our brilliant governor wants to impose a "sin" tax

it strikes me as odd, the idea that employers can get away with paying a shitty wage and offering no benefits w/o any pressures from the state, but if someone chooses to smoke, the state wants to penalize them. here in oregon, our governor has a brilliant plan for paying for health care for our children. he wants to impose a new tax on cigarettes.

stupid, stupid, stupid. why doesn't anyone talk about the money already being there? we don't need any new taxes. return the income tax levels of corporations to what they were 20 years ago. if we had a true progressive democratic party, we would be seeing policies that redistribute the wealth. instead, the "blue" party has become one of black and red. black for the wealthy. red for the rest of us.

we all know cigarettes are dangerous. ok, let me restate that. tobacco in and of itself is not that harmful (although of course i am not going to recommend people take up the habit of smoking it). it is the 400+ chemicals that are added that add the greatest threat to our health.

we all have our vices. why is it the democratic party is wanting to tax a vice that, according to research, is used by and large by the lowest income earners? if governor kulongoski really wants to create a new tax, let's impose a new tax on, oh say, people who own and operate leer jets. or let's impose a new tax on all vehicles that are worth more than $20,000. or let's increase the personal income tax for people who make more than $150,000 a year or increase the corporate income tax another few percentage points.

yes, this is indeed a sinful situation. it's a sinful situation because it is a sin to ask for more money from a segment of the population who are already struggling. it is time to change our consciousness, our values. it is time to value people--not just in words, but in action. any other progressives out there up to that task?