by Joe Sinagra
The former U.S. Secretary of State, senator and first lady said her background gives her a "unique vantage point" to bring to the White House as if the world is waiting for her revelation, if she makes her decision around the beginning of 2015 . . .
At 27 she was fired from the committee staff after Watergate for being a liar, unethical, dishonest, conspiring to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality. She was part of several who engaged in a seemingly unbelievable scheme to deny Richard Nixon his right to counsel during the investigation. Because of her actions she was booted to the curb without a letter of recommendation.
In the nine months before William Clinton became governor, Hillary said she made $100,000 on a $1000 investment in highly speculative cattle futures just from reading the Wall Street Journal. Eventually, in an April 1994 press conference she admitted that a longtime Clinton friend executed 30 of her 32 trades. Hillary denied knowing of “any favorable treatment” by longtime Clinton broker friend James Blair.
In that same press conference Hillary was asked why her chief of staff, Maggie Williams, removed documents from the office of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster after his suicide. Hillary said, “I don’t know that she did remove any documents.” Three months later it was reported that Hillary had instructed Williams to remove the Foster documents to the White House residence.
In 1995 Hillary was one of 11 Rose Firm lawyers who did work for the Resolution Trust Corp. an Arkansas real estate development known as Castle Grande, sponsored by James McDougal and Seth Ward.
Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan was a troubled thrift lead by McDougal, and threw legal business towards Hillary’s way as a favor to Bill. McDougal along with his wife Susan, were the Clintons’ partners in their Whitewater real estate investment.
A 1996 Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. report said that she had drafted documents that Castle Grande used to “deceive federal bank examiners.” And Hubbell and McDougal went to prison for fraud. It turned out that more than 30 of her 60 hours of legal work for Madison Guaranty involved Castle Grande. Hillary lied to federal investigators about her knowledge about Castle Grande, stating she had known the project under a different name.
President Clinton invited Monica Lewinsky to the Oval Office for 10 oral-sex sessions. Hillary suggested on the “Today” show that her husband’s Lewinsky affair was a lie concocted by “this vast right-wing conspiracy.”
About her account of her flight into Bosnia she said “I remember landing under sniper fire, there was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.” Reporters who accompanied her stated that there wasn’t any sniper fire. Her account was ridiculed by ABC News as “like a scene from Saving Private Ryan”.
As to the events of 9/11 Hillary stated that Chelsea had gone on “what she thought was going to be a great jog. She was going to go down to Battery Park; she was going to go around the towers. She went to get a cup of coffee and, and, that’s when the plane hit.”
But contradictory to Hillary's account Chelsea Clinton told a magazine that she was in an apartment 12 blocks away when the first plane hit.
During a stop in Nepal 1995, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters she had been named after the famed mountain climber Sir Edmund Hillary. How her name was inspired by the man who conquered Everest was beyond anyone’s guess and a bit of a tall tale as Sir Edmund Hillary didn’t become world-famous until six years after Hillary Rodham was born.
Hillary Clinton lied about her role in the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Her campaign web site lays claim that her record included “helping to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act.”
However, the bill was pushed in Congress for years and passed twice, only to be vetoed by former President George H.W. Bush. Congress passed it a third time when Bill Clinton took office, signing it into law on Feb. 5, 1993, almost two weeks after he became president.
Hillary Clinton’s own released White House schedules make no mention of any meetings on the bill.
Let’s not forget Hillary’s version of the uninsured woman in Ohio who died after childbirth . . . The woman died two weeks after her baby boy was stillborn. Hospital administrators said the woman was under the care of an obstetrics practice affiliated with the hospital, that she was never refused treatment and that she was insured.
Whatever your position is on any of the other prospective candidates, anyone of the others would be better than having two Clintons in the White House.
Hillary spoke hypothetically about her possible presidential bid; I suppose she needs time to think about coming up with the potential possibility of four years of lies.
When NJ Governor Chris Christie was asked about Hillary’s comment about having a 'unique vantage point' his comment was a simple “Good for her.” If she wins it will be “Bad for us.”
If you’re unhappy with the current administration’s definition of a transparent administration, how transparent would a compulsive pathological liar be as commander in chief?
The communities in the 18th Legislative District are East Brunswick, Edison, Helmetta, Highland Park, Metuchen, South Plainfield, and South River. As a candidate for New Jersey Assembly I would like to receive your views and comments in helping work towards a better New Jersey.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Pinocchio vs. Hillary Lies . . . Pinocchio Wins by a Nose
During the Watergate investigation Hillary Clinton lied in a legal brief and later removed evidence from public access that would document her conduct for conspiring to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality in a scheme to deny Richard Nixon the right to counsel during the investigation.
She has lied about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia, she misrepresented her record opposing the Iraq War, she misrepresented her role in the Irish Peace Accord, and she misrepresented the extent to which her daughter was in danger on 9/11 stating that Chelseawas jogging around the Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (She was home in bed watching it on TV), she claimed she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary (Edmund Hillary didn’t reach the top of Mount Everest until six years after Hillary Rodham was born), she lied about supporting NAFTA, she lied about her role in the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, she lied about her trip to Africa, she lied about the “uninsured” woman who died after childbirth.
As Secretary of State she lied about Benghazi . . . a congressional report now shows that security cuts before the Benghazi attack were approved by her, and that White House talking points describing the events were edited to protect the State Department.
If Obama considers his administration the most transparent one ever in history, Hillary would have to claim her administration to be the most opaque ever.
To the Hillary followers . . . what difference does it make, what is one more lie?
Pinocchio’s nose couldn’t keep up with Hillary’s list of lies.
She has lied about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia, she misrepresented her record opposing the Iraq War, she misrepresented her role in the Irish Peace Accord, and she misrepresented the extent to which her daughter was in danger on 9/11 stating that Chelseawas jogging around the Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (She was home in bed watching it on TV), she claimed she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary (Edmund Hillary didn’t reach the top of Mount Everest until six years after Hillary Rodham was born), she lied about supporting NAFTA, she lied about her role in the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, she lied about her trip to Africa, she lied about the “uninsured” woman who died after childbirth.
As Secretary of State she lied about Benghazi . . . a congressional report now shows that security cuts before the Benghazi attack were approved by her, and that White House talking points describing the events were edited to protect the State Department.
If Obama considers his administration the most transparent one ever in history, Hillary would have to claim her administration to be the most opaque ever.
To the Hillary followers . . . what difference does it make, what is one more lie?
Pinocchio’s nose couldn’t keep up with Hillary’s list of lies.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Please Help With Your Donations
All of us have drawers full of objects, gifts that we have never used (and probably never will), furniture we don’t really need or use but keep “just in case” and items that we’ve had for years may be difficult to part with due to nothing more than familiarity while serving no functional purpose.
Do you have a good pair of walking/running shoes that you no longer wear? When was the last time you used your stereo or walkman? Perhaps an old cell phone with a Bluetooth stuck in the back of a dresser drawer?
If you have furniture or household items that no longer fit your lifestyle, but are still useable, there are those who could use your furniture donation. A sofa donation could mean the difference of sleeping on the floor; a kitchen table with chairs means a family can eat together; an old blender would come in handy for someone to better prepare meals.
Bedding, bath towels, small appliances . . . in hard times it is important to make sure your donations will actually go towards helping those in need. Your donation helps provide vital services to those who need it most.
Even an old stained dress, or camouflage gear for dodging sniper fire would be welcome.
Please help former President William Jefferson Clinton and past Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Clinton’s are dead broke and need you.
For more information contact Hillary by sending her a letter at, 15 Old House Lane, Chappaqua, New York, 10514, to see how you can help.
Do you have a good pair of walking/running shoes that you no longer wear? When was the last time you used your stereo or walkman? Perhaps an old cell phone with a Bluetooth stuck in the back of a dresser drawer?
If you have furniture or household items that no longer fit your lifestyle, but are still useable, there are those who could use your furniture donation. A sofa donation could mean the difference of sleeping on the floor; a kitchen table with chairs means a family can eat together; an old blender would come in handy for someone to better prepare meals.
Bedding, bath towels, small appliances . . . in hard times it is important to make sure your donations will actually go towards helping those in need. Your donation helps provide vital services to those who need it most.
Even an old stained dress, or camouflage gear for dodging sniper fire would be welcome.
Please help former President William Jefferson Clinton and past Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Clinton’s are dead broke and need you.
For more information contact Hillary by sending her a letter at, 15 Old House Lane, Chappaqua, New York, 10514, to see how you can help.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
The Sound of Silence
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
~ Simon and Garfunkel
Is it not okay to die in one war because it was George Bush’s but okay to die in another because it’sObama ’s war?
Why is this not an electoral issue? Have Obamacare, illegal immigration, and gay rights turned everyone’s attention away from the fact there is still a war going on?
When the last U.S. combat troops departed Iraq in December 2011, they left behind a defeated al-Qaeda and an Iraq; two years later, al-Qaeda had seized major cities where hundreds of U.S. troops died. Even as we drawdown in Afghanistan, as was proven with Iraq, any gains made by the United States will be quickly lost under the wrong leadership.
What you don’t hear the media screaming about: during seven years under President George W. Bush, 630 Americans were killed in Afghanistan. Under Obama, over 2,000 troops have been killed, and the 127 killed this year (even as the war was supposedly winding down) are more than any other year but one under President Bush.
At the height of the war in Iraq, the greatest loss of American lives was in 2004, when we suffered 904 American casualties in addition to 575 American troop deaths in Afghanistan under Bush. Under Obama, who supported an ‘Afghan-led reconciliation’, over 2,000 US troops have died, including over 50 Special Operations Forces members.
Regardless of what one’s opinion on the Iraq war may be, does anyone wonder where the hypocrites are now, when Obama has put more boots in more nations than Bush ever did? What happened to all of the anti-war protesters? Was there really an anti-war movement, or was it simply an anti-Bush movement?
Over 100 soldiers have died in the last 122 days alone. Perhaps mainstream media thinks dead soldiers under a Democrat are less dead than under a Republican? Remember when CNN ran daily body counts? Where are the numbers now?
Then-Senator Obama trashed then-President Bush for committing the U.S. to war abroad; President Obama committed the U.S. to 12 more years in Afghanistan and billions of dollars in aid. The sound of crickets in the liberal newsrooms across America is deafening.
December 2013 polls reveal that 63% of the population oppose the war, 56% think it is going badly (with 21% believing it is going very badly), and 60% believing it was not worth fighting; opposition to the war in 2014 is now on a par with Iraq in 2006.
During the Vietnam War, John Kerry testified before the Senate foreign relations committee and infamously asked “[h]ow do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”
Fast forward forty-three years later and the answers appear to be that you simply stop paying attention to their deaths.
It appears as though American soldiers are not so much dying for their country, but because of it.
Admiration for our military may be deep, but interest in what they are doing is superficial, short-lived and fleeting.
As recently as February 19th, 36-year-old Marine Master Sgt. Aaron C. Torian of Paducah, KY., gave his life during combat operations in Afghanistan.
War has no claim on race, creed, or color. Death, however noble, provides little comfort to the thousands of families who have lost their loved ones in a directionless, goal-less conflict across the globe.
There are 99 New Jersey families who would love to have their boys back home. I’d love to have a media with the guys to ask the right questions of our leaders for them.
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
~ Simon and Garfunkel
Is it not okay to die in one war because it was George Bush’s but okay to die in another because it’s
Why is this not an electoral issue? Have Obamacare, illegal immigration, and gay rights turned everyone’s attention away from the fact there is still a war going on?
When the last U.S. combat troops departed Iraq in December 2011, they left behind a defeated al-Qaeda and an Iraq; two years later, al-Qaeda had seized major cities where hundreds of U.S. troops died. Even as we drawdown in Afghanistan, as was proven with Iraq, any gains made by the United States will be quickly lost under the wrong leadership.
What you don’t hear the media screaming about: during seven years under President George W. Bush, 630 Americans were killed in Afghanistan. Under Obama, over 2,000 troops have been killed, and the 127 killed this year (even as the war was supposedly winding down) are more than any other year but one under President Bush.
At the height of the war in Iraq, the greatest loss of American lives was in 2004, when we suffered 904 American casualties in addition to 575 American troop deaths in Afghanistan under Bush. Under Obama, who supported an ‘Afghan-led reconciliation’, over 2,000 US troops have died, including over 50 Special Operations Forces members.
Regardless of what one’s opinion on the Iraq war may be, does anyone wonder where the hypocrites are now, when Obama has put more boots in more nations than Bush ever did? What happened to all of the anti-war protesters? Was there really an anti-war movement, or was it simply an anti-Bush movement?
Over 100 soldiers have died in the last 122 days alone. Perhaps mainstream media thinks dead soldiers under a Democrat are less dead than under a Republican? Remember when CNN ran daily body counts? Where are the numbers now?
Then-Senator Obama trashed then-President Bush for committing the U.S. to war abroad; President Obama committed the U.S. to 12 more years in Afghanistan and billions of dollars in aid. The sound of crickets in the liberal newsrooms across America is deafening.
December 2013 polls reveal that 63% of the population oppose the war, 56% think it is going badly (with 21% believing it is going very badly), and 60% believing it was not worth fighting; opposition to the war in 2014 is now on a par with Iraq in 2006.
During the Vietnam War, John Kerry testified before the Senate foreign relations committee and infamously asked “[h]ow do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”
Fast forward forty-three years later and the answers appear to be that you simply stop paying attention to their deaths.
It appears as though American soldiers are not so much dying for their country, but because of it.
Admiration for our military may be deep, but interest in what they are doing is superficial, short-lived and fleeting.
As recently as February 19th, 36-year-old Marine Master Sgt. Aaron C. Torian of Paducah, KY., gave his life during combat operations in Afghanistan.
War has no claim on race, creed, or color. Death, however noble, provides little comfort to the thousands of families who have lost their loved ones in a directionless, goal-less conflict across the globe.
There are 99 New Jersey families who would love to have their boys back home. I’d love to have a media with the guys to ask the right questions of our leaders for them.
The History Behind Trenton’s Pension Death Spiral
Democrat Governor Jim Florio was the first to use the pension fund as a fall-back piggy bank in a time of crisis.
In 1992, facing a budget shortfall, Florio pushed through the Pension Revaluation Act with unanimous support in the legislature, reducing taxpayer contributions to the public retirement plans by $1.5 billion.
This scheme was accomplished through the financial deception of introducing a more optimistic method of evaluating pension system investments. The end result was to make the retirement plans’ finances “look far rosier” than they really were, by lifting the projected rate of return on the fund’s investments to 8.75% from 7%.
In 1997, New Jersey sold $2.75 billion of bonds paying 7.6% interest, putting the proceeds into the pension fund to be invested for higher returns. Unfortunately, the fund has earned less than 6% annually since the bonds were issued.
Christie Todd Whitman, running on a tax-cutting platform, defeated Florio in the 1993 governor’s race. To help pay for her promised tax cuts, Whitman, like her predecessor, turned to the pension fund. Governor Whitman invested the pensions into the stock market, and no one complained when the funds weremaking money . She left in 2000 and the funds continued to do well with annual investment returns of 8.75 percent until the dot.com bust of 2001 when the markets took a massive dive.
After Christie Todd Whitman, accumulated pension debt was compounded by those following her tenure. Governors DiFrancesco, McGreevy, and Codey continued the trend and the public was lulled into a sense of false financial security. Unknown and unannounced to the public, monies were indiscriminately withdrawn from the pension funds and used to pay for tax cuts and balancing the state budget. Out on the campaign trail, politicians touted the virtues of how through their financial genius they were able to balance their state and local budgets, all the while relying on returns from the stock market to cover the missing funds.
It was the Whitman administration that suggested towns set contributions aside for when the state called to make good on them. The small print in Whitman’s bill was ignored which stated that funds the state failed to contribute would have to be made up at a later date.
And, even as pension contributions were neglected, New Jersey politicians sweetened the pot. In 2001, government employees and teachers benefits were increased by 9%, creating an additional $4.2 billion in liabilities. In 1999, the state approved a “20 and out” measure that allowed firefighters and local police to collect pensions equal to 50% of their pay after 20 years of service . . . a perk formerly reserved only to the state police. Benefits added since 1999 have increased liabilities into the billions.
Governor James McGreevey appointed amoney manager as head of the State Investment Council, a position which would set policy for the pension plan, and some of the fund’s assets were turned over to Wall Street professionals to diversify into alternative investments such as hedge funds and private equity.
Politicians remained silent as pension funds dwindled. To bring what was happening to light at that juncture would certainly mean political suicide, it was reasoned, knowing that towns and municipalities would have to raise taxes to make up for their error in financial judgment and planning.
By the time Governor Corzine came into office, it was too late to turn back the clock as he put the brakes on, stopping the practice. To his credit, Corzine had imposed reduced benefits on state workers, raised the retirement age to 62, increased the salary requirement for pension eligibility, increased employee contributions, and capped pension income. But by then, the damage was done.
The misery of New Jersey’s pension woes can’t all be blamed on poor investment results. For years, New Jersey shortchanged the retirement programs that cover teachers, police, and other public employees, as the stock market plunge wiped out billions of dollars, the real problem has been the underfunding. Those members contributed in good faith towards their pensions and they aren’t the problem.
The problem? Politicians who continued to raid the pension system and not replenish what was taken.
Having a negative cash flow with contributions that are less than the benefits paid out leaves the state on the fast track to an out of control death spiral.
Florio, Whitman, it doesn’t matter anymore who gets the fickle finger of fate, Save Jerseyans; it is time to go forward, not backwards. What’s done is done.
Moody’s ranked New Jersey’s pension plans as having the fourth highest unfunded liabilities in the nation. A collapse could come as soon at 2018,. and current New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had no influence at all on Moody’s rating.
Christie is going to be made out to be the bad guy, and the somber mood at Tuesday’s budget address was proof enough that I’m right, but he needs to come up with a pension reform plan to correct decades of mismanagement from both parties. Democrats will make him the scapegoat or the fall guy for the failure of their party to do something when they had the chance. They kicked the proverbial can down the road and now look to place the blame on anyone but themselves.
We’re the ones who will pay for their mistakes. By 2018, state taxpayers will begin paying more than $5 billion per year for pensions, about 10 times higher than the current payments being made, more than the current total state and local spending in Vermont, Wyoming and both Dakotas, respectively.
Unless there is pension reform, regardless of who is assigned the blame or fault, the taxpayers will suffer and the pensions will dwindle until there is nothing left.
If you think New Jersey’s taxes are high now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
- See more at: http://savejersey.com/2014/02/the-history-behind-trentons-pension-death-spiral/#more-120648
In 1992, facing a budget shortfall, Florio pushed through the Pension Revaluation Act with unanimous support in the legislature, reducing taxpayer contributions to the public retirement plans by $1.5 billion.
This scheme was accomplished through the financial deception of introducing a more optimistic method of evaluating pension system investments. The end result was to make the retirement plans’ finances “look far rosier” than they really were, by lifting the projected rate of return on the fund’s investments to 8.75% from 7%.
In 1997, New Jersey sold $2.75 billion of bonds paying 7.6% interest, putting the proceeds into the pension fund to be invested for higher returns. Unfortunately, the fund has earned less than 6% annually since the bonds were issued.
Christie Todd Whitman, running on a tax-cutting platform, defeated Florio in the 1993 governor’s race. To help pay for her promised tax cuts, Whitman, like her predecessor, turned to the pension fund. Governor Whitman invested the pensions into the stock market, and no one complained when the funds were
After Christie Todd Whitman, accumulated pension debt was compounded by those following her tenure. Governors DiFrancesco, McGreevy, and Codey continued the trend and the public was lulled into a sense of false financial security. Unknown and unannounced to the public, monies were indiscriminately withdrawn from the pension funds and used to pay for tax cuts and balancing the state budget. Out on the campaign trail, politicians touted the virtues of how through their financial genius they were able to balance their state and local budgets, all the while relying on returns from the stock market to cover the missing funds.
It was the Whitman administration that suggested towns set contributions aside for when the state called to make good on them. The small print in Whitman’s bill was ignored which stated that funds the state failed to contribute would have to be made up at a later date.
And, even as pension contributions were neglected, New Jersey politicians sweetened the pot. In 2001, government employees and teachers benefits were increased by 9%, creating an additional $4.2 billion in liabilities. In 1999, the state approved a “20 and out” measure that allowed firefighters and local police to collect pensions equal to 50% of their pay after 20 years of service . . . a perk formerly reserved only to the state police. Benefits added since 1999 have increased liabilities into the billions.
Governor James McGreevey appointed a
Politicians remained silent as pension funds dwindled. To bring what was happening to light at that juncture would certainly mean political suicide, it was reasoned, knowing that towns and municipalities would have to raise taxes to make up for their error in financial judgment and planning.
By the time Governor Corzine came into office, it was too late to turn back the clock as he put the brakes on, stopping the practice. To his credit, Corzine had imposed reduced benefits on state workers, raised the retirement age to 62, increased the salary requirement for pension eligibility, increased employee contributions, and capped pension income. But by then, the damage was done.
The misery of New Jersey’s pension woes can’t all be blamed on poor investment results. For years, New Jersey shortchanged the retirement programs that cover teachers, police, and other public employees, as the stock market plunge wiped out billions of dollars, the real problem has been the underfunding. Those members contributed in good faith towards their pensions and they aren’t the problem.
The problem? Politicians who continued to raid the pension system and not replenish what was taken.
Having a negative cash flow with contributions that are less than the benefits paid out leaves the state on the fast track to an out of control death spiral.
Florio, Whitman, it doesn’t matter anymore who gets the fickle finger of fate, Save Jerseyans; it is time to go forward, not backwards. What’s done is done.
Moody’s ranked New Jersey’s pension plans as having the fourth highest unfunded liabilities in the nation. A collapse could come as soon at 2018,. and current New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had no influence at all on Moody’s rating.
Christie is going to be made out to be the bad guy, and the somber mood at Tuesday’s budget address was proof enough that I’m right, but he needs to come up with a pension reform plan to correct decades of mismanagement from both parties. Democrats will make him the scapegoat or the fall guy for the failure of their party to do something when they had the chance. They kicked the proverbial can down the road and now look to place the blame on anyone but themselves.
We’re the ones who will pay for their mistakes. By 2018, state taxpayers will begin paying more than $5 billion per year for pensions, about 10 times higher than the current payments being made, more than the current total state and local spending in Vermont, Wyoming and both Dakotas, respectively.
Unless there is pension reform, regardless of who is assigned the blame or fault, the taxpayers will suffer and the pensions will dwindle until there is nothing left.
If you think New Jersey’s taxes are high now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
- See more at: http://savejersey.com/2014/02/the-history-behind-trentons-pension-death-spiral/#more-120648
Hey, New Jersey: Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette
New Jersey Democrat Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle is sponsoring a bill that would ban smoking at all parks and beaches. The controversial measure won the approval of the State Assembly on Thursday and will now head to the State Senate where a vote has not yet been scheduled.
I’m sorry to disappoint those who feel that government should just make the sale of tobacco illegal, but it just isn’t going to happen.
Regardless of the arguments both pro and con, a federal ban on cigarettes would be a practical impossibility considering that tobacco is still a big business (and source of tax revenue).
The tobacco lobby is one of the most powerful political forces in America. According to The Tobacco Atlas, estimates of revenues from the global tobacco industry likely approach a half trillion U.S. dollars annually. In 2010 alone, the combined profits of the six leading tobacco companies was U.S. $35.1 billion, equal to the combined profits of Coca-Cola,Microsoft , and McDonald’s in the same year.
The world tobacco industry generated sales of almost $721 billion in 2010. Cigarettes represent the leading market segment with revenue exceeding $681 billion, which accounts for almost 95% of the overall market. The yearly rate of market growth is expected to accelerate to be 4.5% until 2015, bringing the market to almost $890 billion.
An estimated 42.1 million people, or 18.1% of all adults (aged 18 years or older), in the United States smoke cigarettes; any universal smoking ban would have such an overwhelmingly massive effect on U.S. politics that the party or politician responsible for the ban would soon lose all political power.
Moreover, as a practical matter, the government simply does not have adequate law enforcement personnel to change the behavior of 45 million people by force.
Since 1998, governments at all levels have collected more than $484.6 BILLION in cigarette taxes (including sales tax) and payments from smokers.
The government per-pack profit from cigarettes in 2012 was $3.78 (or 66 percent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes), almost ten-times the profit of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
If Big Tobacco were a country, it would have a gross domestic product (GDP) of countries like Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Venezuela.
It’s not clear how much Huttle’s bill will actually accomplish. It’s designed to eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke at beaches and parks, cut down on litter and improve fire safety in those public areas. However, smoking would still be allowed in parking lots near beaches and parks.
Anti-smoking advocates tout that the measure would encourage smokers to quit and set a better example for children and drastically reduce litter. Violators could face a $250 fine for a first offense, $500 for a second offense and $1,000 for subsequent violations.
Good luck! It may be illegal to smoke in public places, but there is nothing illegalabout smoking itself.
There are two sides to every coin and two sides to every story; in this instance, we’re seeing another assault on the liberty of the people and, at the same time, a way for Trenton to snag moremoney out the people’s pockets.
The battle between smokers and non-smokers goes on, a battle that’s as much cultural as anything else, and government watches on as it reaps the rewards of the battle which it instigated.
Ironic, isn’t it? They’re the ones always accusing Big Tobacco of Machiavellian tactics. Big Tobacco can’t hold a candle in this regard to Big Government.
I’m sorry to disappoint those who feel that government should just make the sale of tobacco illegal, but it just isn’t going to happen.
Regardless of the arguments both pro and con, a federal ban on cigarettes would be a practical impossibility considering that tobacco is still a big business (and source of tax revenue).
The tobacco lobby is one of the most powerful political forces in America. According to The Tobacco Atlas, estimates of revenues from the global tobacco industry likely approach a half trillion U.S. dollars annually. In 2010 alone, the combined profits of the six leading tobacco companies was U.S. $35.1 billion, equal to the combined profits of Coca-Cola,
The world tobacco industry generated sales of almost $721 billion in 2010. Cigarettes represent the leading market segment with revenue exceeding $681 billion, which accounts for almost 95% of the overall market. The yearly rate of market growth is expected to accelerate to be 4.5% until 2015, bringing the market to almost $890 billion.
An estimated 42.1 million people, or 18.1% of all adults (aged 18 years or older), in the United States smoke cigarettes; any universal smoking ban would have such an overwhelmingly massive effect on U.S. politics that the party or politician responsible for the ban would soon lose all political power.
Moreover, as a practical matter, the government simply does not have adequate law enforcement personnel to change the behavior of 45 million people by force.
Since 1998, governments at all levels have collected more than $484.6 BILLION in cigarette taxes (including sales tax) and payments from smokers.
The government per-pack profit from cigarettes in 2012 was $3.78 (or 66 percent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes), almost ten-times the profit of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
If Big Tobacco were a country, it would have a gross domestic product (GDP) of countries like Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Venezuela.
It’s not clear how much Huttle’s bill will actually accomplish. It’s designed to eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke at beaches and parks, cut down on litter and improve fire safety in those public areas. However, smoking would still be allowed in parking lots near beaches and parks.
Anti-smoking advocates tout that the measure would encourage smokers to quit and set a better example for children and drastically reduce litter. Violators could face a $250 fine for a first offense, $500 for a second offense and $1,000 for subsequent violations.
Good luck! It may be illegal to smoke in public places, but there is nothing illegal
There are two sides to every coin and two sides to every story; in this instance, we’re seeing another assault on the liberty of the people and, at the same time, a way for Trenton to snag more
The battle between smokers and non-smokers goes on, a battle that’s as much cultural as anything else, and government watches on as it reaps the rewards of the battle which it instigated.
Ironic, isn’t it? They’re the ones always accusing Big Tobacco of Machiavellian tactics. Big Tobacco can’t hold a candle in this regard to Big Government.
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