I’ve been busy lately–really busy–hence no words of wisdom on this blog for the past couple of weeks. During that time, a breathtaking development has occurred–more of our freedoms have disappeared. The New York State legislature has seen fit to raise taxes on a pack of cigarettes from $1.25 to $2.75 per pack. An additional $1.50 per pack! To me this is a stunning development.

New York’s nanny state is now fully in control of what you can and can’t do. Want to take a puff? It’ll cost you big-time. Want the school nurse to give your child an aspirin? You have to sign forms in triplicate or little Johnnie suffers with a headache. Have an underage daughter who wants an abortion? The abortionist doesn’t even have to tell you, the parent, before cutting up and sucking the baby out. Welcome to the People’s Republic of New York.

So why defend cigarettes? I’m not a smoker and never will be. My smoking friends will be the first to tell you it’s a filthy habit. Cigarettes can cause cancer (although it’s not a certainty that they will). The state does have the right to restrict access to substances it deems harmful, like meth, crack, etc. So what’s the harm with this new tax, you may ask? If the state deems cigarettes harmful in the mode of illicit drugs–BAN THEM. Don’t tax them. This is a not-so-veiled attempt to grab more money from people who can’t afford to pay it. It is theft by our state government. They have already reached into the coffers of legitimate businesses–cigarette manufacturers–and have raided their bank accounts. Remember the big tobacco settlements of a few years ago? Apparently the state doesn’t want to completely kill the golden goose laying the eggs, so now they’ll grab money direct from the citizens.

Why oppose the rise in cigarette taxes? In a single word: freedom. Today it is cigarettes, tomorrow it will be alcohol, snack foods, beef, poultry, soft drinks, and eventually the bottled water you drink. This is an encroachment on individual liberty. According to the founders of our country, we have an inalienable right to liberty–that is, we have the right to freely choose and that right cannot be taken away by the government (unless we let them take it). It is liberty–or freedom–that makes this country great. The freedom to choose our actions, as long as those actions do not harm others, is core to the fabric of our country. The choices we make can be good choices (not smoking) or bad choices (smoking). Either way, it is up to the individual to make the choice. The decision to choose does NOT lie with a ninny nanny bureaucrat or legislator in Albany. These socialist vermin will never stop unless we stop them. Now is that time.

My recommendation to those who smoke: Don’t pay this tax. If you live anywhere near the border with Pennsylvania or another state, cross state lines and buy your cigarettes by the boatload in other states. Go to Indian reservations and buy them there. Order them over the Internet. Whatever you do, don’t pay New York’s illegal cigarette tax. Deny them the revenue they’re trying to steal from you. If you own a convenience or grocery store in New York, stop carrying cigarettes. Store owners should deny the state any tax revenues from cigarettes by simply not selling them.

Some legislators will make lame noises about how smoking will decrease and that’s the ultimate objective of this tax. Don’t believe it. What they want is for smokers to keep right on smoking and paying a higher price so they can use that money to fund their socialist follies. Sickening.

Now is the time to stop New York State in its tracks before it goes farther. Our “law makers” must be sent a loud and clear message that we will not stand for this kind of naked theft from the citizenry. Don’t pay the tax! Don’t buy cigarettes in New York.

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