North Dakotans Calling Tobacco Quit Line
Which is great, I guess, except if these people quit smoking what happens to the tax revenue their habit brings in? How are we going to pay for all that health care for children that the Democrats (and ND Governor John Hoeven) wanted to fund through taxes on tobacco?
I think this illustrates the absurdity of government excise taxes, at least when it comes to discouraging a certain type of activity. If people keep smoking or doing whatever it is the tax is supposed to discourage then it has failed. If they stop doing it over time, then bureaucrats are clamoring to replace that revenue stream with another tax.
Meaning that the government actually forces us to pay for our bad habits, and then continue paying even after we quit them.
