Bob Dole: “I am perplexed by what is happening in the Senate these days. Many of my colleagues are calling for a huge tax on…”

“I am perplexed by what is happening in the Senate these days. Many of my colleagues are calling for a huge tax on tobacco--a product purchased disproportionately more by lower income people. This tax hike is said to provide billions of dollars to expand SCHIP health care coverage for children whose families cannot afford insurance coverage. While I strongly support reauthorizing SCHIP, a massive and highly regressive tax increase on an already unstable product is a terribly irresponsible way to fund this important program. Furthermore, my home State of North Carolina, which has lost more manufacturing jobs than any other State and continues to undergo a difficult economic transition, stands to lose tremendously if the tobacco tax skyrockets. I am fully aware that many of my colleagues view ganging up on tobacco and smokers as politically popular. I am not appealing to you to change your views on smoking, but I am urging you to acknowledge the reality that this tax increase is an irresponsible and fiscally unsound policy. According to the Tax Foundation, no other Federal tax hurts the poor more than the cigarette tax. Of the 20 percent of the adult population that smokes, around half are in families earning less than 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. In other words, many of the families SCHIP is meant to help will be disproportionately hit by the Senate's proposed tax hike.”