12-07-2014, 10:28 AM
Eric Garner's death sickens me. This wasn't a racial bias crime, or a cop "self defense" crime. This was a crime about taxes. Eric Garner died because #1-he was selling untaxed cigarettes one or a few at a time (called loosies) #2-he resisted arrest for this completely ridiculous "crime".
New York City has the second highest cigarette tax rate in the US at $6.86 per pack. That brings the total to $12.85 for a pack of cigarettes. NYC Police Chief of Department Philip Banks III (who is Black) ordered the NYPD to crack down on the selling of loosies in the summer of 2014. IMO this action made the NYPD into tax enforcers instead of crime fighters.
No matter how you personally feel about smoking, it is still legal to do so in this country and people are going to smoke. The poor and minorities are more likely to smoke, and an EBT card doesn't cover cigs. People like Eric Garner shouldn't have to die because politicians believe that everyone should quit smoking but don't want to give up the revenue that the sin taxes bring.
New York City has the second highest cigarette tax rate in the US at $6.86 per pack. That brings the total to $12.85 for a pack of cigarettes. NYC Police Chief of Department Philip Banks III (who is Black) ordered the NYPD to crack down on the selling of loosies in the summer of 2014. IMO this action made the NYPD into tax enforcers instead of crime fighters.
No matter how you personally feel about smoking, it is still legal to do so in this country and people are going to smoke. The poor and minorities are more likely to smoke, and an EBT card doesn't cover cigs. People like Eric Garner shouldn't have to die because politicians believe that everyone should quit smoking but don't want to give up the revenue that the sin taxes bring.