Roll-your-own cigarette operations to be snuffed out

Originally Posted by Canna Sylvan

Moonshine is illegal no matter what.

no it aint.

theres a pilot program started by bush.

it allows you to fill out a form, take a safety test and buy for 50 bucks a license to operate a fuel alcohol still to make ethyl alcohol as a motor fuel (no drinking now...)

they get to do random surprise inspections (not good for ganja gardeners) and you have to re-up your license every year.

further, makin your own whiskey for personal consumption is not technically illegal in the federal courts. only selling it, transporting it or giving it away. wierd huh? of course the still is considered a bomb, (ha ha ha ha ) the booze is considered illegal bootleg liquor with the assumption you will sell it, even if it's personal use, and you will definately be unable to prove your still is safe and for personal use in the courts. kinda like having 1/2 oz of pot in california. if you get busted by batf, and you got even one plant, even with a state cannabis card you just won a 5 year all expense paid trip to scenic lompoc.

Originally Posted by Rob Roy

You might find reading some Lysander Spooner interesting. Try his words on the constitution for starters.

Can others give your consent for you? How does this work?

under our constitution consent is assumed. if you do not like a law, you have the right to advocate for it's repeal, or a constitutional amendment, or start your own political movement. if you get enough people who agree with you the law can be changed and the constitution modified. thats the deal in our (brace yourself for another phrase co-opted by the left) Social Contract. you can move to a different country or if the shit is too far out of bounds, dissolve the government, even by force.

it doesnt work properly any more. senators are now populist demagogues who serve hidden interests with deep pockets instead of appointees by the states, the states are now subservient to the federal government, and the federal government ignores the constitution as a matter of course. if we can fix the system by eliminating the poisonous influence of the deep pockets, push corporate power back into the form originally intended (single purpose entities with almost no rights outside their single stated purpose) and put the senate back into the hands of the state legislatures then we could once again have a constitutional government instead of a nation-state that looks more like a plutocracy than a representative republic.

also, i have very little interest in reading the ramblings of a marxist ideologue. i already read the ramblings of most of the other marxist thinkers of his era, and i dont need any more, regardless of how prettily he wraps up his useless political theories.

i'd rather read ayn rands collected works again. she makes more sense than the marxists.

Originally Posted by Dr Kynes

TLDR; taxing something for the money to fund the govt. is ok, taxing something heavily because you think it's bad is not ok.

how is that not what the government is doing with tobacco? nvm i think i picked up what you were saying thru later posts.

This isn't a tax forcing people to quit smoking, its a tax forcing people to buy brand name cigarettes.

How some people see this as some kind of government funding operation is beyond me. There will be no increase in government revenue, only a increase in Big Tobacco sales.

I'm confused.

In my state we vote on our us senator and us congressman. Then the state sends that person to Washington.

So how are they not appointed by the state then? Because the people in each state appoints them?

Originally Posted by Antidisestablishmentarian

I'm confused.

In my state we vote on our us senator and us congressman. Then the state sends that person to Washington.

So how are they not appointed by the state then? Because the people in each state appoints them?

in the constitution the congress is to be elected directly by the people, and senators would be CHOSEN by the state legislature (kinda like judges) based on the state's desire to see the interest of the STATE carried out in the upper house of the congress. if a senator fucked up, or acted a fool, the state legislature and governor could yank his ass out of the big chair with a wave of their magic wand. in theory senators would always operate with the interests of the state formeost in their minds but it wasnt perfect. it was however better than today, where populist loudmouths like harry reid and diane feinstein blow in the breeze of public opinion and take their marching orders from pollsters.

the house of reps (representatives of the peoples) drafts laws and sends them to the senate (the representatives of the individual states) for review. if found acceptable and constitutional, it was then sent on the the pres for signature and it became a law.

senators are now chosen by popular election so the states no longer have a voice in the congress, they are slaves to the whims of the congress and hoi poloi.

even the decision on whether a law is fundamentally constitutional was stripped from the senate, that power was stolen by the supreme court. instead of being a deliberative body which considers the rights of the states and the peoiple over political desires and expediency we have Congress Two, Electric Boogaloo. a useless dickless nutless pile of dimwitted subservient eunuchs who simply oversee the operations of the other imperial eunuchs who keep the forbidden city running, and watch over Black Jesus' concubines.

Originally Posted by NoDrama

This isn't a tax forcing people to quit smoking, its a tax forcing people to buy brand name cigarettes.

How some people see this as some kind of government funding operation is beyond me. There will be no increase in government revenue, only a increase in Big Tobacco sales.

It is the goverment trying to close a loophole and stop tax losses
When their favorite money generators (us smokers) find a way to save money on smokes
I was rolling my own (at home) until they boosted the tax on a pound of tobacco to 16 bucks a pound
Now what shops do is
They sell pipe tobacco to roll
The tax is less
Tastes like shit

Originally Posted by ChesusRice

It is the goverment trying to close a loophole and stop tax losses
When their favorite money generators (us smokers) find a way to save money on smokes
I was rolling my own (at home) until they boosted the tax on a pound of tobacco to 16 bucks a pound
Now what shops do is
They sell pipe tobacco to roll
The tax is less
Tastes like shit

so guess what you are gonna be forced to do to support your nicotine habit? Buy the name brand shit and pay the tax. LOL and you haven't even figured out why a big tobacco company was behind the whole thing have you?

Retarded people don't know they don't know anything. Know what I mean? Of course you don't.