A Call to Arms - Ways and Means Commitee

[fpkjr]

* The House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee is in the process of drafting legislation today and tomorrow that would increase cigar taxes by 115% from the current 20.7% to 44.6% and raise the cap 1,952% from $.04875 to $1.00 per cigar. While this is some improvement over the Senate version (thanks to all the calls and emails you sent the first time), this additional tax is still way too much - it would increase your retail prices by as much as 70%

Here are the members of that committee.
Members of the 110th Congress
Charles B. Rangel (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://rangel.house.gov/), NY Chairman
Fortney Pete Stark (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/stark/), CA
Sander M. Levin (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/levin/), MI
Jim McDermott (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/mcdermott/), WA
John Lewis (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/johnlewis/index.shtml), GA
Richard E. Neal (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/neal/), MA
Michael R. McNulty (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/mcnulty/), NY
John S. Tanner (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/tanner/), TN
Xavier Becerra (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://becerra.house.gov/HoR/ca31/), CA
Lloyd Doggett (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/doggett/), TX
Earl Pomeroy (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.pomeroy.house.gov/), ND
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/tubbsjones/), OH
Mike Thompson (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://mikethompson.house.gov/), CA
John B. Larson (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/larson/), CT
Rahm Emanuel (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/emanuel/), IL
Earl Blumenauer (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://blumenauer.house.gov/), OR
Ron Kind (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/kind/), WI
Bill Pascrell Jr. (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://pascrell.house.gov/), NJ
Shelley Berkley (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://berkley.house.gov/), NV
Joseph Crowley (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://crowley.house.gov/), NY
Chris Van Hollen (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://vanhollen.house.gov/HoR/MD08/Home), MD
Kendrick B. Meek (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://kendrickmeek.house.gov/), FL
Allyson Y. Schwartz (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://schwartz.house.gov/), PA
Artur Davis (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/arturdavis/), AL

Jim McCrery (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://mccrery.house.gov/), LA
Wally Herger (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/herger/), CA
Dave Camp (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://camp.house.gov/), MI
Jim Ramstad (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/ramstad/), MN
Sam Johnson (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.samjohnson.house.gov/), TX
Phil English (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/english/), PA
Jerry Weller (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://weller.house.gov/), IL
Kenny C. Hulshof (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://hulshof.house.gov/), MO
Ron Lewis (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/ronlewis/), KY
Kevin Brady (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/brady/), TX
Thomas M. Reynolds (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://reynolds.house.gov/), NY
Paul Ryan (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://www.house.gov/ryan/), WI
Eric Cantor (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://cantor.house.gov/), VA
John Linder (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://linder.house.gov/), GA
Devin Nunes (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://nunes.house.gov/), CA
Pat Tiberi (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://tiberi.house.gov/), OH
Jon Porter (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/exit.asp?link=http://porter.house.gov/), NV

Here's the link http://waysandmeans.house.gov/members.asp

Take the time to call them now and let them know you oppose it. The more calls the better.
I have Sen Larson # it's 860.278.8888
Frank
* I thank JimD for the email which brought this to my attention.

[LORD PUFFER]

that would make an 8.00 cigar $13.60. Still unacceptable.:sb

[kjjm4]

that would make an 8.00 cigar $13.60. Still unacceptable.:sb
No, it wouldn't. The cap is a dollar. The most an $8 cigar could cost is $9. Basically, the price of any cigar that costs over $2.25 would jump by $1.

[LORD PUFFER]

No, it wouldn't. The cap is a dollar. The most an $8 cigar could cost is $9. Basically, the price of any cigar that costs over $2.25 would jump by $1.

Thanks for the correction. Well this is better, but still seems like pubs trying to appease the dems through slow, but steady compromise in taxation.

[kjjm4]

About half of the Republicans on the Senate finance comittee voted for the Senate version with the $10 cap and 53% tax rate. There are anti-smoking Nazis on both sides of the aisle, and I guess some of the republicans are willing to sign on to a tax increase to stick it to vile and evil tobacco users. A lot of politicians are unwilling to stand up against anything that's "for the children" too.

[GeneralDisorder]

No, it wouldn't. The cap is a dollar. The most an $8 cigar could cost is $9. Basically, the price of any cigar that costs over $2.25 would jump by $1.

Except that the state tax would compound the federal wholesale tax, so you would pay more than $1 extra. Not a lot, but measurable.

GD

[Seanohue]

About half of the Republicans on the Senate finance comittee voted for the Senate version with the $10 cap and 53% tax rate. There are anti-smoking Nazis on both sides of the aisle, and I guess some of the republicans are willing to sign on to a tax increase to stick it to vile and evil tobacco users. A lot of politicians are unwilling to stand up against anything that's "for the children" too.

:tpd: it's time for me to put away my right-wing bigotry and criticize my own side of the aisle and well the left side.

[BlueHavanaII]

No, it wouldn't. The cap is a dollar. The most an $8 cigar could cost is $9. Basically, the price of any cigar that costs over $2.25 would jump by $1.

Hate to point this out, but I believe the tax will be included in the wholesale price at the manufacturer level. With a distributors margin and a retailers margin, I would expect an MSRP $8 cigar to be about $12 MSRP... then the state tobacco tax would kick in as well

Jim

[drawfour]

Hate to point this out, but I believe the tax will be included in the wholesale price at the manufacturer level. With a distributors margin and a retailers margin, I would expect an MSRP $8 cigar to be about $12 MSRP... then the state tobacco tax would kick in as well

Jim

Wholesale price is WAY different than MSRP. MSRP stands for "Manufacturer's SUGGESTED Retail Price". In other words, it's the price that the manufacturer suggests the retailers sell at. Wholesale is always much less, because after the manufacturer wholesale's it from its production lines, the distributors and retailers get their take on the way to the consumers.

So an MSRP of $8 would not yield $4 of taxes. But still a lot (maybe $2 or so).

[brigey]

No, it wouldn't. The cap is a dollar. The most an $8 cigar could cost is $9. Basically, the price of any cigar that costs over $2.25 would jump by $1.


And that my fellow Mountaineer is still unacceptable! :tg

[kjjm4]

And that my fellow Mountaineer is still unacceptable! :tg

I totally agree. I am 100% opposed to the whole thing regardless of where the funding comes from because I absolutely dread the thought of socialized medicine.