From the "I told you so" file comes this story from Bruce Bartlett: Smugglers cash in on tobacco

It should be noted that among the tax hikes in the proposed CA budget are increased tobacco taxes. Also, these taxes are regressive in nature. They attack the poor in far greater proportion to income than they do the EvilRich. So not only is the Democrat controlled legislature promoting the interests of smugglers, it's doing so on the backs of the poor!

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An Update:

I just read that Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D) is proposing a $3/pack tax be leveled on the poor!

During the '90s, we were called
"Clinton Haters" for criticizing Bill Clinton. That label implied a mindless
hatred of the man and thus any criticism could be ignored. But the truth is that
there was much to criticize. And now Der Schickmeister has once again
reminded us of the bad ol' days at the end of the 20th Century. Slick now
contends that the disaster in Mogadishu really wasn't his fault; it was
that of George H.W. Bush. (And thus, I suppose, George W.'s by extention.)
He recently let fly with this whopper...

face="Verdana, Times" size="2">"These people ran on responsibility, but as
soon as you scratch them they go straight to blame. Now, you know, I didn't
blame his [President Bush's] father for Somalia when we had that awful day
memorialized in 'Black Hawk Down.' I didn't do that."

This
didn't sit well with the Wall Street Journal. They set the record
straight in target="_blank" title="You may need to register to read this.">this editorial.
The facts are that the ill-fated mission to Mogadishu wasn't part of the original
mission ordered by Bush the Elder. It was an entirely new mission ordered
by, guess who, Slick. And it was the Clintonista White House that denied
the use of armor and air support to the Rangers and Special Forces units.
And it was Slick's Sec-Def, Les Aspin, who had to resign over the whole affair.

I'm still alive... I'm just being lazy.