RonPaulFanInGA
06-06-2012, 08:16 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/06/us/california-cigarette-tax/
(CNN) -- Voters in California have rejected an effort to raise taxes on cigarettes to pay for cancer research, according to results the state published Wednesday.
The final tally was 50.8% against the proposal compared with 49.2% in favor of Proposition 29, which supporters said would have raised $735 million a year. About three-quarters of that money raised would go to cancer research.
Supporters had touted it as an initiative to help those with cancer.
"The American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association wrote the initiative carefully," Lori Bremner of the American Cancer Society had told CNN's "Sanjay Gupta MD."
"The money is going to be invested in cancer research here in California and on tobacco prevention and cessation programs to protect kids and reduce smoking here in California."
Studies show the tax will help decrease smoking and save lives, she said.
Opponents had slammed the tax as a misguided burden in an already tough economy.
"What we're seeing in the state of California is a lot of frustration on the part of our citizenry that it's just another tax," said Dr. Marcy Zwelling, a general practitioner. The tax, she said in an interview with CNN, "goes to build bigger bureaucracy, build business, build buildings, not necessarily to go to cancer research."
The opposition in California was fueled by a huge influx of cash from big tobacco. About $47 million was raised in efforts -- including TV advertising -- to defeat "Prop. 29," including $27.5 million from Philip Morris and $11 million from R.J. Reynolds, according to figures from MapLight, a nonpartisan research firm.
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/maps/ballot-measures/prop/29/
Proposition 29: Tax on Cigarettes for Cancer Research
Yes: 1,894,871 (49.2%)
No: 1,958,047 (50.8%)
100.0% ( 21,993 of 21,993 ) of precincts reporting
(CNN) -- Voters in California have rejected an effort to raise taxes on cigarettes to pay for cancer research, according to results the state published Wednesday.
The final tally was 50.8% against the proposal compared with 49.2% in favor of Proposition 29, which supporters said would have raised $735 million a year. About three-quarters of that money raised would go to cancer research.
Supporters had touted it as an initiative to help those with cancer.
"The American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association wrote the initiative carefully," Lori Bremner of the American Cancer Society had told CNN's "Sanjay Gupta MD."
"The money is going to be invested in cancer research here in California and on tobacco prevention and cessation programs to protect kids and reduce smoking here in California."
Studies show the tax will help decrease smoking and save lives, she said.
Opponents had slammed the tax as a misguided burden in an already tough economy.
"What we're seeing in the state of California is a lot of frustration on the part of our citizenry that it's just another tax," said Dr. Marcy Zwelling, a general practitioner. The tax, she said in an interview with CNN, "goes to build bigger bureaucracy, build business, build buildings, not necessarily to go to cancer research."
The opposition in California was fueled by a huge influx of cash from big tobacco. About $47 million was raised in efforts -- including TV advertising -- to defeat "Prop. 29," including $27.5 million from Philip Morris and $11 million from R.J. Reynolds, according to figures from MapLight, a nonpartisan research firm.
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/maps/ballot-measures/prop/29/
Proposition 29: Tax on Cigarettes for Cancer Research
Yes: 1,894,871 (49.2%)
No: 1,958,047 (50.8%)
100.0% ( 21,993 of 21,993 ) of precincts reporting