Comments on: Democrats Tax Smoking and Tanning, Poor Hardest Hit

By: Brenda Coffey

Brenda Coffey — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:26:23 +0000

I do not believe that a cigarette tax reduces smoking. Instead, people below poverty level are forced to choose between neccessities such as food and their cigarettes. As a 30 year smoker, I can tell you that cigarettes win everytime.

It is sad that things have come to this point that poor people are supporting middle class families.

By: Allan Bradley

Allan Bradley — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:32:09 +0000

Your point is well made – I understand the problems inherent in sin taxes. I just think you’re a little off-topic. Of course, that’s an unfair accusation – a blogger or columnist chooses his topic, and a reader shouldn’t attack a sports writer for not addressing the concerns of the tech industry.

But you opened your piece by summarizing the Democrats’ attacks on Republicans, setting your piece up as a defense of Republican policy – which it wasn’t. Responding to a criticism with a counter-criticism is good politics but poor conversation.

And if your excuse is that a full defense would take too long, remember that a good writer can refudiate a specious attack in under 140 characters, so why not give it a try?

Small note: My use of the term “refudiate” was meant to be lighthearted, and I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear at all. It was more a private joke than an effective word choice. Anyway, you should know that Palin didn’t invent the word; it’s at least as old as 2006. Fair mistake, since she made it so popular so suddenly.

By: Peyton Miller

Peyton Miller — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:08:09 +0000

The objective here is not to refute the substance of Democratic arguments on these subjects, which would take far longer than a single blog post. It is instead to illustrate how the Democratic Party’s message, that Democrats are concerned about the poor and working class and Republicans are not, is contradicted by the policies the former have pursued.

To your point about taxes, the 2001 Bush tax cut reduced individual income tax rates across the board, doubled the child tax credit, phased out the estate tax, and expanded tax-favored retirement savings plans. The Republicans want to extend these cuts permanently, in their entirety. Most Democrats (fewer and fewer every day) want to allow those that benefit the rich, whom they define as people who make more than $250,000 per year, to expire.

Lastly, I’m glad to see that “refudiate,” a term Sarah Palin recently coined in a Tweet, has entered general parlance.

By: Allan Bradley

Allan Bradley — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:26:29 +0000

Democrats tax the poor, Republicans give it back to the rich in the form of tax breaks. You haven’t refudiated the charges leveled against the Republicans by the Democrats, you have simply in turn attacked the Dems.

Not that your arguments aren’t worth making, just that they are a bit off-topic for a post that begins, “The GOP, we are told, has opposed tax relief for working class families, subsidized health insurance for those who can’t afford it, and extended unemployment benefits for people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, all while siding with wealthy banking executives in the Democratic dichotomy between ‘Wall Street’ and ‘Main Street.’”