Election Day by Frank Seltzer
I am optimistic. I think we may be turning a corner. On Saturday night, sitting outside the Hawaii Prince Hotel in Waikiki, I was with 5 other cigar smokers. We were discussing the ways of the world and relaxing with some of the My Father cigars. You have to understand Hawaii is pretty much smoke-free everywhere and has high tobacco taxes. (Once the smoking ban passed in the state in 2006, Japanese tourism dropped. The governor at the time thought it was a good idea to send 40,000 ashtrays to Japanese tour operators to let them know you could smoke in Hawaii….yeah in the middle of the street. Tourism from Japan remains down. Geniuses.)
The Prince Hotel, which is Japanese owned and caters to Japanese travelers, is more tolerant to smoking. (There also are three bars in Honolulu which allow smoking because no one wants to enforce the ban..the cops are too busy, the Liquor Control guys have way too much work and the Health Department does not want to get involved. The Prince, however, has a great selection of Scotches and the weather was great so that was our choice) The hotel set up a big table for us right outside the bar and then took great care of us with drinks and pupus. A local cigar rep has even hosted cigar parties at the property. In our discussions, the guys said they are seeing a resurgence in cigar smoking in Hawaii. We are seeing it in Texas too and I believe today could be a key.
Why today? Because there are two votes going on. If you live in Springfield, MO or in California, get yer butt to the polls and vote. And if you do not live there but have friends who do, call them and urge them to go vote. California is trying to raise cigar taxes again it is Prop 29 and I’ll get into that in a minute, but first I want to write about Springfield because it gives us all hope.
SPRINGFIELD
This special election is about individual rights and repealing a smoking ban that went into effect in April 2011. (If approved there still would be a moderate smoking ban in Springfield, just not the current one that is so draconian that it banned smoking in cigar stores, on stage for plays and even electronic cigarettes.) The ban was the result of an election—where the American Cancer Society spent about $9 for every yes vote it got for it.
The thing about Springfield is that the current election is due to people saying enough is enough and doing something about it. A grass roots group – Live Free Springfield–emerged to fight the initial election. Being way outspent by the anti-tobacco groups, it lost but the members did not give up. (By the way, there is a cigar store in the group, but most members have no affiliation with the store and many are non smokers, they just believe in property rights.) They kept at it, collecting signatures for petitions to force the ban back onto the ballot. A few weeks ago, the city council in Springfield lifted the ban for e-cigarettes and for the cigar store in hopes of deflating today’s special election. We will know tomorrow what the result is.
KALIFORNIA
In California, Prop 29 sounds good….hey it will fund research to cure cancer…how can you be against that? Well the reality is the bill creates a new bureaucracy which will be funded by a 73% increase in cigar taxes and a buck a pack additional on cigarettes. The proponents say it will produce $735 million in new revenues. The reality is when you raise taxes you get LESS money. The organizers even say the new tax will cut down on smoking which means less sales and fewer tax dollars.
Nevertheless, the new cash will not go to help California’s sink hole of a budget , but instead will finance smoking research (which may or may not be in the state) and set up yet another agency to administer the funds.
This sucker is SOOOO bad, even the LA Times and a bunch of other newspapers have come out against it.
“Proposition 29 is well intentioned, but it just doesn’t make sense for the state to get into the medical research business to the tune of half a billion dollars a year when it has so many other important unmet needs. California can’t afford to retain its K-12 teachers, keep all its parks open, give public college students the courses they need to earn a degree or provide adequate home health aides for the infirm or medical care for the poor. If the state is going to raise a new $735 million, it should put the money in the general fund rather than dedicating it to an already well-funded research effort. Funding priorities shouldn’t be set at the ballot box.”
Of course the proposal’s author says the way the California legislature spends money most voters don’t trust them either.
We will know more tomorrow. Stay tuned.
