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A journal of an American expatriate who was living in Melbourne, Australia working remotely for a US company but is now living and working in Auckland, New Zealand. Anything is fair game - traveling, current events, sport, and anything else that suits me.
2 comments:
If I were a smoker in the USA, I'd be scared by the regressive Obama federal cigarette tax, which doubled today, despite campaign promises not to raise taxes of any sort. The beer drinkers will be next, followed by the butter eaters and then the couch potatoes. You remember what pastor what's-his-name said when the Germans were dividing and conquering, don't you?
While regressive taxes for some things may not be fair, this one might be ok. Smoking increases the burden on the health care system, which raises costs for everyone, smokers or not. The poor are more likely to be on Medicaid, and already draining the coffers. They can then help put money back in for their eventual long term care. Or they could quit.
You could say the same thing about booze (livers, drunk driving, etc), and would I be happy about more taxes on booze? No. But, since I live in a country that taxes the hell out of booze, I've cut back a bit. Maybe it's not the worst thing in the world.
And I'm not trying to make a case for or against socialized medicine, but the poor get their health care subsidized by the rich. Let's not encourage anyone to be sicker.
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