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| Tax money going down a Black Hole. A Federal study says billions in California tax money has vanished down a Black Hole never again to be seen by any living man. |
Pissed Away - Since 1998 the Feds say the Democratic California legislature has pissed away billions in tobacco tax money
- California collected $244 billion in cigarette taxes and settlement cash, but appropriated only $8 billion for tobacco control programs.
- In 2003 the state used the tobacco industry payments as collateral on bonds to help close the state's general fund deficit.
With the voters of the People's Republic of California poised to vote next week on a tobacco tax hike, a new federal study concludes that the state has used relatively little of the billions of dollars in tobacco money it already takes in to prevent kids from smoking or to help smokers quit.
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Between 1998 and 2010 the Democrat controlled legislature appropriated only 6 percent of the money collected from a massive lawsuit settlement and from cigarette taxes for tobacco interdiction and education programs, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week, far below federal spending guidelines for effectively curbingtobacco use reports the Sacramento Bee.
Beth Miller, a spokeswoman for the tobacco industry-backed No on Prop 29 campaign, said the CDC study just proves government can't be trusted with more tobacco tax money. She compared the ballot measure to others that funded controversial state projects, such as high-speed rail and stem cell research.
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"It's not hard to see this measure is headed down the same path of exorbitant salaries, high-priced consultants and more wasteful government spending," Miller said.
From 1998 through 2010, California collected nearly $22 billion from a lawsuit settlement with tobacco companies and from cigarette taxes, according to the federal report.
In the 13 years that ended in 2010, states collected nearly $244 billion in cigarette taxes and settlement cash and appropriated just $8 billion for tobacco control programs, less than one-third the $29 billion the CDC says should have been spent.California lawmakers in 2003 used the tobacco industry payments as collateral on bonds to help close the state's general fund deficit. (Sacramento Bee)
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