Forget Cigarettes...tax Meth

I was watching the news last night and I heard Republican Representitive Lance Horbach from Tama say in debate on the cigarette tax that we shouldn't be increasing the tax on cigarettes and should put a $5 tax on methanphetamine.

I know that Rep. Horbach was being a little sarcastic, but his example is beyond ridiculous. The Republicans didn't have any other better reason to not raise the tax, as the $1 per pack increase was passed in the House 58-40.

From the Register...

The $1-a-pack tax hike is expected to cut the overall demand for cigarettes by 19 percent, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. About 20 percent of Iowa adults smoke, said anti-tobacco lobbyists, who predicted more than 20,000 current smokers will quit to avoid the higher tax.

Critics say it will push some Iowans to buy their cigarettes across the border into Missouri, where the tax is only 17 cents a pack, or into Nebraska, where it's 64 cents.