Tobacco firms blitz airwaves to block cigarette tax

[xchrom]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0605/1224317290129.html

?ts=1338895401

AN ADVERTISING blitz funded by tobacco companies has eroded Californians’ support for a ballot measure to be voted on today to raise taxes on cigarettes, putting the vote’s outcome in doubt.

Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds have flooded airwaves with warnings that the proposed $1 tax on cigarette packs is a flawed idea which would bloat government bureaucracy and funnel money out of the state.

The energetic $47.7 million campaign – more than triple the Yes campaign – has been fronted by anti-tax activists and has dramatically reduced support for proposition 29, a measure backed by anti-cancer groups.

“We are still ahead but it’s very close, big tobacco has a bottomless budget to tell lies,” said David Veneziano of the American Cancer Society. “They are trying to protect their profits.”

[Earth_First]

1. $5.50 + tax ?! Where...?

I was paying $9.70 + tax three months ago before I quit...