Comments on: Death by Taxes – Hav A Tampa plant closing

By: mike

mike — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:32:19 +0000

bottom line you will only live as long as you can afford to. inventing new revenue steams takes less guts then saying no to the hands that keep you in office and cutting programs like medicare, medicaid social security and defense. it is a great shame that a business that has been in tampa for more than 100 years was killed when it ran out of money, courtesey of our government. will you or I be next?

By: Carroll B. Merriman

Carroll B. Merriman — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:47:23 +0000

This was a challenging read to grasp.

By: Tampa Fobert

Tampa Fobert — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:33:10 +0000

I just found out about Hav-a-Tampa cigar plant closing. Thats a shame as I have been razzed all my life about your product. Thanks for the memories! Sincerely, Tampa Fobert

By: JD Jones

JD Jones — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:05:06 +0000

Better late than never……

I wouldn’t be surprised if Good ole’ Joe is jumping up and down yelling “YES, YES !! when he got done reading Lee Nash’s comment up above.

Taxing the cigar business like this, is extremely reckless.

How many cigar smokers are there in the U.S.? Now, how many alcoholic beverages are there?

Tax the living daylights out of alcohol drinkers. Folks will grumble and moan, but they won’t give up their Martini’s, no matter what it costs.

Cigar smokers will simply cut back on their consumption, or quit. At least, until they go to the Dominican Republic on vacation, and buy a few boxes for their personal use. I have many many friends that are doing that now. I have more than one friend who does that now; he makes a monthly run, and buys boxes for all of us(approximately 24 guys)

The folks who are going to be dying ain’t gonna be the cigar smokers, it’s going to be the sick kids that arn’t going to get their health insurance, because the source of funds dry up.

By: WestWright

WestWright — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:39:04 +0000

Thanks to our domestic Socialist the Tampa loses the jobs due to Government robbery by taxes. But guess what, these jobs will be done in Puerto Rico and not FL due to decrease in demand as taxes increased the company had to consolidate operations. After our Congressional crooks voted on expanding SCHIP to all children even those in families that have an $80k income and to pay for this with enormous tax increases on tobacco….this is a small example of the loss of jobs if we get the Cap & Tax Bill to stop the AGW BS, many, many US manufacturing jobs will go poof as they go to China, India and other rational countries.

By: Pyronaught

Pyronaught — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:10:48 +0000

Tell that to the families of the 500 laid off workers Joe. Being out of work and dependent on government handouts isn’t exactly good for your health either, and it’s a drain on a government that’s already bankrupt (both financially and intellectually). Contrary to this nanny state mentality, it is not the governments job nor right to tell people what they can and can’t do in the name of saving them from themselves. We can already see that this slippery slope is leading towards more taxes on fast food and soft drinks. Then it’s going to be potato chips and junk food. Then TV. Then walking around with your shoes untied. Then taking a shower without a rubber mat in the tub. There’s no end to it, and there’s always going to be idiots like Joe who have no problem watching everyones freedoms go down the toilet.

By: Lee Nash

Lee Nash — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:05:23 +0000

I understand that government wants to focus on “health and children” issues to justify the tobacco tax. When the government decides they want more money they will start a feel good program, knowing that once a program exist it will always exist. The program will need more money and who gets picked next. It’s always those other guys, but not to worry they will get to you and your money soon enough, no one will come to your aid. On the list to get large tax increases is alcohol, sugar and fat. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started a BMI index tax, for every pound overweight. A tax to make buying and eating too much food difficult. How about just banning cars? Think of all the lives you would save and lower hospital stays. We can always justify stealing the liberty of others. One more Cheeseburger tax, but not on regular burgers that way dairy farms will only suffer. No really one more, tax BOGO’s, count the lost tax on the free one.

By: Heath.Whiteaker

Heath.Whiteaker — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:40:37 +0000

Thanks for your post Joe. I look forward to hearing more from you.

By: Joe Illingworth

Joe Illingworth — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:00:16 +0000

A cigar factory closing. Sounds more like a sign of healthier times ahead, rather than tax problems for business. As the FDA finally assumes its responsibility to protect the health of Americans and bring tobacco companies under reasonable control, eliminate their shameless promotions to children, etc., wouldn’t we expect that market to contract. Too bad it has taken so long.