"Ironically, the proposed legislation would increase taxes on low-income taxpayers as a way to fund health coverage for low-income individuals," Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said Tuesday in a letter to Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa about the proposed .61 cent increase on a pack of cigarettes to fund the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program....Baucus replied..."When given the choice between standing with big tobacco companies and standing with kids, I stand with America's children," said the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Source: Administration Fights Cigarette Tax Hike - By KEVIN FREKING The Associated Press/via the Washington Post - Tuesday, July 17, 2007

It's not hard to see why the Democrat Congress is held in LOWER self esteem then President Bush when they are pulling stunts like this. The Democrats are throwing crumbs to their urban with this "sin tax" on tobacco smokers to their socially liberal constituency. Today's white (Christian) liberals are true to their Northeastern Puritan & Calvinist roots, always embarking on moral crusades against this or that "sin" that generally irritate the rest of us. 

But what's really wrong with the tobacco tax is that it's a FLAT tax, and Americans who vote Democrat are generally advocates of progressive income taxes, not "flat taxes". So it's not surprising the Republicans are exploiting another example of the divide between the Democrat base and the Democratic Party bosses. The Democrats have only themselves to blame for giving the Bush Administration a "wedge issue" to exploit.  The Democrats are always paying for programs for the underclass with taxes on the working folks instead of taxing the wealth of Wall Street Bankers and Trust Fund Babies. And Health Care "reform" should consist of socialization of dysfunctional private insurance quagmire, which is another issue where Democrats refuse to take on the special interests. 

Bottom Line: The rich should pay their fair share of aid to the underclass instead of putting the burden on working folks and our distressed middle class.