Smokers Gasp at Highest Tax Hike Ever

(NEWSER) - Australians may be coughing up $20 for a pack of cigarettes if officials approve a new anti-smoking plan, the Age reports. The proposal, designed to cut Aussie smoking by a third, would ban all tobacco sponsorship and online sales, devote 95% of cigarette packaging to graphic health warnings, and tax packs—currently at $13.50—up to $16.35, and then $20.15. More»

We're smoking less because it's dumb, not because of policy: Will

(NEWSER) - President Obama might have praised Congress' tobacco bill, but for George F. Will, the new legislation gives just two muscular groups reason to celebrate: Philip Morris and "the Democratic Party's fountain of funds, the trial bar." New restrictions on cigarette advertising will help Philip Morris vault over competitors, while a provision on product liability encourages further multibillion-dollar lawsuits. It's a "contradictory and unlovely" bill, he writes, part of tobacco policy that appears to be "on balance, a success." More»

SCHIP extension, twice vetoed by Bush, brings care to 4M, adds 62¢ to cigarette tax

(NEWSER) - President Obama today signed into law a measure that will bring health care to an estimated 4 million children, CNN reports. The $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, a move twice vetoed by President Bush, will be financed by adding 62¢ per pack to the federal cigarette tax. The bill passed both House and Senate in mostly party-line votes. More»

Family taxed more than $160K

(AP) - President Obama and his family paid more than $160,000 in federal taxes last year, the White House says. The president's 2011 federal income tax return shows reported adjusted gross income of about $790,000 last year. About half of the first family's income is the president's salary. The White House says the rest comes from sales of Obama's books. More»

President gives speech flanked by millionaires and their secretaries

(NEWSER) - So much for the Romney Rule . President Obama has settled on another way to rebrand the Buffett Rule, which would impose a 30% minimum tax on income above $1 million, Roll Call reports. "I’m not the first president to call for this idea that everybody’s got to do their fair share," he said in a speech in Washington today, surrounded by millionaires and their secretaries. "That wild-eyed, socialist, tax-hiking class warrior was Ronald Reagan." More»