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This is how the government rolls
Roll-your-own cigarette operations to be snuffed out
This was hidden in a bill crafted by Max Baucus, who received campaign donations from the parent company of Philip Morris. This was graft to put the competition out of business because Big Tobacco agreed to a tax hike. So to offset their loss they struck a deal to cripple RYO stores.
A tiny amendment buried in the federal transportation bill to be signed today by President Barack Obama will put operators of roll-your-own cigarette operations in Las Vegas and nationwide out of business at midnight.
Robert Weissen, with his brothers and other partners, own nine Sin City Cigarette Factory locations in Southern Nevada, including six in Las Vegas, and one in Hawaii. He said when the bill is signed their only choice is to turn off their 20 RYO Filling Station machines and lay off more than 40 employees.
“We’ll stay open for about another week to sell tubes and tobacco just to get through our inventory, but without the use of the RYO machines, we won’t be staying open,” he said.
The machines are used by customers who buy loose tobacco and paper tubes from the shop and then turn out a carton of finished cigarettes in as little as 10 minutes, often varying the blend to suit their taste. Savings are substantial – at $23 per carton, half the cost of a name-brand smoke - in part because loose tobacco is taxed at a lower rate.
“These cigarettes are different because there are benefits in saving money and in how they make you feel,” said Amy Hinds, a partner who operates the Sin City Cigarette Factory at Craig and Decatur.
“These cigarettes don’t have any of the chemicals in them, and the papers are chemical-free, unlike the cartons people buy from Philip Morris.”
But a few paragraphs added to the transportation bill changed the definition of a cigarette manufacturer to cover thousands of roll-your-own operations nationwide. The move, backed by major tobacco companies, is aimed at boosting tax revenues.
sTevo
July 7th, 2012
Next they will come after ammo re-loaders.
Jerry Manderin
July 7th, 2012
Tiny amendments attached to unrelated bills need to be outlawed!
Boobie the Rocket Dog
July 7th, 2012
Watch RYO kiosks pop up on cruise ships. The law does not anticipate the IMPORT of cigarettes into the USA; we make the best in the world.
So duty-free, here we come.
Look for Obumfuk to legalize Cuban cigars, though.
And look for roll-your-own machines (not the cheap plastic ones like in head shops) to appear in SKYMALL and the like. You can’t keep a good idea down!
Joe
July 7th, 2012
Hasn’t Max Baucus done enough damage to this country? I seem to remember him being one of the big sponsors to Obamacare. Vote him out. If the people keep voting for him, they deserve what they get. Didn’t he also get his girlfriend a cushy job in gubmint? We don’t forget, Bacchus.
Craig
July 7th, 2012
Has anyone seen a copy of the provision. Does it just shut down RYO operations or increase tax on the product? I have not seen it .
Toaster
July 7th, 2012
Crony capitalism at work.
Busineses have to get lobbyists to stay in business these days. Larger companies try to legislate competition out of business, like this example or sometimes government folks want to get a taste of the action. Good ol’ Orin Hatch forced Microsoft to “play ball” in the lobbying business. I wonder if that’s why Bill Gates went Donk ? Microsoft really didn’t deserve the screwing it got. They’re positively angelic compared to Google.
Wedging unrelated crap into bills is a way of life in DC. It’s sad.
Boobie the Rocket Dog
July 7th, 2012
I know I’m not the first to notice this, but the observation belongs here:
The regulators are quickly approaching the legalization of cannabis and at the same time approaching the outlawing of tobacco.
Looks like the Al Capones of the 21st century are getting a head start while tobacco is still legal to possess. Hey guys! Tobacco ages really well, like wine, unlike milk.
Bob M.
July 7th, 2012
If tobacco was REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEALLY “bad” for you, it wouldn’t be TAXED. It would be BANNED.
Draw your own conclusions…
IOpian
July 7th, 2012
Since we live in a time of Congressional delusion where it is deemed that “we have to pass the bill to read what’s in it” might I suggest that this is a path to eliminating the Obama Mandate. Slip a line in a huge bill, smothered in Government legalese, that eliminates the mandate and have Obama sign it. Hilarity would ensue as Pelosi chokes on a big ‘ol’ cup of schadenfreude served up by the people when she has her own vile methods turned on her. Kill it the same way it came into being… by stealth and deception. Go ahead.. cry foul you delusional bitch.
If caught then it would at least force them to read the bills first.
RosalindJ
July 7th, 2012
@sTevo, they’ve been working on that:
http://voices.yahoo.com/political-issues-reloading-ammunition-7988504.html
The prohibition is against the use of the mega-rollers that can spit out a carton of cigarettes in about 20 minutes. Arkansas already did this on their own: http://ag.arkansas.gov/newsroom/index.php?do:newsDetail=1&news_id=402
This comment had me rolling with laughter: “The machines impede the ability of the state to fight smoking habits in young people by making cigarettes more financially available.”
Considering the amount of tax collected, vs the ridiculous amount of funds dispersed for anti-smoking and medical care, it’s pretty much the same fate as the gas you pay per gallon for fuel. One more cash cow.
Stranded in Sonoma
July 7th, 2012
This is nothing new. When Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle in 1906, about the “horrors” of the meat packing industry, there was a hue and cry to regulate meat packers. And many people assume that that is where it all started. But that is not true.
At the turn of the 20th century, there were many smaller, independent, meat packers that were not competing on a national level, but did compete with the big boys in smaller markets. The larger meat packers had been pushing for stringent gov’t regulation, the type of which Sinclair’s book would eventually lead to about a decade later. The reason for the regulation was better sanitary procedures (and the industry did need that) but the effect would put the independents out of business because they could not afford the cost of the new regulations. Something the larger meat packers could easily afford because they were basically writing the law and knew what to expect.
The independents had a voice in gov’t that kept them from being squashed out of business, but once Sinclair’s book hit the fan there was no stopping the demand to clean up the industry.
This tobacco taurusfimus is just more of the same. The big boys want the little guy out of business.
Milwaukee Mike
July 7th, 2012
This movie scene came to mind instantly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ydqjqZ_3oc
.
simply enraged
July 7th, 2012
Mucks Bogus has been a disgrace to this State since shortly after his first term. I know quite a few people who went to High School with him and know folks who knew his teachers. There are lots of descriptive phrases to describe him, to wit: “not the sharpest knife in the drawer”, “not the sharpest tool in the shed”, “not the brightest bulb in the pack”, etc. That doesn’t even get into the other descriptive terms like brainless dipshit…
simply enraged
July 7th, 2012
And, NO!, I don’t know why we keep reelecting him.
123321123321
July 7th, 2012
This is a perfect Example of what this current Congress and the current Administration are all about, Big Business bribing elected officials to pass laws that put small business out of business so that consumers are FORCED to buy things that are artificially expensive.