Roll-your-own cigarette operations to be snuffed out

With a stroke of a pen, Obama signed a TRANSPORTATION bill that had a tiny amendment attached to it, that essentially made an entire industry illegal, laying off thousands of employees in a time of 8.2% unemployment....the big-tobacco manufacturers must have paid dearly to line the pockets of enough lawmakers to get this passed....after all, when you can't compete with your competition in an open market, pay off politicians to declare them illegal for you.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/roll...39845.html

Quote : A tiny amendment buried in the federal transportation bill to be signed today by President Barack Obama will put operators of roll-your-own cigarette operations...nationwide out of business at midnight. Robert Weissen, with his brothers and other partners, own nine Sin City Cigarette Factory locations in Southern Nevada, including six in Las Vegas, and one in Hawaii. He said when the bill is signed their only choice is to turn off their 20 RYO Filling Station machines and lay off more than 40 employees. ... The machines are used by customers who buy loose tobacco and paper tubes from the shop and then turn out a carton of finished cigarettes in as little as 10 minutes, often varying the blend to suit their taste. Savings are substantial - at $23 per carton, half the cost of a name-brand smoke - in part because loose tobacco is taxed at a lower rate.

personal choice to flavor as you please, saving money, and lower taxes...all anathema to big-government progressives (from either party), who want less choice and freedom, one-size fits all solutions and products dictated from D.C., and more money siphoned from the idiot citizens via taxes for the oh-so-smart-politicians to spend for you as they see fit....they know best after all, don't they?

yay!!! more unemployed slaves for government to control via welfare and giveaway schemes !!! THAT's what we need when we have 8.2% unemployment: more industries declared to be illegal by D.C. and destroying the livelihoods of thousands of families.

But but but.....MMMBHO is just looking out for your health like that doofus Bloomberg.

I would think rolling cigarettes a small percentage of income for these tobacco shops. Doubtful if any layoffs occur because of 1 less item being sold there.

Kind of reminds me of Mississippi legislators putting in new regulations in place in order to close down the last planned parenthood office. I guess those jobs don't matter either? I'm sure the same outrage is there...

looks like a mod deleted where radeck referred to these guys as cigarette manufacturers, which is the whole reason why theyre shutting down... because of being regarded as cigarette manufacturers (i.e., not making an entire industry illegal).

Quote from tequiyotl : looks like a mod deleted where radeck referred to these guys as cigarette manufacturers, which is the whole reason why theyre shutting down... because of being regarded as cigarette manufacturers (i.e., not making an entire industry illegal).

They are roll your own cigarettes.
You use their machine but you do it yourself.
At most they are selling you tobacco and then renting you the machine.
Maybe that's a potential loophole.
I think cigarettes are way over taxed.

Quote from MaryClare : I would think rolling cigarettes a small percentage of income for these tobacco shops. Doubtful if any layoffs occur because of 1 less item being sold there.

wrong..read the quoted lines in my post, or better yet, read the linked article. There will be 40 layoffs at just one such outfit.

This thread gets more awesome with every post.

Aside from the regular partisan hackery, can anyone cite some reasons why there should be different taxes and regulations for small-run or custom manufacturers selling the same type of products?

Doesn't this simply level the playing field? If smokers are choosing the small-batches for reasons of quality and customization and quality, won't they continue to choose that model?

Quote from skiman : Aside from the regular partisan hackery, can anyone cite some reasons why there should be different taxes and regulations for small-run or custom manufacturers selling the same type of products? Doesn't this simply level the playing field? If smokers are choosing the small-batches for reasons of quality and customization and quality, won't they continue to choose that model?

Note: Smoking is dumb and i hate tobacco companies

That being said, i think theyre taxing machines?

I dont see how you can tax a cigarette rolling machine.

I dont know the ins and outs of rolling your own cigarettes. Maybe theres some people who like smoking tobacco for the flavor, and the only way to do that is to buy loose tobacco you like and roll your own.

An equivalent may be people who brew their own beer? Are brewing kits taxed the same as buying beer in a store?

Quote from skiman : Doesn't this simply level the playing field? If smokers are choosing the small-batches for reasons of quality and customization and quality, won't they continue to choose that model?

that's just it...they can't choose this model, with or without a tax..this is NOT a taxation provision in the bill...this is an illegalization / banning provision.

Quote from Radeck : that's just it...they can't choose this model, with or without a tax..this is NOT a taxation provision in the bill...this is an illegalization / banning provision.

That's not what your link says...

But a few paragraphs added to the transportation bill changed the definition of a cigarette manufacturer to cover thousands of roll-your-own operations nationwide. The move, backed by major tobacco companies, is aimed at boosting tax revenues.

Faced with regulation costs that could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars, RYO machine owners nationwide are shutting down more than 1,000 of the $36,000 machines.

It's the fact that the store is using a machine that the store owns to roll customer's smokes that turns them into a "cigarette manufacturer".

Quote from smegalicious : It's the fact that the store is using a machine that the store owns to roll customer's smokes that turns them into a "cigarette manufacturer".

you are correct...i stand corrected. However, according to that paragraph, these outfits are faced with up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in regulatory costs...such small mom-and-pop outfits can not possibly live up to those costs and regulations (and the feds know it), so in effect it is banning them, although not in so many words...six of one or half a dozen of the other.

If the feds placed such costs on, say, hamburger sales at the behest of McD and BK, it will in effect ban mom-and-pop fast food restaurants and shut them down, even though it might not ban them in so many words....McD and BK might be able to afford the costs (and pass it on to their customers), but others can not...this is the same scenario: big tobacco paying off politicians to regulate their competition out of existence.

Quote from Radeck : you are correct...i stand corrected. However, according to that paragraph, these outfits are faced with up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in regulatory costs...such small mom-and-pop outfits can not possibly live up to those costs and regulations (and the feds know it), so in effect it is banning them, although not in so many words...six of one or half a dozen of the other.

Then the "small mom & pop" outfit can simply sell loose tobacco & tubes like hundreds of thousands of other stores.

If they want to be a "cigarette manufacturer", then they have to play by the "cigarette manufacturer" rules, including the regulatory costs.

Quote : If the feds placed such costs on, say, hamburger sales at the behest of McD and BK, it will in effect ban mom-and-pop fast food restaurants and shut them down, even though it might not ban them in so many words....McD and BK might be able to afford the costs (and pass it on to their customers), but others can not...this is the same scenario: big tobacco paying off politicians to regulate their competition out of existence.

"Mom & pop" fast-food restaurants already face the same/similar regulatory costs as bigger corporations. For example, they need employees who are food prep & sanitation certified. Their location is subject to inspection by the local health dept.

This situation is more akin to a grocery store that sells hamburgers deciding it's going to buy a huge grill & let their customers grill their own burgers at the store (for a fee), then getting upset when the govt classifies them as a "restaurant" (and subject to those inherent regulatory costs) instead of a grocery store.

I know quite a few people who roll their own cigarettes, but who actually roll them, not pay to have a machine at the store roll them for them.