As I read today’s Associated Press article on the devastating effects of the State Children’s Health insurance bill, I had to give my two cents because everyone in the cigar industry is financially affected by it, including yours truly. For over two centuries the cigar industry has been a cornerstone of American business, but now the self-righteous who think they know what’s best for ALL of us are hoping to eradicate the passion that millions of us share.

Jeff Borysiewicz, vice president of the Cigar Rights of America, is on the money when he says that cigar makers shouldn’t pick up the tab for children’s health care.

“Kids aren’t addicted to handmade cigars,” said Borysiewicz, who is also the president of Corona Cigar, an Orlando, Fla.-based manufacturer and distributor. “We’re an affordable hobby. We’re not part of the problem with children.”

Then there are pompous self-proclaimed demi-gods like American Cancer Society spokesman, Paul Hull, who says tobacco takes such a toll on health care, it’s only fair that all companies contribute.

Hey Paul, stop playing God for a minute and answer this… Are you going to raise the tax on candy, soft drinks, ice cream, chips, steak and burgers, too? Between heart problems and diabetes, those industries play a titanic role on health issues in this country, as compared to the cigar industry.

Hull continued with the following agenda-ridden rhetoric, “For the most part, connoisseurs of cigars tend to be in a higher socio-economic class anyway,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine this will have an effect on them.”

Wow… after reading a bone-headed and asinine statement like that, it’s blatantly obvious that the political stooges behind this ill-conceived bill (no pun intended) have no idea WTF they are talking about, whatsoever.

Hey Hull, you holier than though ashole, I’ve got two major points for you…

One is, to suggest that only the wealthy upper class smokes cigars is so goddamned ignorant on your part that I have trouble believing that you actually function in our society.

And secondly, when you talk about the tax increase having no affect on the smokers – what about the tens of thousands of tobacco workers who are employed in the United States, the thousands of shop owners, and the Latin American countries whose fragile island economies rely heavily on cigar sales in the US? The question to you, Mr. Hull, is… What the hell have YOU been smoking?

Both Newman brothers from Tampa’s JC Newman Cigar Company are quoted in the AP article and I have a phone call into them. When I hear something back I’ll post their response into this article.

In the meantime, this is a sad day, as well as another reminder that the intrusive hands of government can rape and destroy the rights of its tax burdened citizens. I can only imagine that General George and his white wigged brothers are rolling in their graves.

Read the AP Article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090401/ap_on_re_us/cigar_tax

- ZMAN