News-Record.com

I encourage those I know and like to please stop.

I tell everyone else to "Keep it up!

http://money.cnn.com/2001/07/16/companies/czech_morris/index.htm

"Bringing the cigarette tax up to the national average of $1.14 would gain..."

The dirty little secret is the state doesn't want too many people to quit, or else bye bye tax money for programs like Dr. Rosen advocates. The state is addicted to tobacco as much as smokers are. Only difference is many people do give up smoking, but the state will never give up it's habit of fleecing it's citizens.

Like all other taxes it just sends people across the state lines. I sure the borders cities love the high gas tax in NC. Of course when these folks, cross the line they buy other items. I heard the other day that 50,000 cartons of cigarettes a week are smuggled in to NY city. I sure the merchants in Va. thank the people of NY.

Are there any other products or lifestyles that you frown upon that you would like the government to tax in order to discourage such activities, Mr. Rosen? Corned Beef?... Sugar... ?

How about a $50 surtax on Dr. office visits to be charged directly to the consumer and not passed along to the insurer in order to fund a government program designed to educate consumers about their 'rights' when it comes to medical malpractice?

"The dirty little secret is the state doesn't want too many people to quit, or else bye bye tax money for programs like Dr. Rosen advocates."

SECRET? Laugh out loud! First of all, cigarettes are addictive. Second, people quit everyday and they don't check into Betty Ford to do it.
Third, Health groups have finally gotten the resources they need to fight, and they realize that if folks quit buying cigarettes....let me put this in language Dan can understand...if they quit buying cigarettes, it would be

M I S S I O N A C C O M P L I S H E D

Hope that clears things up.

Secret. Yeah, it's a BIG secret. Don't tell anyone, Dan. Too funny.

~

You may be onto something there, yard dog.

$50 per visit is a bit excessive, but a fee to create and implement a Surgeon General's warning label campaign along the lines of:

"Warning: Physicians Can Be Hazardous to Your Health."

Then it would go on to lay out a number of doctoral blunders and other hazards one might encounter in a doctor's office. It would continue with the malpractice rights idea, complete with contact information. And it would have to be posted in every waiting room, examination room and printed on all invoices.

I LIKE it, yard dog. I like it a LOT! I wonder what the AMA would think.

~

Ah yes, Easley's '05 plan against the teacher pay Jabberwocky, which the LTE writer advocates killing for:

"By the 2008-09 school year, teachers in North Carolina will earn an average of $52,266, above the national average estimated by the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) to be $52,206 for that year. Easley and his staff consulted with legislators, education leaders and teachers in developing the plan."
http://www.governor.state.nc.us/News_FullStory.asp?id=2538

I have a hard time lamenting the plight of a profession earning, on average, over $5000/month worked regardless of performance.

And why are we still complaining about the "national average" nonsense without taking into account the cost of living? Why do legislators demand our teachers are paid the same as those in California just "because"?
"North Carolina is ranked 27th for average teacher salary across the nation. With relatively low costs of living, such a salary ranks much higher compared to other states."
http://www.teacher-world.com/statespages/North%20Carolina.html

The answer is, of course, votes, but c'mon. Have you people no conscience? Oh, wait. Politicians. Sorry, carry on.

Roger

First I must say I liked it when I could buy a carton of Luckies for $1.74 at the Big Bear Store.
However, I quit smoking years ago, so the latest prices don't effect me.
Now for the real issue, States and the Federal "Guvmint" don't care if you smoke. In fact they want you to, so they can collect taxes. If they really didn't approve of smoking, they would ban the practice. Until such time as this happens, they will be fighting for and over more and more taxes.

Could it be that Easley is putting the teachers on the top of his wish list every year so they won't start yelping about where all that lottery revenue is going?

I've got to throw my support behind yard dog. When they start taxing hot dogs and ice cream and triple-whoppers with a sin tax, then the lte's letter might make more since. As it is, cigarettes and teachers are politically expedient.

I didn't quiet spell the word 'since' write.

Must be nap time. Ah, the benefits of being old.

"First of all, cigarettes are addictive."

That will be added to the archive of all time stupid quotes.

"Second, people quit everyday.."

True, but again a dumb quote. Been there done that myself. Haven't touched a cig in over 8 years.

"Health groups have finally gotten the resources they need to fight, ..."

Oh really? Remember all the $$$ the tobacco settlement in which the tobacco companies had to pony up to the states several years ago? I thought it was for tobacco prevention programs and to treat sick smokers.

Well it appears tax hike Mike had other plans with the some of the loot:

In April 2002, Governor Easley diverted $60 million in settlement payments to help address the state's budget crisis. Of that amount, $30 million was intended for the Health and Wellness Trust Fund and another $30 million was to go to the Tobacco Trust Fund. The General Assembly in its FY2003 budget bill diverted an additional $80 million from the January 2003 and April 2003 settlement payments, taking half ($40 million) from the Health and Wellness Trust Fund and the other half from the Tobacco Trust Fund. The General Assembly diverted another $25 million per year from the Health and Wellness Trust Fund in the 2004 and 2005 budget bills. The total amount of these funded diversions is nearly $123 million. In addition, in 2004, the General Assembly enacted a measure that places half of the debt service associated with the construction of facilities at nine campuses in the University of North Carolina system and five youth development centers upon the Health and Wellness Trust Fund. The long-term transfer is projected to total more than $350 million by 2030.

Believe what you want Demon Deacon, but if all smokers quit smoking the state would not be happy with the lost revenue. It's a simple concept.

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/state.php?StateID=NC

Forgot to post the link.

You heard it folks! An exclusive from Dan. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone, lest the world find out.

Reminds me of Bill O'rally touting an "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH HILLARY CLINTON". Yeah, it was exclusive alright. She'd already been interviewed by all of the other networks.
Dan, wake up fella. You are not nearly as smart as you think you are.

I noticed the usual insults but no refutation of my the facts. Why am I not surprised.

Govt. makes big money from cigarettes and all that money is not used for smoking prevention programs. It's a simple concept.

"You are not nearly as smart as you think you are."

Yeah of course, I should have come up with a smart quote like this:

"First of all, cigarettes are addictive."

That quote is right on par with:

THE LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE said:
Oh, and before "little Danny" weighs in with "What about Robert Byrd of West Virginia?", let me say that I didn't vote for him…”
Posted on January 28, 2008 11:12 AM

Or perhaps this one:

“Dan is ready to tell you how a fetus has the potential to become a human being!”
Posted by THE LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE | June 15, 2007 7:04 PM

Thanks for the new addition!!

Dan, don't leave out this pearl:

"When the moon was discovered by that secular instrument, the telescope, the church had to move "heaven" further out."

You'll soon need a new hard drive to store and retrieve all the gems.

Neo, do you have the date/time stamp for that one? I remember it was recent and it is a pearl indeed but I didn't save it.

Gee whiz, I thought the moon the moon wasn't discovered until July 20, 1969 when the "secular" Apollo 11 mission and specifically the "secular" lunar module Eagle landed there. I guess I'm not as smart as I think I am ;--)

ooops, double moon, it's been a long day.

"You'll soon need a new hard drive to store and retrieve all the gems."

Excellent point Neo. Perhaps we'll need to install a MySQL server so we can keep track of all these little gems. Seriously, if you need a DBA, I'm your guy.

THE LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE said:
"To dismiss or ignore this question means you have a story with no foundation."

Ya know, Mr. Sellers, there were people who argued heaven was up in the clouds. When the moon was discovered by that secular instrument, the telescope, the church had to move "heaven" further out.
Same story here.
The church is 'evolving' along with mankind---albeit slower.

Chew on that for a while.

Posted on May 18, 2008 10:47 AM

Sorta poetic justice that in the zealous rush to belittle someone THE LIBERAL CANADIAN oftentimes makes a complete ass of him/herself.

My optometrist seems to have vastly understated the extent of my farsightedness.

Roger

Dan,
You can deflect all day long, but your ignorance does not disappear.

How's that recreational use of cocaine working out for you? Do your children know? Hopefully, you're not using their lunch money. Maybe your third wife will accept you AND your habits.
I love your "Rogue's gallery" of support. That's a real "Brain Trust".

`

Dan said
"One time I went to the beach for a weekend with some buddies when I was in college. One of them brought some cocaine. They all tried some so I decided to as well."

Now we know why Dan is quick to give the "Looky, looky! They did it too!" defense of his moral uprightness.

Guess he just tossed out the "Conservative" mantra of "JUST SAY NO!"

Maybe he'll wake up, recognize his own shortcomings and admit that Bush's "abstinence only" policy is also a crock-o-crap.

~

Over the course of my college years, I participated in any number of activities that were decidedly unwise: Drove way too fast, tossed back more beer than was needed to float a canoe, smoked and, indeed, sampled several sticks of cannabis. And I "inhaled" it, too ... 'cause if ya don't inhale it, well, you're pretty damn stupid to do it at all. But that's a story of another person and time.

I'll be happy to wager that many posters here did some or all of the same things at that age.

Eventually, I put aside these destructive ways. In other words, I DID "just say no." It's commonly referred to as "growing up."

Now, there are many people who never made the transition from that "college mentality" to adulthood. You can spot them by their ... well ... college mentality: They use the ol' school mascot as their nickname, they continue to believe typical college Marxist teachings, they attempt to ridicule those who HAVE matured to a more rational state of mind, usually with irrational rants and childish name-calling, and they sometimes cower behind false images.

These people are to be pitied. They simply never broke through their pubescent stage and are forever locked in immaturity. How sad.

~

"How's that recreational use of cocaine working out for you?"

This is working better than anticipated. Swallowed hook, line and sinker. Thanks Demon Deacon.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/BothSidesAllSides/story?id=2773754

Oh my God Jack!!!! You inhaled????

`

***********************************
JUST LIKE CLOCKWORK!
***********************************

Dan, in a fit of desperation cries out for help with:

"Looky! Looky! He did it too! Not just me!! Looky!"

Dan, using someone else to validate

YOUR recreational use of cocaine is an

act of moral desperation.

(You might want to remember that next time you trot out your "holier than thou" moral crap.)

Dan said,
May 21, 2008
"One time I went to the beach for a weekend with some buddies when I was in college. One of them brought some cocaine. They all tried some so I decided to as well."

Guess that as long as "someone else" did it too, that makes it just fine. Good try Dan. Good try.

`

`

Jack Armstrong,
Since you do not get on these threads with some high and mighty "moral certitude" you get a pass. I have no problem with what you do, what you did, or that you might have occasional moments. Politically, we just have to agree to disagree.
\

What DOES irritate me, is when someone like Dan tries to play "moral arbiter" when he, in fact, is quite the opposite of how he views himself. The minute he's called on it, he runs for cover with "Looky! Looky! That man did it too!" which is so lame.

Jack, I still have the Chinese food song, Thanks! : )

THE LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE
Dan, in a fit of desperation cries out for help with:

"Looky! Looky! He did it too! Not just me!! Looky!"

Dan, using someone else to validate

YOUR recreational use of cocaine is an

act of moral desperation.

(You might want to remember that next time you trot out your "holier than thou" moral crap.)

Operation "coke post" is a resounding success. Keep going!!

~

Yep! I surely did, Dan. To do otherwise would have been tantamount to taking a sip of Jack Daniels or Johnny Walker and spitting it out. What a horrible, inexcusable waste!

But there are those who attempt to demonstrate their bravado by simulating a toke ... or at least claiming it was simulated. Who knows for sure? Kinda sheds more of a negative light on their character than the intended positive glow, I think. Looks pretty foolish in retrospect, doesn't it?

~

I always thought the word "maturity" was a bad word.

Listen, TLC, ain't nobody here Jesus so let's not start throwing stones because someone actually admitted something they did in the past.

I admire Obama cause he came right out and said what he did instead of lying about it and saying he didn't inhale or some other kinda crap.

I tried pot years and years ago. It sure wasn't what I thought it would be. I've smoked a few times over the years when offered to me. I've never bought or sold any and wouldn't.

Tried cocaine once. All I got was a big headache and the worst hangover ever.

I farted in Sunday School one time and blamed it on somebody else.

Well, I guess confession time is over.

Which do you want (A) people to stop smoking, or (B) tax on tobacco to supplement teachers pay?
You cannot have both. If people stop smoking, there goes the teachers pay. If you supplement teachers pay with taxes from tobacco, then you better hope they'll keep smoking.
It makes no sense to tax tobacco.

Say it isn't so Earnestine, you tried coke once too? I did it once 25 years ago and watch Demon Deacon go at it, really fun to watch. Let's see if what he says about you.

Reefer too? Did you inhale?

Now on to the more important stuff, farting in Sunday school is almost as bad as farting in church. I'm sure you've been forgiven however.

Beachwalker, I've made the same point earlier in the thread. Despite all the propaganda the state feeds us about their lofty goals of the populace quitting smoking, they would be financially devastated if everyone indeed quit smoking. Look at my 7:44 post from yesterday about all the millions in "tobacco settlement" money that was used for other reasons. It's a farce.

"I farted in Sunday School one time and blamed it on somebody else."

So you're the one who blamed that on me! : )

_______________________________

Our resident Moralist:

"One time I went to the beach for a weekend with some buddies when I was in college. One of them brought some cocaine. They all tried some so I decided to as well."
May 21, 2008

Just like your buddy Rush! Is that how you want your children to act? They can try crank and then say, "But daddy, they did it too! They did it too!"

"Is that how you want your children to act? They can try crank and then say, "But daddy, they did it too! They did it too!""

Yet another gem!! Operation "coke post" continues to surpass all expectations. I thought you would figure it out by now. More please.

"Yet another gem!! Operation "coke post" continues to surpass all expectations."

A kneejerk reaction to mask embarrassment, I suppose. Pretty revealing.

Dan said,

"One time I went to the beach for a weekend with some buddies when I was in college. One of them brought some cocaine. They all tried some so I decided to as well."
May 21, 2008

Yep, narcissist, anti abortion activist, GOP apologist, now pretending it was just a ruse. Wink, wink!

What will he say to the children??

"Go ahead kids, try cocaine! Others did it too, so that makes it A-OK! See Dad's okay! Dad's OK, because other people did it too!"
===============================
I can just hear the announcer from some right wing political action committee:

Dan said,
"....I went to the beach for a weekend with some buddies when I was in college. One of them brought some cocaine. They all tried some so I decided to as well."
May 21, 2008

"They all tried it...."
So just because they did it, Dan did it too!
Dan, you're TOO liberal for most God fearing conservatives.
Too LIBERAL for those who value families.
Too liberal for North Carolina and
too liberal for America.

Paid for by the Republican National Committee
-----------------------------
On a serious note:
What will you tell your children???
How can you continue to take on others for moral failures, while admittedly using cocaine recreationally? How do you continue to cast stones, while being such a hypocrite? How does it make you feel to be spotlighted after you've sown such sanctimonious seeds here?

`

`

Dan,
Why don't you take a little time off from here....claim you want to spend more time with your family. That's usually how hypocrites handle a crisis. :)

I could have never imagined it would get this good!! Perhaps the last post was the grand culmination, the coup de grâce, but maybe not. See if you can surpass yourself yet again. This is working better than I would have ever imagined and you keep feeding it like a hungry stray kitten. More, more, more!!

My only regret is I'm leaving for your home country of Canada tomorrow and I won't spend much time on the blog.

Please try to squeeze in a few more before I leave.

Dan,
Glad you're taking my advice! You can cut out the defensive posturing---pretty lame and VERY transparent.

: )

No defense Demon Deacon, you are totally playing into my plan and have yet to figure it out. That's called offense. Keep it up.

Dan said,

"One time I went to the beach for a weekend with some buddies when I was in college. One of them brought some cocaine. They all tried some so I decided to as well."
May 21, 2008

Now he CLAIMS he's traveling..! Yeah. Right. If he is, he's probably using his kids as drug mules! My guess is that he's perched in that barca lounger pretending he's on a trip.

Nice defensive posturing little fellow.

Dan said,

"One time I went to the beach for a weekend with some buddies when I was in college. One of them brought some cocaine. They all tried some so I decided to as well."
May 21, 2008

Now he CLAIMS he's traveling..! Yeah. Right. If he is, he's probably using his kids as drug mules! My guess is that he's perched in that barca lounger pretending he's on a trip.

Nice defensive posturing little fellow.

I have to agree with Roger w/r/t average salaries vs. cost of living. This site (http://teacherportal.com/salary-comfort-index) takes a shot at incorporating cost of living into a salary and comparing across the nation. NC does better than California by a long shot.

While it's important to get all teacher's salaries higher, I think the original intent of the post is right on, make it enough to improve services and programs that truly get at the core of the problem. Education might help (haven't seen studies here) with smoking, but funding programs with clear intent is even better.

oops...link didn't show up:

http://teacherportal.com/salary-comfort-index