Saturday, April 7, 2012

The State of Maryland Continues War on Freedom

The state of Maryland has a problem.  They need more tax revenue to feed their insatiable thirst for money.  It seems big government is very expensive. Over the years Maryland has massively increased their tax on tobacco, with the goal of forcing smokers to cough up more money to pay for the state's enormous government.  And in response Maryland smokers have decided to leave the state, mostly coming to VA, where the tobacco tax is lower to buy their smokes. Instead of reducing their tax on cigarettes to keep smokers buying in the state, Maryland has decided to criminalize buying smokes out of state.
It's against the law to enter Maryland with more than two packs of cigarettes purchased out-of-state. If someone has any more untaxed smokes than that, the law says the person is transporting untaxed contraband.  It seems 'untaxed' means Maryland didn't get some money from the sale.

This is straight out of Atlas Shrugged, every time people engage in freedom, and avoid paying higher taxes, the state passes a new law, to stop such things, and calls it 'smuggling'.

1 comment:

James Young said...

Perhaps Virginia can pass a law criminalizing stalking of tobacco purchasers, and throw into the hoosegow the inevitable Maryland law enforcement officers who try to nail people violating this law.