NASCAR Smoke, a new Tax and Felicidades by Frank Seltzer
Last week, it was Coach Dikta, now NASCAR. Ted’s Cigars, a Louisville, KY company known primarily for its Makers Mark cigars, has licensed Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s name and likeness for a cigar. Now NASCAR does not allow tobacco advertising but there is no rule about endorsements. So Earnhardt’s picture, signature and his car number 88 will be on the packaging. The cigar is a 6”x50 toro packaged in individually in tubes with a price of $12 each or $100 for a box of 10.
Christmas Looms
OK if you are still looking for Christmas gifts, you are running late. Stuff needs to be shipped in order to get it in time. Let’s look at some of the gifts available.
Davidoff for the first time has put together holiday gift packs. Actually they seem to be decorative sleeves over assortment packs including the 10-count Puro d’Oro. While some cigar makers are doing this recently, we do that EVERY year for many years. You’ve probably seen the 12 Days of Christmas specials…but here may be a few ya may have missed.
We’ve got specials on Montecristos and for only 25 bucks more you get a travel humidor and a Montecristo cutter. Not a bad deal at all. If Ashton or La Aroma de Cuba are your thing…how ’bout special samplers?
But something really cool, at least to me, was something I wrote about last summer. Zippo has now made 500-million lighters. The company began in 1933 as George Blaisdell came up with the first windproof lighter. Back on June 5th, the company put out its actual 500-millionth lighter. That one is in the Zippo museum, but you CAN get a replica of that special lighter. One is a very limited edition Zippo that comes in Silver with gold tone engraving. It is pretty.
But if that is too much, you can still mark the occasion and get other semi-limited repllica for about half the price. Either way, ya gotta admit 500,000,000 is a lot of lighters.
A Taxing Matter
Well they tried in Congress and failed this past week—which is a good thing. But they will be trying again. What you ask? To tax the Internet. Yup, the National Retail Federation is pushing a bill mistakenly called the Marketplace Fairness Act which would force online retailers to charge local sales taxes on all purchases. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin tried to attach this crappy legislation to the Defense Appropriation bill this week, but got shot down. He will keep trying to put it onto anything that moves. The bill aims to overturn a 1992 Supreme Court decision that said retailers must have a physical presence in a state in order to be forced to collect sales tax.
In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal Washington Governor Christine Gregoire argued how her state could grab an $240 million dollars next year from taxing the internet. (It is estimated nationally states and cities would collect an extra $23-BILLION in taxes from us.)
Of course, what they all fail to point out is that collecting the tax becomes a logistical nightmare for the online retailers. I do think it would make things fairly difficult in terms of a database. For example, in Texas alone, there are well over 2500 different taxing authorities with different sales tax rates. Imagine the man-hours needed to figure this out for the 46 states that have sales tax. It is nothing more than a tax grab. Call your Congressman or Senator and tell them to keep the Internet tax free.
Felicidades
Mr & Mrs Nestor Andres Plasencia
On Saturday December first, Nestor Andres Plasencia married his long time girlfriend Belgica Nataly Suarez Gonzalez, the 2009 Miss Honduras in the Miss Universe Pageant. The small wedding was held in Managua, Nicaragua We are told it was a delighful affiar with great music and dancing…until 4 in the morning. Nestor Andres is the son of legendary cigarmaker and tobacco grower Nestor Plasencia. The younger Plasencia. is the driving force behind the family’s organic certification for a line of its cigars. The two will live in Esteli. We wish them the best.
