New at Reason

Jacob Sullum takes State Children's Health Insurance in for a check-up.

Comments

Cracker's Boy | July 25, 2007, 7:50am | #

"Everybody loves children, and everybody hates smokers."

Those two facts trump all others. Even the Socialists will screw the poor, as long as they can screw the smokers.

CB

swillfredo pareto | July 25, 2007, 8:43am | #

This research suggests that much, if not most, of the money spent on SCHIP expansion would pay to cover children who already have insurance.

It is so telling that advocates for the welfare state do not even pretend to present a Constitutional argument for the existence of the program, just a never-ending plea for more money. Rather than asking smokers, quite possibly people who do not have children or people who are responsible enough to provide for their own children’s insurance needs, to pay for this I propose that the government force all prospective parents to post a bond for the cost of their children’s health insurance through age 18. Children are actually fairly inexpensive to insure, if you can’t post the bond you can’t have children. Alternatively you can refuse to post the bond and waive your "right" to demand that someone else pay for it.

Rhywun | July 25, 2007, 8:55am | #

Alternatively you can refuse to post the bond and waive your "right" to demand that someone else pay for it.

Hear, hear. I'm sick of paying for other people's goddamn children.

fyodor | July 25, 2007, 11:27am | #

Everybody loves children

You didn't consider me and W.C. Fields!!

Travis | July 25, 2007, 11:34am | #

Do any reason posters or reason staff smoke ??

Cracker's Boy | July 25, 2007, 11:43am | #

My last cigarette was January 3, 1980... around 2pm... a Marlboro Light in the soft pack.

CB

Travis | July 25, 2007, 12:06pm | #

Cracker's Boy :

Well done on not smoking since 1980, I am 1.5 months into my quitting smoking. It aint easy, but it aint hard, if you know what I mean.

Cracker's Boy | July 25, 2007, 1:04pm | #

Right Travis - not easy, not hard, just something that has to be done. The hardest part for me was that my wife at the time continued to smoke. After dinner, we'd retire to the den and sit down on the sofa, and she'd light up and I couldn't.

The desire will pass (as did the desire for that particular wife).

I'm somewhat OCD, which is why I haven't been willing (altho' tempted) to try a cigar. I figure one cigar and within a week, I'd be back at 2 packs (of cigarettes) a day.

Gonna' try to get to Amsterdam this fall, tho'.... we'll see what THAT does to the smoking addiction.

CB

Ventifact | July 25, 2007, 6:13pm | #

Even the socialists? Socialists are especially good at screwing the poor. At least, they stand out these days since capitalism is so relatively benign (in developed countries, let's say...).

Colonel_Angus | July 25, 2007, 7:15pm | #

The banishment of Joe Camel made me want to buy camel cigarettes.

RIP Joe.

Tom | July 26, 2007, 9:06am | #

I work in the social service field, and I know a lot of people hate the smokers and the tobacco industry. I went to a conference once where they explicitily told everyone there that they should never accept any prevention funds from tobacco industry. I find that offensive on two levels.

First a lot of state governments use tobacco funds to balance their budgets. Let me tell you, like in a state like Pennsylvania if they eliinated tobacco taxes alltogether, the state would experience a 1 billion tax defecit. I find it ironic that they would accept tax money garnered from cigarettes or from the tobacco settlement, but not of the own free will of tobacco comapnies.

Secondly, as a taxpayer I am offended that these agencies that cry for more state and federal funding would turn down millions of dollars from businesses, that money would allow limited prevention and health-care dollars to stretch farther.