prop. 86 is about bad politics.

• It’s about the already money-rich hospitals becoming even richer.
• It’s about hospitals exempting themselves from the State Constitution!
• It’s about our small business being scuttled because of private bureaucrats who continue to demand a minority (cigar and tobacco consumers) to fund pet projects for the state.

Do not let special interest groups continue to control our great state we call home!

Please Vote NO! on Prop. 86 on November 7. We urge you to tell all your friends, family, co-workers—anyone who believes in fairness and freedom—to Vote No! on Prop. 86!

If you stop by our retail store (address below) on election day proudly displaying your “I’ve Voted” sticker, you’ll get a free cigar! Tell your friends…

Thanks from the gang at Tobacco Barn, PipeShop.com, MeerschaumPipes.com and Lighters Galore!

Note: Your are receiving this email since you, as a resident of California, have ordered from us in the past and given us your permission to receive such mailings or have joined our Members Only club at the Tobacco Barn retail outlet. If you no longer wish to receive these mailings in the future, please reply back to this message with STOP in the subject line of the message and we will remove email permissions from your account.

Email originally sent to: Michael Gibbs: xxxx @ domain.com

Tobacco Barn/PipeShop.com/MeerschaumPipes.com/LightersGalore
23532 El Toro Road, Suite 13
Lake Forest, CA, 92630
949.830.7110

Here's another piece from the visionaries at StogieGuys.com: Fighting for Survival!

The Stogie Guys blog has an interesting post in their Friday Sampler..

1) Only eight weeks after Colorado’s statewide smoking ban was thrust upon citizens by the state government, Denver’s ABC 7 reports many small bars have been devastated – losing up to 80 percent of their income. This crushing financial nightmare has triggered massive layoffs and sparked numerous brawls among patrons who are forced to go outside to smoke. Thankfully, a group of local bar owners – calling themselves the Coalition for Equal Rights – filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the ban. Good for them. There’s nothing constitutional about forcing your “high horse” agenda on private businesses and individuals.

While Prop 86 isn't about banning smoking in restaurants and bars (too late for that in CA), it does illustrate the ripple effect that these types of legislation has on the small business community. Prop 86's effect on small, mom and pop cigar and pipe shops will be devastating, perhaps even more so than that massive Prop 10 fiasco. Not only does this idiotic proposition not constrain itself to cigarettes, it doesn't provide a cap on the tax increase on other tobacco products.

It also has provisions for a floor tax on existing inventory that could amount to having to fork over 80% of the value of existing inventory to the state at the beginning of the year. Most small stores will not be able to afford this and will end up folding their tents instead. This is one of the reason why the small business groups through out the state are against this proposition.

The increase in cost for tobacco products will also decrease sales to small businesses as smokers are forced to turn to online sales from out of state vendors as well as to black markets. The increase in illegal sales (who's profits will benefit gangs and organized crime most likely) is why this bill is being opposed by Sheriff and Police organizations through out the state.

Vote NO on Prop 86!

Under California's Prop 86, approximately 85 percent of the new tax would pay for programs unrelated to smoking, but 100 percent of the tax is paid by the small percentage of people including cigar and pipe smokers. Why should one segment of society pay 100 percent of the taxes when the money goes to things like obesity control and health insurance premiums? If funding these programs is as important as proponents claim, all Californians should share the burden. It is unfair to single out one group of people to pay for programs that affect the entire population.
Voters have resisted recent attempts to tax one segment of the population to pay for unrelated state programs. In June 2006, voters rejected Prop. 82 to tax high-income earners to pay for universal preschool. In November 2005, voters rejected Prop. 67 to tax phone services to pay for emergency room services - a previous attempt by hospitals to generate money to benefit themselves.

-- from the CalLiberty website

Ok, this is a little off-topic but here goes... This month's Cigar Insider, a subscription PDF newsletter from the folks at Cigar Aficionado, reports on a story that I'd heard mention of already but really didn't take to heart until reading Gregory Mottola's article.

Appears that the anti-smoking Nazis across the pond, this time in the form of the UK watchdog group Office of Communications (not a government office BTW), have requested that Turner Broadcasting edit cartoons shown on the British children's TV channel called Boomerang.

It appears that these meddlers have taken offense to 2 (out of 2,000) episodes of "Tom and Jerry" that showed them smoking. The image shown at right is from "Tennis Chumps". The word is that the entire scenes will be cut or altered frame-by-frame to remove the "offending" material while no move has been made to remove the scenes of extreme violence that have a greater impact on child viewers...

The part that really got my dander up though was his questioning the effect on artwork if we allow revisionists to make art more socially acceptable based on the whims of today's "do-gooders". Imagine where we would be if someone started "slimming down" Ruben's figure studies 'cause looking at these larger beauties glamorized obesity? Or since plastic surgery is acceptable, image these self-appointed protectors deciding that we should give The Madonna implants or that David's sculpture should be "cut"...

Spare me... But of course, let me know what you think using the comments below!