Open Letter to Michigan Senator Carl Levin
Since Senator Carl Levin refuses to accept e-mail and I refuse to be forced into using a web form, I have posted his letter and my response below.
Posted: November 17, 2003
Dear Honorable Senator Levin,
You have done little to assure me that my concerns will be considered if/when you take up Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking or PACT Act (S.1177) for a vote.
The CDC can plaster erroneous figures until the cows come home. Unfortunately, the figures are incorrect and based on unscientific methods of research. In fact, recent Researchers from King's College, University Of London found on a normal day, in London, an individual can breath in the toxic equivalent of 15 cigarettes. Emissions are so concentrated in some area's that pedestrians and those with offices or homes on the roadside are exposed to the NOx equivalent of more than 30 cigarettes
There was no control group in the CDC studies, and smoking is not the only cause of death included in those figures. Further, the numbers you spout below are impossible fabrications and not even remotely possible.
Granted smoking, may not be the most healthful thing a person can do for themselves but it is a choice that only an individual can make. Smokers should not be saddled with an unfair tax burden: it is not our job to bail out the mess our statesmen have left us in, with their overspending.
I don't currently purchase my cigarettes online, but I can certainly see the merit in doing so.
Our government can not force open our borders, allowing China to dump billions of dollars of merchandize in our markets, while at the same time restricting our own citizens from spending their dollars as they choose.
Yet, due to the free trade agreements, millions of US jobs have been forever lost overseas. My own husband has been out of work for over a year, without the benefit of unemployment benefits because we were smart enough to move back to Michigan before things got really bad for us in California. I have a child to support and vehicle that barely runs. Everywhere I look I see desperate families. Families whose lives have been turned upside down because of government policy.
Whether or not I smoke is nobodies business but mine and I can assure you I will purchase my cigarettes as cheaply as I can, especially if that means choking off tax dollars from a bloated state budget.
Might I recommend that you and your fellow government servants try repealing some of the health and welfare laws and keep your noses out of our business. I don't need a watch dog or protector. I need a job to support my family. I need you to send China with their garbage products packing, and I need illegal immigrants rounded up and sent packing, including those we are supporting who have their fannies in our prisons and jails.
This can be turned around but not while you play tea party or filibuster...whatever you choose to call it.
~Annette M. Hall
Novi, MI
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-----Original Message-----
From: Levin, Senator (Levin) [mailto:senator@levin.senate.gov]
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2003 10:32 AM
Subject: RE: Your Concerns
Dear Friend,
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking or PACT Act (S.1177). I appreciate hearing your views.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Smoking causes more than 400,000 fatalities and results in more than $70 billion in health care spending in the United States every year, including more than $30 billion paid by the U.S. government. Each year, in Michigan alone, 14,700 adults die from smoking and nearly 30,000 children become daily smokers.
Internet tobacco sales have grown rapidly in recent years. Today, there are over 400 websites that sell tobacco products. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, most sites fail to adequately verify the age of cigarette purchasers, allowing children as young as 11 to have easy access to these products. And, since Internet tobacco products are virtually tax-free, the cost of purchasing cigarettes over the Internet is significantly lower than in retail outlets, making Internet tobacco products even more attractive.
Additionally, each year states lose as much as $200 million in uncollected tobacco taxes through Internet sales which are shipped through the mail. With our states facing their worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, this loss in revenue is particularly detrimental.
Moreover, cigarette trafficking has been linked to organized crime and terrorist organizations. In 2000, authorities reported that a cigarette smuggling ring shipped 70,000 cigarette cartons from North Carolina to Michigan to be resold and sent the profits from this scheme to the Lebanon-based terrorist group, Hezbollah.
The PACT Act, introduced by Senators Hatch (R-UT) and Kohl (D-WI) on June 3, 2003, would require those shipping cigarettes into a state to file a report with that state's tobacco tax administrator and abide by that state's laws regarding cigarette tax collection. It also makes violating the act a felony, and would allow the state's attorney general to file a civil action in federal court. S.1177 would give the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives the authority to block the delivery of cigarettes sold by Internet sellers who fail to register with the state or otherwise fail to comply with federal or state law.
S.1177 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee where it was unanimously reported to the Senate. Similar legislation (H.R.2824) was introduced by the Rep. Green (R-WI) and Rep. Meehan (D-MA) in the House of Representatives.
Should this S.1177 come before the full Senate, I will be sure to keep your views in mind.
Sincerely,
Carl Levin
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A Recent E-mail Regarding Senator Carl Levin
-----Original Message-----
From: MIGOP Info [mailto:info@migop.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 1:32 PM
Subject: Freeing the Michigan 4
Families. They're what make America strong. They take care of each other. They make sacrifices together. Family ties bind us together.
But Senator Carl Levin is taking family ties too far.
Not only is he blocking confirmation of several qualified judicial nominations from Michigan... but his list of demands to the White House includes giving one of the judgeships to his cousin-in-law.
His cousin-in-law? Yep. His cousin-in-law.
Carl Levin is sacrificing the interests of all the Michigan families he is supposed to represent -- just so he can try to get a family member a good job on the federal bench. His disregard for the Constitution and for preserving Michigan's right to justice on the federal court continues.
In July and again in September, people like you from all across Michigan took action to force the Senate to overcome Carl Levin's partisan obstruction. Today, it's going to take another outcry to shine the light of day on Levin's self-centered actions.
Take action now! Beginning Tuesday, a radio ad will air statewide informing Michigan families how their Senator has sold them out in favor of the Levin family. Carl Levin needs to hear from the people of Michigan that we do not appreciate being held hostage in this way.
Contact Senator Levin and tell him to stand up for justice for American, and Michigan, families. Tell him that his family ties shouldn't tie up the Senate any more.
Senator Levin
(202) 224-6221
http://www.levin.senate.gov/emailform/
