State cuts Tobacco Quit Line funding despite tax increases

[Kilroy2.0]

As if you needed more proof that our government really does not want us to quit smoking, or that Doyle is a ****.



State cuts Tobacco Quit Line funding despite tax increases

 

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

It used to be that they at least TRIED to show us that the money they were collecting in sin taxes was going towards education and assistance...now.... it's just blatent that they're using taxes on an addiction to balance their budgets.

Gah, I just HATE what our country is turning into!

 

[C-kool Dad '09]

As if you needed more proof that our government really does not want us to quit smoking, or that Doyle is a ****.




State cuts Tobacco Quit Line funding despite tax increases

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Maybe the program wasn't working so they terminated it - NO - that would make way too much sense for government (maybe it was working too well)

 

[kristin]

Things that make you go "Hmmm...."

Ironically, SmokeFree Wisconsin is an ti e-cig, too! Go figure.

 

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

SmokeFree Wisconsin once tried to tie PV's into Big tobacco - that's their take on our toys - a gizmo thought up by the 'evil tobacco Giants' to keep smokers addicted.

Sheesh.......where DO these idiots get their information?

 

[yknotagain]

They've been making up the majority of their "facts" for years - why would they change now?

 

[Lyndale]

SmokeFree Wisconsin once tried to tie PV's into Big Tobacco - that's their take on our toys - a gizmo thought up by the 'evil Tobacco Giants' to keep smokers addicted.

Sheesh.......where DO these idiots get their information?

If I didn't have a vested interest in vaping (my vested interest? Not continuing to damage my lungs/kidneys/eyes among other organs with analogs) SmokeFree Wisconsin would make me laugh. I have a cynical love for truthiness.

They've been making up the majority of their "facts" for years - why would they change now?

Why does that not surprise me? I wonder what their angle is. Where's there money coming from and what's their big picture goal?

 

[harmony gardens]

It's amazing the lengths people will go to to protect thier positions. Unfortunately, these are people who have made a hobby out of bashing smoking. They basically think of smokers as pitiful creatures who cling to a bad habit because they lack the willpower to quit, when they want to condemn them, and a wonderful target for taxes when they want to pay for some program they want.

They just used the helping smokers quit stuff as a PR thing. Kind of the same way a health insurance company makes an ad showing how caring they are, but kind of slides the denying payment for pre existing condition stuff under the table.

It really does show the heartlessness of the status quo. IMHO, any tax on tobacco should be earmarked to defray the cost of care of smoking related illness or spent helping someone quit. Any other purpose is just a punitive charge gouged out of people they feel deserve to pay for thier bad behavior. That just takes us to the door of what's going on with people who want to consider vaping as the same thing as smoking.

 

[Lyndale]

It's amazing the lengths people will go to to protect thier positions. Unfortunately, these are people who have made a hobby out of bashing smoking. They basically think of smokers as pitiful creatures who cling to a bad habit because they lack the willpower to quit, when they want to condemn them, and a wonderful target for taxes when they want to pay for some program they want.

They just used the helping smokers quit stuff as a PR thing. Kind of the same way a health insurance company makes an ad showing how caring they are, but kind of slides the denying payment for pre existing condition stuff under the table.

It really does show the heartlessness of the status quo. IMHO, any tax on tobacco should be earmarked to defray the cost of care of smoking related illness or spent helping someone quit. Any other purpose is just a punitive charge gouged out of people they feel deserve to pay for thier bad behavior. That just takes us to the door of what's going on with people who want to consider vaping as the same thing as smoking.

What also can't be denied are the correlations between income and smoking. Although I'm sure many of us at this forum live comfortably enough, the average smoker does not have a huge income. In fact, the more money you make the less likely you are to be a smoker. Why? I'm not entirely sure if there's a causal link, but there is a correlation.

Could these taxes just be manifestation of some peoples' ideas that being less affluent is a moral/character defect? I've often wondered why there isn't coverage, funded by these sin taxes, to help the uninsured get access to medical or other forms of treatment to try to break the addiction.

 

[Kate51]

I'm not surprised at anything.
Remember how the Lottery was passed?
Money was all supposed to go for Property Tax Relief.
Well, I can't remember seeing any "credits" on my tax bill this year. Anyone?
Guess they figured no one who owned property needed relief, the State coffers needed it more.
Just a shame to leave all those poor "quitters" out there with nearly no "help".
Am surprised the article was important enough to rate more than one paragraph.
Yey, JD. What a guy.

 

[C-kool Dad '09]

I'm not surprised at anything.
Remember how the Lottery was passed?
Money was all supposed to go for Property Tax Relief.
Well, I can't remember seeing any "credits" on my tax bill this year. Anyone?
Guess they figured no one who owned property needed relief, the State coffers needed it more.
Just a shame to leave all those poor "quitters" out there with nearly no "help".
Am surprised the article was important enough to rate more than one paragraph.
Yey, JD. What a guy.

Golly, Gee Kate. Reading your message almost sounds as if you are Not a big fan of our follicle-deprived Governor. Here is my idea for a new State slogan (suitable to use on license plates) - (sung to the tune of the Budweiser/UWMadison theme song) / / / "When you say WISconsin, you've taxed it all". And taken away many personal rights as well.8-o

 

[Kate51]

Welllll, you could be getting it! All we get is more mandates, less money for programs we just had to have, lower Medicare/Medicaid coverage, SCHIPS and Badgercare coverage nobody with a pulse can qualify for, less money for schools, roads, and bridges, higher taxes, higher spending, fewer start-up industries, honestly I don't know what their problem is. Hmmmm. Our counties are trying to "close" the nursing homes, they're operating at a half billion dollar deficit for some reason in our neighboring county, and can't figure out why you can't get 'free' skilled nursing anymore..gee, maybe there's a problem. Maybe they just need a bigger, highter "atrium" to walk into, cause it's so pretty, gotta have that~waiting room at the clinic is virtually empty at all times, but there's about 4,000 square feet of available space, just in case. But if you don't want to sit alone there, you can go to any one of about 13 different "satellite" clinics...funny, plenty of room there too...
I love your singing license plate!!

 

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

It used to be subtle..... the administrators of our state used to toss money at the programs the taxes were supposed to be raised for, and never mind where the excess went to... but now...

They don't even try to put the 'gloss' on it anymore - it's just 'we need more money' and they spend, spend, spend.... yea, Kate, on pork 'image' projects instead of funding out schools, our infrastructure, or on the welfare of them taxpayers they rape.

Do we really NEED a courthouse that sprawls over 3 city blocks, where the hallways are paved in solid granite? Where the courtrooms are empty save 3 hours a day? Where the lobbies exist ONLY to prove how much 'disposable' wealth the state has? And where the lawns are manicured to within an inch of their lives but nobody is allowed to enjoy them? (keep off the grass!!!)

 

[VelvetVisions]

Anyone notice they are now going after Beer for more tax, claiming it will go to help fund programs for alcoholics. Do they really think we are that stupid? It's just another means to pull more money out of us. Our schools are suffering big time, where the hell do my property taxes go anyway?

Anyone see the movie Dave? I'm starting to think we need someone like that to take over and balance this crap out.

 

[C-kool Dad '09]

Anyone notice they are now going after Beer for more tax, claiming it will go to help fund programs for alcoholics. Do they really think we are that stupid? It's just another means to pull more money out of us. Our schools are suffering big time, where the hell do my property taxes go anyway?

Anyone see the movie Dave? I'm starting to think we need someone like that to take over and balance this crap out.

WO-wo! Watch your blood pressure Velvet One. I was 'thinking' the same thing / what a farce, along with - - - never mind, or MY blood pressure will go up!!!

 

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

The only things certain in this life are death and taxes..... and right now, none of us can afford to die..sheesh!

I'm really starting to wonder if the US will be viable in 10 years, or if we'll be a smoking pit of civil war??? The people are uneasy, shackled to the yoke of the heavy burden of taxes we're forced to carry.... and yet the lash continues to strike as our elected leaders continue to heap more burdens on our backs.

Now, don't get me wrong....I don't WANT to see the US embroiled in a bitter civil war, but I'm starting to think the blatent misuse (and the 'you can't do anything about it attitude') of public funds is pushing us in that direction. We're a tinderbox, laced with C-4, and only waiting for the spark to bring the explosion.

 

[VelvetVisions]

I'm just tired, tired of it all I tell ya... and then Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize, just how in the world did that happen? He hasn't even been in office long enough to have actually done anything that warrants that level of prestige. Geez. I'm just so tired of working my a** off everyday and then turning around and giving it all away. Worrying each day whether my husband will still have a job, yet trying to stay positive the best I can. Hearing the schools are cutting important programs because they can't afford it, what are they doing with all the money? My taxes continue to go up every year.

They recently cut out our pension at work (yes we were one of the few that still had one) because the economy is causing people to donate less to our Foundation (I work for a Not-for-Profit), yet I hear our ex-President was granting so much deferred income, it would have covered the shortfall (we are talking around $30 mil here). My God, do we really need to pay this guy, who no longer works for our company, that much money? I thought we were not-for-profit.

I seriously just don't understand the world we live in anymore. I'm starting to sound like a crotchety old lady. LOL Help me see or find the good in the world. I'm going to go live on a commune somewhere and become a flower child, eat off the land and live in a hut.

[Taking deep breaths, taking deep breaths] 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand......

Ok, think I'm ok now.

 

[Vicks Vap-oh-Yeah]

Tam, there is still good in the world.......take our little microcosm of humanity on the forums....... we're good people. We're stuck in a world gone slightly (well, OK, more than slightly) insane, but the truth will out...... there are good people out there...and some closer than you think.

Take a mental margarita day....go to the domes, smell the flowers. Sit in a park, away from the hustle and bustle of the play areas and 'touristy' spots, and commune with nature....because in its glory, this old Earth still puts on quite a show - we've just become so consumed we don't see it anymore.

My special focus is and always will be water. The roar of a waterfall, the quiet whisper as the small waves brush against the shore, the ducks and other water fowl skimming the surface, even the rain dropping on leaves has special significance for me..... the significance of life, renewal, the cycle of the Earth.

 

[C-kool Dad '09]

Velvet V:
You go ahead and Rant (and even Rave) all you want, after all, at least 50% (&more everyday) agree with YOU!

 

[C-kool Dad '09]

Vicks:
Have you ever considered a career in counseling, or preaching, or just plain MOTIVATIONAL speaking? You would/are - be good!!!