FDA | Red Blooded American Boy

Not-A-Tampa: More Job Losses Under the Obama Administration

June 24th, 2009 |

On the same day that the ME-ssiah announced the government takeover of tobacco by the FDA, the Hav-A-Tampa plant in Tampa, Florida announced it will shut its doors. I hope most of the Hav-A-Tampa smokers out there are Obama voters so they can live the change they voted for.

…the company attributed much of its trouble to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, a federal program that provides health insurance to low-income children. It is funded, in part, by a new federal tax on cigars and cigarettes.

This is a classic example of how “sin taxes” are such a failure and how government intervention kills jobs.

The cascade works like this:
-Taxes are raised on a “sinful” staple.
-The consumption of the staple is reduced due to increased cost.
-Those who continue to consume the staple will incur the cost increase and have less resources for beloved healthcare costs.
-The manufacturers, distributors and others in the pay chain have reduced sales of the product due to lower demand.
-The manufacturers, distributors and others in the pay chain cut jobs. Other jobs move overseas.
-The jobless lose healthcare benefits.
-The government incurs a loss of tax revenue due to reduced consumption.
-The government finds another “sinful” staple to tax.
-The cycle continues

I will smoke one in honor of those who lost their jobs. On second thought, maybe I should save a few as collector items in case the whole Social Security thing does not work out for me.