SCHIP - Taxing the poor

[Wasbeer]

"In summation, the bill takes money from cigarettes and gives it to poor, sick children." - Jon Stewart

According to the CDC, the average smoker in New York consumed 17.7 cigarettes per day in 2000. Most cigarettes are packaged 20 to a pack, meaning an increased price of 61 cents per pack would cost average New York smokers around 54 cents a day. Also according to the CDC, over half of the 2.9 million New Yorkers who smoke try to quit each year. The federal excise tax is currently 39 cents per pack of cigarettes. The median state cigarette excise tax rate, as of January 1, 2007, was 80 cents, meaning the average smoker already pays $384 per year in taxes on cigarettes. The SCHIP expansion would increase this average by $197 to $581.

A Mexican immigrant, who smokes a pack a day (only slightly above the 2000 average,) working in the united states and sending money home would pay around $222 per year towards the health care costs of, as Stewart put it, poor, sick children. According to UNICEF, 5% of the population in Mexico lives on under $1 a day. The extra $222 a year would bring the total amount of taxes the immigrant pays on his habit to $656 a year.

In summation, the bill takes money from poor people, and gives it to other poor people.

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/mexico_statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/Factsheets/economic_facts
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/tobacco_control_programs/surveillance_evaluation

[Hope]

Good thoughts. Except for, you know, trying to pull on my heartstrings that our money won't be able to be depreciated by immigrants. :P That's the least of which why the SCHIP is a bad idea.

[angelatc]

smoke & mirrors.

[RonPaulIsGood]

Don't go and discuss "inexpensive" healthcare and other welfare before knowing how much taxes they have to pay.

Welfare spending equals tax of $12,892 on every poor person
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6698

A common misconception is that corporate taxes does not affect anyone except corporations. Wrong. Corporate taxes hurt the poor the most. The bottom 20% poor have to pay 40% of their income in taxes. http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/22694.html

Progressive taxes do the reverse than what is expected. Poor people becomes poorer. Rich people becomes richer. http://www.ipi.org/ipi%5CIPIPublications.nsf/PublicationLookupFullTextPDF/7412EB9AFBB4D28786256B4D00738EBE/$File/PR162-Hartman-Redistribution.pdf?OpenElement
So using progressive taxes to redistribute wealth is NOT a good idea. Especially $477 billion of Federal taxes is spent on wealth redistribution programs in 2005. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6698 And also the bottom 20% have to pay 40% of their income.

good article on misconceptions of corporate tax: http://www.janegalt.net/blog/archives/000174.html

So using progressive taxes to provide "inexpensive" healthcare is wrong. First you need to fix the poor people paying 40% of their labor in taxes.

Look at regressive cigarette, gasoline and alcohol taxes that damages the poor the most: poor have to pay 40% of their income in taxes. http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/22694.html

In the SCHIP expansion, cigarette tax increased. http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/22476.html

Healthcare would be much less expensive if the regulations are lifted. That permits more firms competing and the supply of healthcare services would go up. If supply increases, the price decreases. Also, it would be more competitive and would be MUCH less likely it would set up a cartel.

[PaleoForPaul]

The tax on smokers was dumb from the start, it's regressive, it's a sin tax, and in some cases it's taxing the poor to help _middle class_ children.