I knew our new liberals-in-power were planning another massive push for socialized medicine - one step at a time seems to be the new mantra. You’ve probably heard the radio and TV commercials bemoaning how millions of “children” are “forced” to seek medical treatment at hospital emergency rooms ‘cause they don’t have health insurance, and how we need to “help the children” by succumbing to another tax to pay for an insurance plan for them. I think it’s abundantly clear that the referenced “children” in the ads are those of the 12-20 million illegal immigrants choking our hospital system and that a new tax is the dim’s way of responding to the desperate cries of hospital administrators, many of whom have been forced to close their hospitals under the pressure of illegals using emergency rooms like free socialized medicine.

A tried and true method of levying taxes has always been to tie them to either helping an impoverished group, like poor children, or to attach them to a group that’s fairly easily vilified (usually “the rich”, or smokers or drinkers.) So I’m not at all surprised to learn that one such group being targeted to “save the children” is the cigar industry, including cigar smokers. They’re a minority, we don’t smoke the nasty ol’ things, so it’s no skin off our teeth if they get taxed, right?

When are we going to get mad - I mean really mad - about the failure of our elected officials to fix problems rather than just impose new taxes to finance their perpetual growth? Our hospitals (among other agencies) are being strangled by illegal aliens because they use emergency rooms as free doctor’s offices. Get rid of the problem, the illegal aliens! Don’t just levy another new tax on us to give illegals an insurance card so we (that’s us!) can pay for their health care. That’s just sticking another finger in yet another hole in our severely leaking dam to avoid actually doing the hard work of fixing the underlying problem.

I remember hearing Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor when the shamnesty bill was going down in flames shouting, “What are you going to do with them? Send them back where they came from?” Yes, Ted! Exactly!

Anyway, the first of what will undoubtedly be many proposed new taxes is upon us. Here’s some info from Michael you should think long and hard about. Then tell your elected officials, “No new taxes, dammit!”

“Currently before the United States Senate is a proposal to fund health insurance on the backs of tobacco products to the tune of $35 billion (that’s Billion with a B). Most egregious is the proposed tax rate on cigars of 53.1%, including a breathtaking 20,400% increase in the cap. This would make handmade cigars - a true mom-and-pop industry, a product enjoyed by choice an average 3 times per week - the single largest excise taxed item in the entire Internal Revenue Code… by a long shot.

This piece of legislation is called SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Plan). Tonight this bill is being marked up in the Senate Finance Committee and is expected to come to the Senate floor for a vote as early as end of week. We urge you to call both of your U.S. Senators today and express your opposition to funding “SCHIP legislation” with punitive cigar taxes. As a constituent your voice will be heard.”