Smoking Kills

Cigarette Taxes Are Fueling Terrorism

Nothing new here, high taxes or complete bans have always been profit centers for all sorts of organized crime for as long as anyone can remember.
Our own American experience with Prohibition amounted to little more than some sort of Organized Crime Enrichment Act.

You might think we would learn our lesson; but you would be wrong.

This March 2000 BBC article states:

"....the customs operation linked the smuggling to organized crime in the Naples area of Italy, with involvement from the Camorra mafia clan.
The notorious Neapolitan family has a long history of involvement in contraband cigarettes and drug smuggling."


But here in the U.S. a new group has gotten into the action; and they've been active for a over a decade too!

"Going back to 1993, counterfeit cigarette stamps were found in the apartment of the first World Trade Center bombers."

States Patrick Fleenor in his May 7, 2008 Wall Street Journal article;

"Cigarette Taxes Are Fueling Organized Crime"

Fleenor goes on to say:

"The connection to terrorism is no exaggeration. When New York police cracked another smuggling ring in 2005, they uncovered a multimillion dollar flow of funds from New York City to unknown individuals in the Middle East. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly gave voice to the obvious conclusion: Terrorists probably got the money.

Just a few weeks before that 2005 bust, Buffalo-area businessman Aref Ahmed had been sentenced to three years and a month for cigarette smuggling. The feds said he'd used the racket to fund "scholarships" at terrorist training camps in Afghanistan during the spring of 2001. Going back to 1993, counterfeit cigarette stamps were found in the apartment of the first World Trade Center bombers.

Politicians continue to use the health of smokers as their excuse for higher cigarette taxes. This view is myopic. As Gov. Wilson argued three decades ago, high cigarette taxes are bad public policy because of their effect on the rest of us. In the 1960s and '70s, organized crime exploited high cigarette taxes at our expense. Today we face an even deadlier adversary."

Don't miss this new blog: Election Journal

A new blog has recently appeared and has interesting and important content that might be difficult to find elsewhere. Election Journal

We've added a link to the right.

Here's some links to recent posts; be sure to visit the site itself, as it has interesting often humorous pictures as well as YouTube posts.


Pittsburgh - Court Issues Cease and Desist Order Against Intimidation of Obama Supporters
…there was a problem with one polling place in Homewood. That problem, inside the Bethesda Presbyterian Church, was serious enough to trigger a court order.

A constable working the polling place was allegedly not letting supporters of Obama inside to vote and ordering those there to leave. The court order for City Ward 13, District 8 told election officials there to “refrain from discouraging or prohibiting, in any way, any elector from entering the polling place.”


Obama Campaign Director Charged in Assault of Election Judge

Esther Morales, southwest Texas campaign director for the Barack Obama campaign, was charged with third degree felony assault on a public servant, Tuesday (March 4). Justice of the Peace Aaron Rodriguez read Morales her rights and described her charges following the arrest at about 7:45 p.m. by officers of the Del Rio Police Department at the church hall, 510 Wernett St. in the Chihuahua neighborhood, south Del Rio.

Morales allegedly struck election judge Al Cervantes when he refused to allow voters to enter the polling place who were not in the proper line when polls closed at 7:15 p.m.



About Election Journal

If an election is worth winning, then there is someone willing to steal it.

There has been vote fraud since there have been elections. The first available evidence of vote fraud dates back to 471 BC. An archaeological expedition discovered 190 Athenian “ostrakons” (pieces of broken pottery used as ballots) filled out by only 14 different handwritings.

Vote fraud transcends party lines, international borders and appears in many different forms; vote buying, intimidation, tampering, forgery, absentee ballot, impersonation, petition, violence, registration…….

With hundreds of millions of dollars being invested by political parties, campaigns, 527’s and third parties, the 2008 election is one worth winning. There will be those trying to steal it. High turnout, regulatory changes, machine issues and a lack of election official training will add to the chaos.

Electionjournal.org is an online community dedicated to raising public awareness of vote fraud and election irregularities. We encourage you to join the community, post comments often and share your stories.

Election Journal will be in the field on election day using new media technologies to document and report in real time as the democratic process plays out.

2008 should be a wild ride…stay tuned!

“Voting should be easy, cheating should be hard”

Michael P. Botelho & The March of Dimes

Let's get behind Mike!

Among the members of the Connecticut Republican State Central Committee is a straight-arrow egghead type named Mike Botelho.

Mike doesn't say much.
He's one of those deep thinker sort of fellows who uses words precisely and sparingly.


CONNECTICUT REPUBLICANS - STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
The party recently released a statement of core principles; several of us served on the committee to write it; and while all of our collective input is present in the document, Mike actually wrote it.

Last week Mike sent several of us a letter, which included the following:


"As many of you know, I am a member of the Board of Directors of the March of Dimes. March of Dimes is once again gearing up for its largest fundraising event of the year - "March for Babies" (formerly known as "WalkAmerica") to be held in April. This event raises money to help all babies get a healthy start in life. The proceeds generated from the walk will be used to support research and programs to combat birth defects, prematurity and infant mortality.

As someone whose family suffered through a difficult pregnancy with my eldest son, I feel very strongly about this worthwhile cause.

That is why I am asking for your help. My firm will once again be sponsoring a team for the Greater Hartford walk on April 27th. The walk will begin at the XL Center (formerly the Hartford Civic Center). Registration begins at 9 am and the walk starts at 10 am. The walk is 4 miles long. Walkers are asked to get friends, family and others to sponsor them."

We can support The March of Dimes, and straight-arrow Mike by clicking below:

Denmark's confused

WARNING!



This post will offend both feminists and attorneys......but it's funny so I posted it anyway.



"We in Denmark cannot figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election.

On one side, you have a bitch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, and a lawyer who is married to a bitch who is a lawyer.

On the other side, you have a true war hero married to a woman with a huge chest who owns a beer distributorship.

Is there a contest here?"

Don't Forget!

Always have your Democrats Spayed or Neutered!

A New Direction!

Official Democratic Party campaign car....






....designed exactly the way Obama lays out his message.

Where did your money go?

A look at wealth redistribution.
Or.....
Where does the dough go?



Interesting stuff here:

The U.S. Census Bureau maintains a website with loads of data, including per-capita income by town.

Here you'll find that Greenwich, CT enjoys a per-capita income level of $74,346

ACR came across other data as well; like the fact that Greenwich generated a total of $581,663,817 in state revenue (income plus sales/use tax) and received in state spending only $6,248,579 for a deficit of -$575,415,238.
This means for every dollar Greenwich paid into the state, they got back one cent

We used Greenwich as the example as that town got the worst deal, or lowest return on their "investment" in the state.

To see all 169 cities and towns, you can view the entire spreadsheet here. I was lucky enough to get my friend Steve Coppage over at southington.com to post the whole sheet.


Thanks to Connecticut Republican State Central member, Sean Murphy for the data this post is based on.