Springfield, Missouri Smoking Ban May be a Tax Increase in Disguise

Tomorrow Springfield, Missouri, voters will head to the polls to decide whether or not the rights of private property owners in Springfield will be infringed upon. Voters will decide whether or not to ban smoking in public places, which means a group of anti-smoking Nazis will dictate what private business can and cannot do. Rather than choose not to visit these establishments and let the free market decide, these voters are hoping to convince enough voters to strip business owners of their rights when it comes to a perfectly legal product.

While I am not a smoker, I don't have a problem with restaurants having a smoking and non-smoking section as long as I don't have to smell the smoke. It works. It's kind of like don't ask don't tell. It works. Leave it alone. Oh, but the self-righteous of Springfield won't leave it alone, and that's why they are pushing the ban.

I want to bring up a scenario that is going to take place shortly after the ban, if it is voted in tomorrow. If laws restrict people from smoking in bars, the Amvets Post (imagine telling veterans their right to smoke in their Amvets or VFW lodge has been stripped from them), and restaurants, then less cigarettes are going to be sold. If less cigarettes are sold, revenue received from the taxes of cigarettes are going to decline. As you know many budgets are based on predicted revenues. What does this mean? Well it's very likely if this law passes tomorrow, smokers will see another increase in taxes for their smokes. It's going to get to a point where the taxes on cigarettes are higher than the actual cost of the cigarettes. Think about that for a minute, because it's a real possibility when you put additional regulations on a product that is used to create revenue for government.