Rand Paul blames Eric Garner's death on high NYC cigarette tax

[Blue_Tires]

Washington (CNN) -- In 2010, the New York State Legislature passed a law raising taxes on cigarettes purchased in New York City to $5.85 per pack of 20 cigarettes. Fast-forward four years: A U.S. senator is blaming the politician that created that law for the chokehold death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer in New York City in July 2014.

"I do blame the politician," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, explained on MSNBC's "Hardball." "We put our police in a dangerous situation with bad laws."

Garner died after a police officer put him in a chokehold while trying arrest him for selling tax-free cigarettes. The police officers at the time were unaware of Garner's pre-existing health conditions that likely helped lead to his death. On Wednesday, Paul said Garner's death would have been prevented if the law creating New York City's high cigarette taxes -- the highest in the country -- wasn't created.

"I think it's also important to know that some politician put a tax of $5.85 on a pack of cigarettes," Paul said. "So they've driven cigarettes underground so as not to make them so expensive."

The likely Republican presidential hopeful continued, "But then some politician also had to direct the police to say, 'Hey, we want you arresting people for selling a loose cigarette.' And for someone to die over you know breaking that law -- there really is no excuse for it."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/03/politics/rand-paul-eric-garner-taxes/index.html

DU Paulites! Please explain what in the hell kind of point your boy is trying to make...

It's clear that "Blame the politician (but not me)" is going to be Paul's general purpose catchphrase moving forward into the primaries, so we all better get used to it...

On a parting note, go fuck yourself, Rand...

[Segami]

1. The only point Rand Paul is reinforcing is

that he is a full-blown-bird-brain!!

[Scootaloo]

2. "DU paulites"?

Eh, whatever. Personally, I love stories about the Pauls; it gives me a chance to crack out this gem:

[Rex]

3. Does he have military drones in place to enforce lower cigarette taxes?

All hail the King of Smoke!

[Initech]

4. Oh I'll believe that when me shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbert.

[WhiteAndNerdy]

5. I hate to agree with Rand on anything, but he's right about this.

Cigarette taxes are effective in reducing smoking in a population, but only up to a point. There are some smokers who will not quit no matter how high the taxes get. But what ends up happening, when the taxes become excessive, is the creation of a black market. I read an article a few years ago about that very thing happening in Scotland, IIRC. I don't remember where I saw that article now, but anyone who is interested can do a search. It shouldn't actually surprise anyone that there is a limit on the cigarette taxes people are willing to pay, or that a black market would be the result. It's utterly predictable.

Eric Garner's customers were probably mostly people who couldn't afford a whole pack or carton at a time specifically because of the excessive taxes. Some may have been people who were limiting their smoking or trying to quit, but I would guess most were poor smokers. (It's also worth noting that tobacco taxes are regressive. Most smokers these days are in the lower income brackets and are the ones who can least afford the additional cost, but addicts WILL pay it, even if it means going without other things. It's the nature of addiction.)

[Blue_Tires]

6. He is?

I could have sworn it was a police choke hold that killed one of us and not some law...

If you want to discuss underlying factors, then fine, but make no mistake -- the cig tax law doesn't make the top 5 list of responsible parties...

[Cha]

7. No, Rand Paul is not right on this.. it's a stupid insensitive point to make. It was the fucking

NYPD that are to blame.

[longship]

8. Stupid fucking libertarians!!! nt

[madville]

9. He is correct that high taxes create an underground market

To apply it solely to a specific case or person doesn't quite fit, certainly a contributing factor though.

Our cigarette tax here is $1 a pack, an average pack is about $4.50, cartons in the $35-50 dollar range.

I've never seen or even heard of the idea of anyone selling a loose cigarette or black market cigarettes. The NY people probably buy cigarettes down here to sell up there to get around the high tax.

Drug laws created by politicians are responsible for thousands of deaths and ruined lives at the hands of the police and justice system, same idea.

[Blue_Tires]

10. But he's still whitewashing the primary cause of the incident

while re-directing the discussion to one of the few topics he can speak about without sounding like a philistine...

[etherealtruth]

11. It is a great train of thought ....

... if one wishes to deflect attention from the real problems: racism, police brutality and the convergence of the two

[joeybee12]

12. Rand Paul is clinically insane...

And while the insane sometimes make sense to us, their true delusions eventually come to the front.