Comments on: Because It’s Worked So Well

By: Guav

Guav — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:07:47 +0000

I gotta say—as someone who completely supports the NYC ban on smoking in bars, clubs and restaurants—that I would never support an outright ban on tobacco or smoking.

By: Steven

Steven — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:26:22 +0000

I think he was trying to make a point about taking billions of tax dollars from tobacco on the one hand while continuously prosthletizing about how horrible it is on the other hand. “If it’s so bad, why don’t you just ban it.”

Could have used a press release to that effect, though.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:53:57 +0000

Dr. Coburn’s seat is safe. He may be dead wrong on this issue, but he’s right on a lot more.

By: JamesLee

JamesLee — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:17:04 +0000

“If that is true what I think it shows is the GOP still has no idea how the media works and how badly stupid stunts like this will hurt them.”

It probably would.

What I would really like to see is something a MO State Rep proposed about a year or so ago, but didn’t get anywhere. Was called the ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’ bill, basically, it would allow any city, county, whatever, to pass all the smoking bans they wanted, BUT, if they did, then were not allowed to collect taxes on tobacco.

What I’ve always thought was bad was that even before Obam’ter rammed through that last tax the government was already making more off a pack of smokes than the company that sold it was.

By: guy

guy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:10:41 +0000

I’ve seen this spun as part of a political play and Coburn has no intentions of banning tobacco. That might be true.

If that is true what I think it shows is the GOP still has no idea how the media works and how badly stupid stunts like this will hurt them.

By: JamesLee

JamesLee — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:07:18 +0000

I didn’t dig too deeply into this, but I wondered if Coburn didn’t do this as a “put up or shut up” sort of ultimatum?

By: BadIdeaGuy

BadIdeaGuy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:22:43 +0000

I concur. The only place I see tobacco growing regularly is in Amish country when I drive up to see family in Lancaster county- I keep picturing ATF “teams” storming Amish country and taking down horse and buggies and setting fire to the barns the evil plant is being dried in… First they came for the transfats…

By: SayUncle

SayUncle — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:15:15 +0000

You can have my Rocky Patel Vintage 1990s when you pry them from cold dead hands. At that point, they’ll likely be on the ground next to my AR-15.

By: jones

jones — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:51:08 +0000

I would like to see the tax revenue from tobacco cut off. Starve the beast, but banning it is still a silly idea.

I hope WI dems lose after they banned public smoking in Wisconsin. Silly nanny-statism. Coburn may have been trying to make a point, but he should know better.