All statements from Barack Obama come with an expiratโ you know, this whole thing is starting to get too easy.
AP:
One of President Barack Obamaโs campaign pledges on taxes went up in puffs of smoke Wednesday.
The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obamaโs promise not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000.
This is one tax that disproportionately affects the poor, who are more likely to smoke than the rich.
To be sure, Obamaโs tax promises in last yearโs campaign were most often made in the context of income taxes. Not always.
โI can make a firm pledge,โ he said in Dover, N.H., on Sept. 12. โUnder my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.โ
He repeatedly vowed โyou will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime.โ
Now in office, Obama, who stopped smoking but has admitted he slips now and then, signed a law raising the tobacco tax nearly 62 cents on a pack of cigarettes, to $1.01. Other tobacco products saw similarly steep increases.
A reader notes that technically, Obama is keeping his word, because heโs not raising taxes by one dime, but by a whole lot of dimes.






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