Michelle Malkin » Stimulus stupidity alert: $75 million for smoking cessation

Stimulus stupidity alert: $75 million for smoking cessation

By Michelle Malkin • January 27, 2009 10:28 PM

Yup, here it is on pg. 61 of the Senate stimulus bill:

(Source link)

Pssst. Someone tell the Senate Democrats who larded up the Senate stimulus bill with $75 million for smoking cessation that they need smokers to keep buying cigarettes to pay for the S-CHIP universal health care Trojan Horse! Maybe they should reallocate the $75 million to subsidize smoking continuation. After all, someone’s got to look out for the smokers the Dems need to pay all those higher cigarette taxes in order to subsidize more families whom the Dems want to shift off of private health insurance plans and onto the government-run S-CHIP program.

These people can’t keep their Big Nanny agendas straight.

Posted in: Graeme Frost, Health care, fiscal stimulus

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#1

On January 27th, 2009 at 10:30 pm, happy_mama said:

excellent – my tax money – going up in smoke…
#2

On January 27th, 2009 at 10:37 pm, WarEagle82 said:

What! We can’t afford to have people cease smoking! The Feds need the tax revenue. What are they thinking? I suspect this provision will be matched by another provision to ENCOURAGE smoking to raise revenues.
#3

On January 27th, 2009 at 10:47 pm, teachem2 said:

This idea is the epitomy of the Democrat party. Stupid is as stupid does.
#4

On January 27th, 2009 at 10:48 pm, backwoods conservative said:

It doesn’t require any sense to vote for a Democrat, why should it require any sense to be a Democrat?
#5

On January 27th, 2009 at 10:49 pm, hadsil said:

Maybe they realize the folly of depending upon smokers to pay for SCHIP while using the stimulus to lower the number of snmokers. It’s a plot! When this scheme results in not enough money for SCHIP, they get to 1) blame the evil Republicans for their opposition, 2) declare a crisis, and 3) raise more taxes to spend more money on more pet projects.
#6

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:00 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

The Committee is particularly interested in identifying pre-diabetes and providing nutrition counseling to prevent the onset of type II diabetes.

Do away with:
White sugar
Bleached four
Bleached anything
Boxed processed foods
Soda
Eating pasta all of the time
Fast food

Substitute:
Eat more fruits and veggies
Drink lots of water

Send me my friggin check – NOW. I see 1 billion is set aside. Sounds like a check for 10 million for my “research” is a deal.

As for smoking? Take out all nicotine and people will stop smoking pronto.

I threw the smoking “research” in since my 10 million is in the mail.
#7

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:04 pm, AlohaGuy said:

How much of that does Obama himself get?
#8

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:04 pm, Ron said:

Will the RINOs in the Senate have the courage to vote no on the stimulus bill to kill the lie of this being a bi-partisan bill? The bi-partisan angle is only to give cover to Dems when they further wreck the economy. Trust me, if it worked, they’d take all the credit.
#9

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:04 pm, theloneranger said:

I seem to remember that all the money the government sued out of the Tobacco Companies not that long ago was supposed to go for “Smoking Cessation” programs. I think the government is just blowing smoke up the cook’s azz.
#10

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:06 pm, tim zank said:

I’ve asked many a “nanny” these two questions:

1.After you force us all to quit, who do you think they will come after to replace all that tobacco tax revenue??

2.After you force us all to quit, calculate the expense of all of us smokers living an extra 20-30 years and who will pick up the tab on that expense??

The answer to both is you, the taxpayer.
Thank your local legislator nanny.
#11

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:07 pm, FamilyMan said:

The majority of smokers in this country are in the lower income brackets.
YEA!
Lets tax the poor.
#12

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:10 pm, backwoods conservative said:

Lets tax the poor.

I’m still trying to figure out how a poor person is going to give me a job.
#14

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:19 pm, torabora said:

Hey I already quit! Can I get my money back for all the money I would have spent on cigs?

I betcha the morons would give it to me.
#15

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:20 pm, The Ugly American said:

Better include another $75 million for eating cessation.

The less America smokes, the fatter it becomes.

How do you think Asian and Europeans stay so thin?
#16

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:21 pm, ajmontana said:

We need to dump the lot of them. All the crisis rhetoric over and over for months now and this is their answer so far?
A group of 8th graders would get more trust from me than this miserable group of pathetic bottomfeeders.
Our lovely politicians on the hill need to go back to the drawing board and by the looks of things for a long long time. The manner in which they are handling this “crisis” has to be the worst performance of our elected officials I have ever seen.
From top to bottom I have yet to see any “real” solutions to the matter at hand.
The American people would be well served if we just rode it out until they give us a solid Economic infusion of realistic objectives.
This shamulus package is a complete failure.
Anyone putting their name on this is an idiot. Enough with the gloom and doom rhetoric, get to work and for goodness sake, start from scratch.
#17

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:30 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

Pork! Pork is bad. Well, it does get bills through the house so, I guess it is not all bad.

Obama: Help yourself to some pork boys. I have to stop you at .5 trillion for now. Anything more will have to be added to the next bill I bring up!

Politicans: :snort: :grunt: Obama, you’re the best – pass the salsa.
#18

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:30 pm, Republicanvet said:

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:04 pm, theloneranger said:

I seem to remember that all the money the government sued out of the Tobacco Companies not that long ago was supposed to go for “Smoking Cessation” programs. I think the government is just blowing smoke up the cook’s azz.

This is exactly what I was thinking. What a scam that was!

Course, they might have the money from this extortion if many of the governors actually spent it for that purpose. Many raided that money, and borrowed against future “payments” to pay for other crap.
#19

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:30 pm, The Ugly American said:

You’d think Pelosi would see smoking as another great way to plan out a few thousand cost burdens to the goobermint.
#20

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:39 pm, FamilyMan said:

ajmontana said:Enough with the gloom and doom rhetoric, get to work and for goodness sake, start from scratch.

Ditto.
The economy is 80% emotions. That is why they measure consumer confidence.
#22

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:48 pm, CO2 Producer said:

$10 billion “for the effects of secondhand smoke?”

*sticks p.61 in shredder*

Next item, please.
#23

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:55 pm, ajmontana said:

*sticks p.61 in shredder*

Stick the entire Bill in the Shredder, and don’t look back.
#24

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:56 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

:hands CO2 pages 1-60:

Have at it!
#25

On January 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am, mattymatt10 said:

How are they going to pay for SCHIP if everyone quits smoking?
#26

On January 28th, 2009 at 12:06 am, On-my-soap-box said:

On January 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am, mattymatt10 said:
How are they going to pay for SCHIP if everyone quits smoking?

Enter the “carbon usage tax”. The gooberment will do a study (paid for by you and me) on how much the average person exhales. Since carbon is a greenhouse gas (which it is not), this same study will calcualte the damage done to the environment (which it does not) by each person. Based on this study, they will FINALLY get around to taxing the air you breathe.

Mark this date down, you heard it here. This is NO joke. You will look back on this day and think:

.oO(that SOB was right)
#27

On January 28th, 2009 at 12:09 am, FamilyMan said:

On-my-soap-box said: This is NO joke. You will look back on this day and think:

Don’t we exhale CO2 without smoking. Just a thought.
#28

On January 28th, 2009 at 12:18 am, On-my-soap-box said:

FamilyMan,

Yep. The tax will have to be added to your income tax. It will probably be deducted from your payroll so you will not forget to pay it. Everyone who does not buy carbon credits from AlGore will be required to pay because, we all breathe.

Mark it down.
#29

On January 28th, 2009 at 12:48 am, CO2 Producer said:

In the spirit of planet-saving, I’d like to make a helpful suggestion. Confetti serves many useful purposes—party favors, pillow stuffing, bedding, mouthwash, kindling, package filler…

Oh, wait. That last one is what the bill consists of.
#30

On January 28th, 2009 at 12:53 am, FamilyMan said:

mouthwash?
#31

On January 28th, 2009 at 1:40 am, tbear44 said:

Not that it would do any good but you can complain via: http://www.nocigtax.com -This is NOT a smoking issue as you all know. S-CHIP is only the beginning.
#32

On January 28th, 2009 at 1:54 am, emjem24 said:

Dems’ message: YOU WILL QUIT SMOKING OR ELSE.

As a former smoker myself, I know the only way to quit the habit is through individual willpower and not government intervention. I think it quite laughable that the government thinks it and it alone can stop a person’s habits.

The minute I learned that my grandmother had emphasema was the day I quit… FOR GOOD. I didn’t need Big Daddy Government’s “guiding” hand.
#33

On January 28th, 2009 at 3:29 am, CO2 Producer said:

On January 28th, 2009 at 12:53 am, FamilyMan said:

mouthwash?

Yeah, forget I said that. Someone out there might actually think I’m serious.
#36

On January 28th, 2009 at 6:46 am, tpitman said:

Find me one smoker who doesn’t know that smoking is bad for them, and may likely shorten their life. They need $75 million for “smoking cessation activities“? What kind of “activities”? Picnics? Arts and crafts?
#37

On January 28th, 2009 at 7:26 am, Bill Grant said:

On January 27th, 2009 at 11:04 pm, AlohaGuy said:

How much of that does Obama himself get?

I wish someone would put a nicotine patch over his mouth.
#38

On January 28th, 2009 at 8:08 am, frontierguy said:

That money will go to some politician’s friend who will set up a cheap smoking cessation program that will do no more than tell people what they already know, then he will give himself a handsome paycheck, his friends too.

I saw a guy tell a woman smoker not too long ago that smoking was bad for her health. As she drew another puff, she looked at him and said, really? I had no idea!! Oh my god, who could have known that! It was so funny, I laughed outloud. The guy smugly went hmph, I chalked it up to another liberal who is out to save everyone from themselves. This country is going insane.
#39

On January 28th, 2009 at 8:28 am, frontierguy said:

Oh, I forgot to mention, the handsome paycheck and kick back some of that money to his favorite politician.
#40

On January 28th, 2009 at 8:44 am, Socky said:

If contraception is supposed to help states deal with their budgets by reducing population-driven demands on resources, why isn’t the Pelosi Congress trying to stop illegal immigration?
#41

On January 28th, 2009 at 9:01 am, ajmontana said:

Votes socky votes…
#42

On January 28th, 2009 at 9:52 am, englishqueen01 said:

Has anyone here seen “Charlie and the Chocolate Factor” (the recent one with Johnny Depp)? Remember how, when the group first arrives at the Wonka factory, the robotic chorus that greets them malfunctions and bursts into flames?

Why do I see that image in my head whenever the Democrats try to do anything? They’re so dysfunctional, it’s amazing they don’t spontaneously combust…

Just as with gas taxes, when people use a product less, the tax revenues from that product also go down…which affects budgets and program spending.

Do they not know basic math? I was an English major for a reason, but even I know that if you sell 10 of X item at $5, but only 2 of X item at $10, you’re going to have less.
#44

On January 28th, 2009 at 10:06 am, Jeff2161 said:

No pork in government ! It’s insensitive to Muslims !
#45

On January 28th, 2009 at 10:09 am, Bicyea said:

The ultimate Ponzi Game– Tax and Spend
#46

On January 28th, 2009 at 10:13 am, Jeff2161 said:

Does CAIR get offended if they are subsidized by gov’t pork ?
#47

On January 28th, 2009 at 10:16 am, Jeff2161 said:

Michigan spent it’s tobacco money on college scholarships on the theory that; college grads smoke less, making it an anti-smoking initiative.
As Mel Brooks said in History of the world Part 2…”@!%& the poor”
#48

On January 28th, 2009 at 10:20 am, onlybeef42 said:

It is important also to note that the $75 Million is the minimum number….

“The committee has included not less than $75,000,000 for smoking cessation activities.”
#50

On January 28th, 2009 at 10:38 am, tpitman said:

On January 28th, 2009 at 10:13 am, Jeff2161 said:

Does CAIR get offended if they are subsidized by gov’t pork ?

Why should they “CAIR”. The end justifies the means. SOOUUUUUUEEEEEEE!!!!! SNORT, GRUNT.
#52

On January 28th, 2009 at 11:45 am, mojack420 said:

but what about the kids
#58

On January 30th, 2009 at 2:30 am, Cosmo said:

As a business consultant, I can honestly say that anytime you see the words “best practices development” you can kiss your money goodbye.

*smooch* Adios!
#60

On February 5th, 2009 at 9:04 pm, tbear44 said:

Wanted: 24,000,000 more smokers to fund this program.