Maybe there wouldnt be an underground market for cigarrettes if the government didnt place such high, unreasonable taxes on them. Help you find contraband smokes?!? Ha! Do your own dirty work you greedy *@&*s.

Im not a smoker and I completely agree with Kris. MD is so out of line with its neighbors specifically in terms of tax and gun laws that it is laughable.

Really? I mean really? Perhaps the government would be better off concentrating more on the illegal AND legal people who aren't paying taxes at all. Unbelievable that they are using our police force for cigarette trafficking.

Thanks for the idea. I never thought to smuggle cigarettes. What a good idea.

Well...when you create an atmosphere conducive to smuggling.........you are gonna get......smuggling. :)
Kinda like............ "prohibition"

Oh wait! they forgot to arrest the scofflaw for driving a Honda Accord. Such an inconsiderate tax-evader, can't even pretend to be the electric-car, bicycle-riding, green Progressive that the Maryland politicians want us all to be. Shame, shame.

What a lost op, Peter Franchot; you lost the chance to get another fine. Maybe speed-cameras can be used to detect too many cigarettes? Certainly wouldn't want you to suggest cutting the state budget.

the cig tax is a tax to help pay for the problems that they cause. With a high tax less people smoke, those people who can afford to smoke most likly have insurance to cover them. Too bad when they get older and their bodies are recked from a life time of self-indugent poison they will be on medicare and we will all have to pay.

Lower the cig tax, but if you smoke you can't get on medicare.

There's no reason for Keith Richards to stop smoking. He can afford to buy them and he is not genetically predisposed to develope lung cancer, lucky he.

As for Franchot's penchant for arresting smugglers, that is primarily for his own publicity purposes. (He wants to be governor.) MD is not affected by cigarette smugglers. The cigarettes are bound for NY where the taxes are even more egregious than ours.
Jeff Hawkins is right. Governments attempt to regulate social behavior by prohibiting alcohol (later taxing it), taxing cigarettes and prosecuting prostitutes. These are activities without a strong constituency. Gov. Schaefer even attempted to tax snacks. How did that work out?

Pete, Peter, Peter. Having that "big brother" mentality isn't going to get you elected Governor, fella. I back you on a lot of stuff, but you need to learn sometimes to keep quiet so you don't appear to be an agent of the SS. ;)

Give me a damn break. First off I would never report someone who bought a crap load of cigs from another state. Good for them. Why don't you loser politicians worry about the asshole alcoholics who get drunk as skunks get in there cars and kill innocent people. It's ok for people to drink, because our greedy state loves collecting their money, and bitch about second hand smoke which in my opinion is a load of crap. Yet its ok for people to get drunk and do as they please. Well here's one for you. Smelling someone's alcohol loaded breath is a hazard to my health and I don't drink. Now of course I'm being sarcastic, but trying to prove a point. How many accidents have occurred by people smoking while driving??? So Mr. Politician shove it. I'll be damn if I will report anyone trying to save a buck in this jacked up economy. So as politely as I can say it. KMA!

I personally recommend a three and a half packs of cigarettes a day to the anti-government reactionaries who rise to any bait in an effort to spread their pampered faux-pioneer spirit.

You are trapped in a suburban, gasoline-dependent consumer culture without the education, skills or the capital to really get ahead. Your whining is music to my ears. And your defense of your oppressors is fierce.

Cue the "Twilight Zone" music.......

@jag
"What state is that, Polly? New York? You're not talking about MD, obviously."

Actually...according to the Tax Foundation.....New Jersey holds the distinction of being #1 and New York is 2nd........................Maryland you ask? Well we're #5 I believe? Anyway you slice it............Maryland is right there.

@jag
Here is a link:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/459.html

My quote that Maryland was NOW 5th in total tax burden was in error, Maryland was indeed #5 in 2008 and 2009, but I believe is now 12th.

According to to the Tax Foundation...Tax Freedom Day for Maryland is April 23 and THAT has us ranked 5th.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/

As you say, there are many ways to arrive at "the numbers". Surely if you are truly honest and not just a "party hack" then you must know that Maryland has always been and will continue to be a heavily taxed state.

Perhaps you make enough money or your personal situation allows you to be less encumbered by our taxes here in Maryland, others may not feel that way and are truly being "pinched" by the situation.

We can play the numbers games and I might be right one month and you may be right the next month, but truthfully we ALL know about the tax situation here in Maryland. Now if you want to try and "justify" the high tax burden......well that's another argument for another day......

To hell with the numbers, Maryland is and has been for a long time one of the most heavily taxed. Period! Considering we have 50 states even being 12th, 10th or 5th is not relevant anymore.

jag - got your panties in a bunch?

@JAG,
Facts, 360 B.C.-A.D. 2012
In memoriam: After years of health problems, Facts has finally died

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-19/news/ct-talk-huppke-obit-facts-20120419_1_facts-philosopher-opinion

Haggling over nickels and dimes while people's families fly apart, childhood poverty climbs, parents without full-time employment...shame on y'all sitting glib behind your monitors.

it's people that support this kind of crap that allow govts to grow so large and powerful. one of the first things they need to do to accomplish that is to turn citizen against citizen.

the exact numbers are impossible to come by (because there are so many contradictory numbers out there), but the bottom line is that MD is indeed a very high tax state...if you happen to have a job that pays above minimum wage. they tax everything in sight. in the past couple of years they either have raised or attempted to raise just about every tax, fee or toll imaginable. a state cannot tax itself to prosperity. what it will end up doing is taxing itself into oblivion (see Baltimore City...or Greece for examples). what benefits are MD residents gaining over residents of low tax states (especially those states that do not tax income)?

i'm glad to see so many people willing to tell Franchot to shove it.

You need a cigarette. Bad.

What kind of Jerk*** smuggles a load of smokes and drives right past the Gestapo on #95 ? It's like, "look at me and what I'm tryin' to sneak past ya!". Any dumb truck driver (like me) knows that!!!

I'd like to know whether Peter Franchot is going to ask Maryland residents to report anyone who is "smuggling" tax free clothing from Delaware or tax free items purchased on the internet. In Maryland, from what I've read, "smuggling" of cigarettes has nothing to do with the resale of cigarettes, it has to do with "tax evasion". So, every Maryland smoker that buys cigarettes in Virginia is a "tax evader", but if they buy tax free items in Delaware or on the internet, they are "educated consumers".

I just brought about 50 cartons back from the Dominican Republic. $30/carton no questions asked by ICE.

HeyJorge. Sounds like a good deal, buying in the Tax Free Zones abroad. You might want to check out the Internet for an even better deal. They require volume sales (10 Cartons or more), and are shipped from Europe. All Brands are U.S. Companies, and made in plants over there. With the high taxes, and the numbers of people quitting smoking in the U.S., American Manufacturers have embraced the foreign countries. Of course, The American Worker is again the loser. On my income, I'll just stick with my Pall Mall Reds at $4.78 a pack. My secret to longevity:-A couple of 'drinks', a pack-a-day of smokes, and an afternoon nap. Worked for my Father, Grandfather, and Great-Great etc., etc.America, what a great country!!!

Oh well, guess I'll just put my two cents worth in....was a smoker...enjoyed it...began to notice wasn't breathing very well....stopped and did not look back. But, the question I had then and still do is what is the breakdown of how the tax money actually been spent and continues to be spent today?. Way back when, it was to be specifically allocated for health care and health research (i.e., lung cancer, emphysema, heart health, etc.). I never, ever hear any bragging on the part of our government about how the money (and the amount) has been spent in that arena and the positive results of the research done over these many, many years. mmmmm...just wondering!!

Actually, jag, I do clearly recall the fuss about smoking, a bigger tax to be attached for the very noteworthy use of medical research. Of course when medical research was on the table, who could argue the point?....and so all these many years later I continue to question where did the money go honey child??? Where is the money going right now....general fund (when did that sneak in from the back door) is not acceptable when compared with the original plan...but of course that tax is no longer coming out of my pocket...still it is worth researching the facts as they originated. Reminds me of the cries that social security is going broke..of course..if the government keeps dipping in the till and not replacing it..another game hardly talked about....but, that is a good conversation for another day and one that is very, very close by.

Thank you Jeff!!

Sadly true, Buck! As for more sweet people....yes, I see it as The Honey Child Brigade!! :-)

I agree with just about everyone on here. I hate cigarettes but they are taxed too high just like everything else in this state from gasoline to property taxes and everything in between.

How about you stop taxing everyone so heavily, and they'll stop trying to evade your tyranny!

Sorry Jag...you have to go far, far further back than 2007. Taking the money from research (if it ever, ever got there in the first place) has been a slow, slow steady turn on the money compass for at least the last 14 years or maybe even more. And so, I guess the question is when it was first diverted, not if, and thus how we got "bamboozled"on that one, as only the government know how. :-)

Jag. the Tea party lunatics are trying desperately to stop crap like this. If you think this is lunacy you should see how the liberals vote.. This isn't all of it either. Ehrlich left omalley with a $1billion surplus, Now we $3 trillion deficit.. o Taxes and Fee Increases in FY 13 Budget/BRFA (As Proposed)
 TAXES = $287.4 Million
o “Thousandaires Tax”
 Limiting Itemized Deductions on individuals making over $100K and couples
making over $150K: $119.1 Million+
 Limiting Personal Exemptions on individuals making over $100K and couples
making over $150K: $63.2 Million+
o Repeal Income Tax Credit Telecommunications Property Tax: $9 Million
o Requiring the collection of Recordation Taxes on Indemnity Mortgages: $40 Million
o Repeal Maryland-mined Coal Credit: $6 Million
o “Amazon Tax” - $21 Million
 Requires the collection of sales tax on internet affiliate sites like Amazon.
o Tobacco Products Tax 70% Increase: $19 Million
o “App Tax” - $5 Million
 Imposes sales tax on digital products like Apps, ITunes, and Kindle Downloads
o Repeal Sales Tax Exemptions –

Cont:  Eliminate exemption on precious metal coins and bullion - $3 Million
 Eliminate exemption on the resale of manufactured homes - $1.4 Million
 Eliminate exemption for cylinder demurrage - $700K
o “Granny Tax Part Deux”
 Impose a provider tax on Medical Day Care - $3.4 Million
 Increase Nursing Home Provider Rates from 5.5% to 6% - $5.5 Million
 FEES = $5.26 Million
 INCREASES
o Ofc. Of Administrative Hearings:
 Appeals of Driver’s License Suspensions and Revocations – 21% increase
(from $124 to $150)
o Death Certificates - 100% increase (from $12 to $24)
 Amendments to Death Certificates after one year - 100% increase (from
$12 to $24)
o Fetal Death Certificates – 100% increase (from $12 to $24)
 Additional copies – 100% increase (from $12 to $24)
 Amendments to Fetal Death Certificates after one year – 100% increase
(from $12 to $24)

and so on.........

And so Jag you think the Tea Party folks are lunatics??

Why is there so little acknowledgement of macroeconomic fact post-2008 and the consequent decline in tax revenues?

Yes, Tea Party folk are naive and simplistic in their view that the household budget is a model for how government should operate. Dangerous...dangerous...

The complicated economic theory needs to be digested and discussed. Yeah, Keynes, Von Mises, supply-side failures and the Depression all need to be discussed in some detail. No politician on the current scene, except for Ron Paul, seems willing to hold the conversation. All the rest is Jerry Springer-Rush Limbaugh headline grabs with an eye fixed on the ratings.

Ike. Only the last 2 Bush years my friend.. Pelosi controlled of course..You are the naive one..

Maryland is one of the most taxed States? Fine with me! I live in a great neighborhood, been her 10+ years; house value has gone up, and down, and now trending up, overall value is in excess of $400,000 of what I paid. To me, the $8,500 a year in property taxes is more that worth it. My kids attend the finest public schools in the nation, streets are safe. Great international community, with highly educated neighbors. Easy access to shopping, vacation spots, international airports. Some of the countries best museums and cultural events are a stone's throw away in DC.

Best part is, there are no bars keeping me here, or you! You are free to roam about and move anywhere you like in this great land. But if you are here, please "fasten your seatbelts" and if you care to smoke, please pay your taxes.

And you think that an individual calls the shots? I doubt that Pelosi is smart enough or clever enough. You must live in a frighteningly incomprehensible world.

Another gem for a thoughtful guy: All governments either have run or will run a deficit.

I moved here from NJ last year, and I thought our taxes were bad! Now, I get paid less per pay period due to higher MD payroll taxes. In NJ, we did not pay any sales tax on clothing or food. The tax on alcohol is crazy down here. We paid less for gas and didn't have to pump our own. I have not registered my car because I can't afford the exhorbitant fees. There are tolls everywhere and the roads are a mess. Every time I watch the news, which is not often, there's talk about the Governor raising this tax and that tax. I didn't check any lists or official sources to see where MD stands, but from a newbie's perspective, I do think taxes are worse here. The only break you get is in housing and real estate taxes, which really only benefits those who own homes.

Let's see...6,000 packs divided by 3 packs a day = 5.5 years. So this person could be a heavy smoker stocking up in advance, right? Is possession of a legal substance in large quantities reasonable cause for being interrogated?

Better yet, Franchot could just announce he was going to pay informers for tips that turned into arrests. His phone will be ringing off the hook!

What we really have here is nothing but one more episode in the transition from being the "Free State" to becoming a police state. When you enact legislation designed to use taxation to punish people for behavior of which you disapprove, you are going to inevitably encourage people to do anything they can to get around those laws. For years, Canadians would routinely cross over the border to buy a couple of cartons of cigarettes and fill up their gas tanks. The bigger issue in my opinion is the reduction in personal freedom that such punitive taxation policies create.

According to a recent study, Maryland is #45 out of the 50 states in terms of overall freedom, and at the very bottom of the list for personal freedoms. This is alarming for a state that calls itself the "Free State." See http://mercatus.org/publication/freedom-50-states-index-personal-and-economic-freedom for the statistics and methodology behind this study, which is very sophisticated and comprehensive.

Wake up, sheeple of Maryland!

Jag, your an omalley bendover stooge who believes everything this liar says. Do your homework. Find out who's writing the stories. Baltimore Sun? What a joke.. They put up anything our liberals want them to.. Check out omalley's governor of the year stuff. All hogwash. Talk to teachers and please do your homework on legit not liberal sites.. Are you better off today then you were 6 years ago? while your at it, check the stats when Bush left.

Baltimore county has more ms13 then anywhere in Md.

http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-norfolk/maryland-has-become-a-haven-for-illegal-alien-gangs-more-on-the-way#comments

Taxes> http://youtu.be/VNOS1xZHrM0
http://www.eastcountytimesonline.com/story3.htm

Food Stamp fraud.. *new americans?* http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/11/maryland-virginia-top-nation-food-stamp-fraud/1962111?utm_source=Washington%20Examiner%20E-dition%2012-1%20-%2012/01/2011&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Washington%20Examiner:%20E-dition

8th worst city: http://www.businessinsider.com/most-dangerous-cities-2011-9#8-baltimore-md-18

Jackie is well read.

Ike would it make a difference what links are posted? Stick with the sunpapers.. it fits all of you liberals. Find out why it costs them to publish a paper..

Brian, i treat people how they treat others. I also spend much time exploring sites and stick to some that I can rely on most of the time. Their are many great reputable links. try this one for best and worst. http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/government/info-management/225402205?pgno=1

I also get much info from same sites our elected officials use. FAIR= Illegal aliens at www.fairus.org and www.numbersusa.com.. www.pewresearch.org a non partisan site.. These are some of sites that our elected officials use. Here is where I go to check on our elected officials across the country. Very informative and up to date. You can check on the voting records and what they've sponsored and what no also is important. You'll find out that what many of our liberal democrats in md are nothing but a bunch of liars.. Omalley for instance. promised, *and I have video* in his last campaign NOT TO RAISE TAXES.. now we 4th highest taxed state in the country and thats terrible since we such a small state.. He also says "marriage between man and woman".. Now he supports gay marriage. Now he supports it. He wants to be president in 2016 and is pandering for all votes with all groups and he is taxing the hell out of all of us just to show a surplus when he leaves. He also inherited a $1billion surplus 6 years ago. Now we $3billion in the hole and $2billion a year goes to criminal illegals who scam our systems..

Fair enough AMD. I try to respect all. I appreciate you giving the sources of your information, though you didnt have to.

AMD, you are like everybody else insofar as you read from sites--but not books, I note--that support your pre-existing views. Stop the ridiculous claim that you have some special, well-researched relationship with the Truth and you will be able to blend into the crowd.

You are correct that the Sun is a husk of a newspaper, by the way.

I find your obsession with immigration odd. Did your ancestors come to America by invitation? Just asking.

sorry but that last Comment by 1ke did me in; the nastiness of Comments in here by a few has made me just withdraw. But that one, "your obsession with immigration odd. Did your ancestors come to America by invitation? Just asking" is meant to shut down conversation. No one came to anyplace by invitation, including my own Algonquin ancestors (and no, I'm not pulling an Elizabeth Warren).

Anybody know anything about landmark homes?

Ike. My ancestors were immigrants like most of us but can you honestly say your ancestors had babies before they can afford them and benefitted with welfare and free housing and food? Can you admit that your ancestors disrespected our flag or did they hang it with pride? Did they trash their homes and our land or cherish it? Did they work for cash by felon employers who elected to hire them instead of citizens to save a $$ for cheap labor and performance while collecting welfare? Try checking on these employers ratings and workmenship.. My obsession with *illegal criminals* is an obsession every time I work the shelters and see families displaced because no homes,no money and lost everything they own because 30 Million plus illegals come to the land of the free for a better life yet have many babies for profits. Not all of mexico was a rotten place to live. they have better laws then we do and are enforced not ignored. Our group works hard to stop the thievery of our $$ to a tune of $2billion plus a year. $1 billion to educate their many children. What other country can anybody cross their border, no passport and be given all this just for votes.. Yes they all vote democrat and are catholic.. Try going to annapolis while they making the bills and see hundreds of them pack the room and ask for $$ through their groups like Casa de md who has a humungous mansion and 47% of their operating cost we pay for..

' don't know how we got to Federal procedures from the original topic of Illegal Smokes, but one can see the Liberal Agandas at work in this election year. Just to set the record straight, This Tea Party Member is no lunatic, and will continously stride to smaller government, conservative values, and a Balanced budget, whether the Dems want to pass one or not! As for Franchot, he's just following the lead of his predecessor, the late Don Schaffer.

Paul, did i say it did? You think you know so much and you don't.. You trying to silence me and it'll never happen.. Keep it up GP.. Your wrong and i'm right. I don't break the laws..I don't feast on criminals at my family's expense and future ..try working homeless shelters.. Ask them why they there..

Keep trying paul. You'll get it right one of these days.. Fyi all my friends know who i am.. Can't wait to share your videos.. lol..

Sorry - can't resist....since when has "latino" been a race???? That will definitely be a surprise to latino folks!!

Wow! Your anger-bound attitude is off the chart. Calm down, honey child!

My goodness, this chain wound far from cigarette trafficing. That being said, I'll re-enter the fray of mental masturbation. (Oops, mixed metaphore)
Re: 90 year-old racist. I'm a seventy year-old racist. In spite of most peoples' denial, we are all racists. It's natural human nature to like PLUs (People Like Us). It's been that way ever since Piltdown man copulated with Neanderthal man, subjugated them into slavery and eventually Killed off the species entirely. That was the most effective homo sapian genocide ever. Piltdowns did that to improve their own quality of life. Crude, wasn't it.
I'm not suggesting we practice genocide. I am suggesting every race, religion, nationality, socio-economic class, etc. is prejudiced, EVERY GROUP. "Can't we all just get along?"

jag is so deep into denial he can't focus on his daily duties.. geez jag.. get with the program and stop being such a hater..

buck .. landmark homes.. they were duds.. find out who had their hands in building them..

All I've read from this conversation is that there is little hope for the human race, especially in America. This is what happens when you give people skewed information then let them spout their opinions as if they actually know a damn thing. If this is the way both sides of the aisle are moving, I fear another Civil War coming...

I need a cigarette!

Ike, apparently your view on begging and stealing there way into our country is your way of making it right? Apparently you don't have family to worry about who pays for their begging and stealing.. our tax $$ pay for all of it.. These immigrants of today the Border jumpers aren't the immigrants of yesterday. Try and see the logic. Why have passports for any country then? Why frisk at the airports coming or going? Just allow open borders that bring in criminals, their weapons, gangs, disease and so on at our expense is ok with you? Unbelieveable logic.. Maybe you can afford it or your one of the 47% of non workers who get everything handed to them. Ever wonder why rents,food, utilities and every dang this is so outrageously expensive?

There is, in fact, enough to go around, AMD. They are the immigrants of today doing the dirty work that we have raised our children to think is beneath them: turning back sheets, picking crops, finishing concrete, cutting grass, caring for old people.

American companies have tried to send enough factory jobs to foreign countries to keep indigenous populations employed at low wages and our children unemployed and popping oxycodone. Immigrants simply represent the overflow.

Taxes? I pay aplenty and will not ever whine. Hey, my tax dollar pays for U.S. Customs, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Homeland Security Administration and the Border Patrol. Armed vigilantes riding around in 4-wheelers with light bars do their share. Only the fittest slip through.

Bless their hearts. They are vigorous and their grandchildren will keep the U.S. relevant.

Incidentally, why do you even speculate about who I am? I am being clear about what I think, right?

Ike. Maybe you don't see it but i know what's happening and it isn't good. Unemployment down, high gas, tolls, politicians resorting to camera's to stiff the taxpayers. All high taxes are due to illegals & their employers. It is not right that they come here with no proof of who they are.They were forced to have id in mexico and they come here and they claim no id. How many of them getting multiple welfare checks and food stamps. Watch who pays with what at the grocers and whats in there carts.Steaks,lobster etc and paid with our tax $$.. Is it right that employers can discriminate by hiring all illegals. No blacks or whites? Is it right that illegals unemployment in baltimore city is at 11% and blacks 15%? Is it right that a citizen is forced to pay for non citizens. My children were raised to scrub floors on their hands and knees and to make their beds correctly and change there sheets.They aren't afraid to do any jobs. Watch the video, *we have many like this* and tell me this is right. Also while your at it see what cars they driving to the welfare office and tell me its right.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2ue6wjPu6K8

All of who whiting turner hires are hispanics/illegals and the only whites or blacks are PE's at least on the sites we've seen. We have video's like this from many companies..They pay great campaign support to our corrupt politicians.. I will agree they work hard but so do we..

If this one doesn't get to you nothing will..
Http://youtu.be/IpADSHQZVYY

So much hatred of Maryland. Some of you people really should just move to Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, or whatever other state the Tax Foundation claims has a low tax burden. Life's too short to harbor so much nastiness and to hate the place where you live. But if you do move, good luck finding a good-paying job in your new low-tax state, or a decent public school.

If you dopes don't like the taxes in Maryland then the phone book is full of listings for moving companies. Move to some state where the taxes are next to nothing. But on the other hand in that other state it might take the police two hours to get to your house when someone is breaking in because they are only able to put two officers on the street in the whole county at any given time.

Go that other state where the nearest fire department is forty miles away because they can't afford to build fire stations or hire firemen. Go to that other state where some guy can buy the property next to yours and build a gas station and repair shop because there are no zoning laws or zoning inspectors.

I don't mind paying the taxes that I do because I receive excellent police and fire service and the county government is responsive.

Joe, what do you think of our politicians giving our $$$ to teach illegal immigrants job skills while laying off cops and fireman and closing down some of their stations? Md is the 4th highest taxed state in the country and probably the most corrupt.. AS far as county government responsive well baltimore county isn't too bad but check out other counties. Try asking DLLR a question and get 4 different answers as they keep forwarding your calls.Nobody knows what they're doing..

Frank, I concur. From bootleg cigs to rapidly deteriorating racist, mysogynistic, xenophobic rants. Sprinkle in some liberal and conservative bias and misinformation and you have....THIS!!!

Thanks, Brian for the story.

yeah skip and some people can't tell the difference between racist and just plain wrong!!

Bootleg cigs- a minor problem.
BAG TAX- a major annoyance.
Let's repeal the Bag Tax-