Fined thousands for cigars 11¢ too cheap
Jan 10, 2018 13:25:21 GMT -5
lestrout, Darin, and 6 more like this
Post by simnettpratt on Jan 10, 2018 13:25:21 GMT -5
From an article by John Stossel on creators.com:
Store owner in New York Kamal Saleh was just fined thousands for selling three cigars for $8.89. The bureaucrats said they were 11¢ too cheap.
They decided you should pay more for tobacco products after anti-smoking crusader Dr. Kurt Ribisl told the Centers for Disease Control, "Higher prices will deter children from smoking." Ribisl also told the CDC, "Very cheap (tobacco) products should no longer be available." At Ribisl's urging, New York City adopted price floors and taxes to bring the price of a pack of cigarettes to $13 a pack.
At the CDC, Ribisl suggested that it should also be government policy to "reduce the number of tobacco stores."
"People still have the ability to buy it, if they so choose," he said.
"Just not poor people," I (John Stossel) told him. "You're screwing poor people."
"We see much higher smoking rates among poor people," answered Ribisl. "We need policies that are going to reduce tobacco use among poor people."
That seems cruel to store owners like Kamal Saleh, but Ribisl said, "We're not interested in putting stores out of business ... They're going to find new products to sell."
(Thankfully the thought police are looking out for me. Was it Seattle that almost doubled the price of sodas, because they were sugary? We're not interested in putting stores out of business, except we want to put stores out of business. Won't affect the big guys who can afford the lawyers, just the smaller businesses. Hey, swimming pools, fatty foods and cars kill a lot of people too, when are we going to double the price of those to save poor people?)
Here's the original article: www.creators.com/read/john-stossel/01/18/punish-poor-people
Store owner in New York Kamal Saleh was just fined thousands for selling three cigars for $8.89. The bureaucrats said they were 11¢ too cheap.
They decided you should pay more for tobacco products after anti-smoking crusader Dr. Kurt Ribisl told the Centers for Disease Control, "Higher prices will deter children from smoking." Ribisl also told the CDC, "Very cheap (tobacco) products should no longer be available." At Ribisl's urging, New York City adopted price floors and taxes to bring the price of a pack of cigarettes to $13 a pack.
At the CDC, Ribisl suggested that it should also be government policy to "reduce the number of tobacco stores."
"People still have the ability to buy it, if they so choose," he said.
"Just not poor people," I (John Stossel) told him. "You're screwing poor people."
"We see much higher smoking rates among poor people," answered Ribisl. "We need policies that are going to reduce tobacco use among poor people."
That seems cruel to store owners like Kamal Saleh, but Ribisl said, "We're not interested in putting stores out of business ... They're going to find new products to sell."
(Thankfully the thought police are looking out for me. Was it Seattle that almost doubled the price of sodas, because they were sugary? We're not interested in putting stores out of business, except we want to put stores out of business. Won't affect the big guys who can afford the lawyers, just the smaller businesses. Hey, swimming pools, fatty foods and cars kill a lot of people too, when are we going to double the price of those to save poor people?)
Here's the original article: www.creators.com/read/john-stossel/01/18/punish-poor-people
