Sanford needs to do the right thing | Columnists | Summerville Journal Scene

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Sanford needs to do the right thing

Published Tuesday, May 04, 2010 4:39 PM

By Ellen Priest
Summerville Journal Scene ®

I am disappointed in Governor Sanford. He has indicated that he will veto an important piece of legislation for this state.

I am speaking of the cigarette tax increase that looks like it may finally pass after a years-long campaign.

The Senate recently approved the 50-cents hike that was passed by the House last year, after removing some provisions.

As many know, South Carolina has the lowest cigarette tax in the nation. It has not changed from its current 7-cents per pack since 1977. The national average is $1.40 per pack. Even with this increase, we will be only at 36 percent of the national average.

In a recent interview, Gov. Sanford’s explanation for his opposition to the tax was that it would drag down the economy, as folks will have less to spend elsewhere. When speaking about the government taking on the role of doling out more money, he said, “Plus, the government spending eats up resources, so in net, the only way to offset that, to create a positive, is to find ways to use that revenue to reduce other taxes, to stimulate economic growth more …”

Huh? Does any of that make any sense to anyone?

My way of thinking:

Yes, if they continue to smoke, they will have less to spend elsewhere. Hopefully, they will spend less on cigarettes, thereby improving their health and its affect on our health care system for years to come. If they continue to smoke the same amount, that money is then used to help pay for health care programs, which are in desperate need in this state. People will have two choices to make but it will be their choice. This is an optional tax. Pay it if you smoke. Quit smoking and don’t pay it.

I don’t mean to downplay just how difficult it will be for these folks to quit, but I am rooting for them.

I watched a favorite uncle die of lung cancer. He started smoking as a teen and died in his early 60’s in a nursing home, weighing less than 100 pounds. It about killed my father to see his younger brother that way.

My mother-in-law, who desperately tried many times to quit the nasty habit, now has to wear an oxygen tank at home each night and gets winded trying to get dressed. She is a wonderful, vibrant woman who quit smoking years ago, but long after the damage was done to her lungs. To this day, my husband, who has never smoked, gets bronchitis whenever he gets a cold, due to damage done from growing up in a household with a smoker.

My sincerest hope is that the government of this state and all others will collect zero in cigarette taxes every year. That’s right, a big fat zero.

That would mean that the people who are addicted to cigarettes have finally given them up. They no longer have to hang around outside businesses feeling like pariahs every time they need a nicotine fix.

That would mean the health care system, particularly Medicaid, would no longer have to devote so many resources to the results of this lifelong addiction.

It would also mean that some of us may be saved the heartache of watching a loved one wither and die before our eyes well before their time.

If Gov. Sanford truly wants to serve the people he needs to do what is in the best interest of this state and do what three-quarters of his constituents have told him they want him to do: Pass the increase to the cigarette tax. That is what we elected him to do.

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