The Rant

Seems to me the overzealous NY States Attorneys are interfering with commerce by threats, robbery and extortion under color of official right.

I’m not an attorney but it appears the Feds/FBI would have jurisdiction and no one, no politician, no state official, no attorney would be precluded or exempt from prosecution under these trumping federal laws.

RICO violations are serious… Victims are entitled to recover treble damages plus attorney fees in addition to any other remedies afforded by rights or law. I seem to recall some type of a tea party in Boston relating to unfair taxation…

Would it not be the utopia of supreme justice if these so called authorities who are unreasonably regulating and overtaxing cigarettes to promote and protect their own self serving interests and corrupt organizations were actually convicted of racketeering for interfering with commerce?

No different than gangs in turf wars, These criminals are guilty at the highest levels for violations of the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act and have engaged in a pattern of conspiring and interfering with commerce by controlling the free market for cigarettes, Illegally seizing products, threatening and extorting smokers under the color of official right.

The FDA classifies cigarettes as food products giving them the authority to regulated ingredients and nutritional labeling requirements but most importantly allowing them to be taxed and treated as food.

Under various RICO recovery theories, restitution could be tremendous for smokers to receive three times the amount of taxes paid in excess of food tax plus all of their legal fees plus damages. Get a group of smokers to combine and now we have a Class Action Civil RICO Lawsuit on behalf of all smokers.

Surely there has got to be a powerful law firm that would want to take this case.

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 95 CHAPTER 95—RACKETEERING § 1951. Interference with commerce by threats or violence

(a) Whoever in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, by robbery or extortion or attempts or conspires so to do, or commits or threatens physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose to do anything in violation of this section shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
(b) As used in this section—
(1) The term “robbery” means the unlawful taking or obtaining of personal property from the person or in the presence of another, against his will, by means of actual or threatened force, or violence, or fear of injury, immediate or future, to his person or property, or property in his custody or possession, or the person or property of a relative or member of his family or of anyone in his company at the time of the taking or obtaining.
(2) The term “extortion” means the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right.
(3) The term “commerce” means commerce within the District of Columbia, or any Territory or Possession of the United States; all commerce between any point in a State, Territory, Possession, or the District of Columbia and any point outside thereof; all commerce between points within the same State through any place outside such State; and all other commerce over which the United States has jurisdiction.
(c) This section shall not be construed to repeal, modify or affect section 17 of Title 15, sections 52, 101–115, 151–166 of Title 29 or sections 151–188 of Title 45.

I seem to recall a theory published online that tax payers by collecting and paying taxes trigger an agency relationship with the Government. Another seemingly far fetched theory but it may be both to the letter and in the spirit of the law. I’m sure some powerful big lawfirm would enjoy litigating this matter just for publicity.

The fact is that the NYC politicians and AG’s are conspiring to preclude, censure and limit interstate commerce while simultaneously writing a waiver into these laws for themselves to receive cigarettes tax free without penalty. This law affords privileges to officers, employees and agents of the US govt without limit or any special purpose whatsoever… Blatant tax free kick backs in every sense of the word.

NYS PUBLIC HEALTH LAW ARTICLE 13-F; SECTION 1399-LL
Unlawful shipment or transport of cigarettes.
Effective June 2003

(Any emphasis is added by C.L.A.S.H. for follow-up points)

* § 1399-ll. Unlawful shipment or transport of cigarettes. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in the business of selling cigarettes to ship or cause to be shipped any cigarettes to any person in this state who is not: (a) a person licensed as a cigarette tax agent or wholesale dealer under article twenty of the tax law or registered retail dealer under section four hundred eighty-a of the tax law; (b) an export warehouse proprietor pursuant to chapter 52 of the internal revenue code or an operator of a customs bonded warehouse pursuant to section 1311 or 1555 of title 19 of the United States Code; or (c) a person who is an officer, employee or agent of the United States

Now I’m not an accountant but I profess to have some basic math skills.

Tax Revenues Derived from a Pack of Cigarettes:

$1.50 NY City Excise Tax
$1.50 NY Excise Tax
$0.39 Federal Excise Tax
$0.40 Deposited in escrow under MSA for 25 years
$0.70 Retail Sales Tax
$0.20 estimated Income tax from retailer profit
$0.10 estimated Income tax from wholesaler profit
$0.50 estimated Income tax from manufacturer profit
$2.00 estimated Income taxes paid by consumers for the cash used to purchase the damn cigarettes.

Thats over $7 going to taxes from the sale of every pack of cigarettes. The cigarettes themselves cost less than 25 cents to produce and distribute.

These measures are not going to curb minors from smoking. To the contrary, they will want it more because it is deemed illegal and supply is limited. People always want what they can’t have… its the nature of mankind. Gangs are dealing dope and smokes now… Minors are willing to pay a premium to get supply.. street price $1 a smoke.

The US currency isn’t backed by gold anymore, it’s backed by Cigarettes! Entire budgets are made relying solely on cigarette tax revenue.

Lets take a simple look at the reality of economics of this cigarette taxing effect from a consumers perspective:

Buy 10 cartons of smokes in NY for $1000 or Hop on one of the many deals to Cancun Mexico for a one week all inclusive vacation with roundtrip air for $499 and buy 10 cartons of smokes there for $100 and come home with $400 in savings.

I’d much rather go bask in the sun where I can smoke anywhere without restriction or fear of prosecution and be free to exercise my own free will to enjoy my life.

SMOKERS SHOULD RECEIVE A TAX CREDIT

Whether cigarettes shorten ones life is irrelevant… I smoke and if my life is shorter I’ll be damned if I let them tax all of my hard earned money away on top of that while trampling and impeding on my rights to freedom.

In fact, I should get a TAX CREDIT because I am saving the government many years of social security and medicare payouts.

“If you smoke two packs a day you will shorten your life span by eight years. Smoking one to nine cigarettes per day can shorten your life span by four years.” cite

Let the politicians throw out these unsubstantiated stats and let the government accept them as fact for my many years of shortened life. I will gladly agree and accept my tax credits today to be used to buy cigarettes to continue smoking and ultimately save social security, medicare and tax payer’s money. They should put a line on our income tax forms: Cartons purchased x tax credit.. 50 cartons x $100 x = $5000 tax credit

Supreme Justice would be a Powerful Law Firm bringing a Class Action Civil RICO lawsuit on behalf of All Smokers and the Feds putting all of these criminal Racketeers in jail. Utopia would be if the States and IRS pay out damages and restitution in the form of tax credits.

Just a 3 cent rant… and NYC BUTTS was born.

Action

Thousands of People all over the country are participating in the NYC Butts protest to clean up waste and earn rewards. The program ingeniously takes advantage of US Mailboxes, located virtually everywhere, making recycling easy. NYC pays a 10% reward to people reporting tax evaders!

The 2007 GCSC Project
Cigarette butts have once again topped the Dirty Dozen List, (the top 12 items collected during the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.) So Far This year, 157,973 cigarette butts were collected, for the NYC Butts protest generating $184,828.41 in new NYC tax revenues and $18,828 in rewards!
  

Cigarette filters are made up of a type plastic called cellulose acetate that does not break down easily in the environment. In fact, it can take up to five years for a cigarette butt to biodegrade said Jean LeFite proudly displaying booty worth $436.41 in new tax revenue

Cigarette butts are the most littered item in Texas, making up 13 percent of the trash in the state, according to Keep America Beautiful.

“NYC Butts is a rare Win – Win collaboration benefiting smokers, non smokers, anti smokers, minors and tax collectors alike!” said Earth First! campus leader Bogan Durr.

She said the Quad and other areas on campus have collected thousands more discarded butts now than before because of the reward NYC pays to her organization. A group of Camp Fire Girls picks up butts on campus as part of the NYC Butt protest project, We collected more than 13,000 butts in an afternoon, thats over $15,000 in new tax revenue earning us $1,500 in rewards, Durr said.

Facts about cigarette butt littering

An estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide every year.

Over 32 billion cigarette butts are disposed of in NY each year. if placed end to end they would circle the planet 16 times.

Almost 50 per cent of all litter in our urban areas is tobacco related products- butts, cellophane wrapping, foil inserts and packaging.

Cigarette butts are considered the No 1 litter in most of our many National Parks and on our magnificent beaches.

If all the butts in NYC went to landfill this would amount to an estimated 13000m3 of solid waste. That’s the equivalent of approx. 180 semi-trailer truck loads of cigarette butts. However only a small proportion of used cigarette butts are collected and taken to landfill.

NYC Butts could generate enough in new tax revenue to get rid of all government debt

NYC BUTTS – Free Cigarettes

The NYC Cigarette Tax Laws are unfair and until an example is made they will likely never change and the tax machine will continue to roll all of us over.

Every retailer selling cigarettes should provide the label below with each pack to encourage recycling of cigarettes. Retailers may even be entitled to MSA money and tax credits to offset their costs for this massive cigarette recycling effort.

Everyone is encouraged to recycle and become an unlicensed manufacturer of NYC Butts cigarettes. The cost is free, the process is simple and the legal ramifications are sure to promote change. Plus, as an added ecological benefit we would all be working together in the world’s largest collaborative effort for the recycling of cigarettes.

All that is required to manufacture NYC Butts cigarettes is any empty cigarette box, a dirty ashtray and an NYC Butts packaging label.

Step 1. Remove the cellophane and make sure there are no tax stamps on the package.
Step 2. Empty ashtray into the cigarette box carefully counting each cigarette butt. (Ashes are ok they make good packing material)
Step 3. Affix label below with accurate count of NYC Butts and deposit in nearest US mail box.  

Congratulations! You are officially, under the current laws of NY, an unlicensed cigarette manufacturer of NYC Butts! Not only have you recycled cigarettes and carcinogenic waste but you have earned NYC new cigarette tax revenue!

 

NYC Butts Recycling and Packaging Labels: MS Word Format Acrobat PDF

The NYC Butt label is designed to recycle any brand cigarette package in compliance with the Surgeon General Health Warnings required by law. Specially engineered to seal and preserve the full bodied flavor, aroma and lipstick rings of NYC Butts, the label is pre-addressed with appropriate postal notice and can simply be deposited into the nearest US Mailbox for recycling and prompt delivery: Try our NYC Butts Recycling Mailbox Locator.

No need for postage as the postal service will proudly deliver these hand made babies postage due to any officials with Franking privileges!

Franking privilege

Typically granted to certain elected officials by a government, is the privilege to send and receive mail for free. A franking privileged person adds his or her signature or a facsimile thereof to a letter or parcel in lieu of a postage stamp. Elected officials and the postal service are both endowed by the taxpayer. Adding an official’s mail to the existing mailstream does not change the total fixed cost of the postal system from the taxpayer’s perspective, and avoids reciprocal accounting transactions. The phrase franking is derived from the Latin word “francus” meaning free. However:

Title 18, USC, Section 1719 Franking privilege
Whoever makes use of any official envelope, label, or indorsement authorized by law, to avoid the payment of postage or registry fee on his private letter, packet, package, or other matter in the mail, shall be fined not more than $300.

Print out NYC Butts Recycling and Packaging Labels to manufacture more NYC Butts and send them by mail to all of your favorite officials. We’ve even got more NYC Butts stuff available at CafePress for this monumental cleanup effort. ie.

Eliot Spitzer
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Rewards for Reporting Tax Evaders

For fiscally concerned taxpayers it is your duty to go online and report the possibility of tax evasion and fraud with the NYC Finance Commission:  NYC has offered a special 10% Reward for reports of Cigarette Tax Evaders and the IRS offers 15% – 25% rewards for Federal Tax evaders using IRS Form 211 Application for Reward for Original Information.  The US Postal Service offers rewards of up to $50,000 for unlawful use of postage. Poster 296 – Notice of Reward and Hotline to Inspector General. 

— Cut-n-paste Sample NYC Report: (use nycbutts AT gmail to report anonymously) —

Dear New York City Commissioner of Finance, On _______ date a package containing _______ NYC Butts unlicensed and untaxed cigarettes was deposited in the mail for delivery to: Mr. Michael Bloomberg, City Hall, NY, NY 10007.  I have a reasonable belief Mr. Bloomberg is in possession of these unlicensed and untaxed cigarettes received by mail. Under NY Tax Law section 471, Mr. Bloomberg is required to remit applicable taxes using form CG-15 within 24 hours of receipt. If your records do not indicate receipt of Form CG-15 with payment for the aforementioned cigarette shipment by Mr. Bloomberg than demand is made for investigation of possible tax evasion and fraud.      Failure to remit taxes and report such untaxed cigarettes within 24 hours of receipt would constitute possession of contraband cigarettes. A pattern of such activity are violations under the RICO statutes and Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act: (18 U.S.C. 2341 et seq.)(”CCTA”). Pursuant to TSB-M-03(1)M Enforcement Provisions Regarding… Possession of Cigarettes in New York State:  The New York City Commissioner of Finance is authorized to impose Civil and Criminal penalties for bootlegging a fine of $1 per cigarette as penalty for violations of the cigarette tax imposed by the Administrative Code of the City of New York. As a Fiduciary to NYC, Mr. Bloomberg is held to the highest levels and standards to abide and follow all laws and it would only be proper the maximum penalty be authorized.     Respectfully, Fiscally Concerned Taxpayer

UNFAIR AND UNJUST LAWS

Under NY laws receiving unlicensed and untaxed NYC Butts cigarettes are subject to the payment of State and City taxes within 24 hours of receipt and reported using Form CG-15 Cigarette Use Tax Return. Receiving over 10,000 of these hand made beauties makes it a federal possession and trafficking offense, without tax stamps they are contraband cigarettes.

The law does not care if you ordered them, received them as gifts, didn’t order them, gave them away, threw them away, burned them, smoked them or any other excuse. If you are a NY resident and receive untaxed cigarettes of any kind by mail you are individually responsible and liable for reporting and paying all taxes without exception.

Cigarette means any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco or any other substance, regardless of size, shape, or whether such tobacco or substance is flavored, adulterated, or mixed with any other ingredient, the wrapper or cover of which is made of paper or any other substance or material except tobacco. – Form CG-15

These laws do not differentiate cigarettes between new, used, damaged, recycled, remanufactured, samples, for resale, for personal use.

NYC BUTTS	Federal Tax	NY State Tax	NYC City Tax	Bootlegging Penalty	New Tax Revenues
20	$0.40	$1.50	$1.50	$20.00	$23.40
25	$0.50	$1.88	$1.88	$25.00	$29.26
40	$0.80	$3.00	$3.02	$40.00	$46.82
100	$2.00	$7.50	$7.60	$100.00	$117.10
200	$4.00	$15.00	$15.18	$200.00	$234.18
1,000	$20.00	$75.00	$76.00	$1,000	$1,171
10,000	$200.00	$750.00	$760.00	$10,000	$11,710

In addition to the above $3.40 to $8.53 in new tax revenue due to the state, the civil penalty for possession of unstamped or unlawfully stamped cigarettes is an additional $1 per cigarette received by mail. A carton of 200 NYC Butts cigarettes can potentially generate $234.18 in new tax revenue. Thats $1.17 in new tax revenue per NYC Butt cigarette!!!

So not only are we promoting change to these unfair laws and taxes, we are collectively recycling and increasing the tax revenues while possibly cleaning up corrupt and privileged tax evaders. Mayor Bloomberg may be an oppressive Billionaire but his fortunes can quickly go up in… SMOKE.

Get everyone involved – YOU can make a difference!

– Link to this post to support NYC BUTTS – FREE CIGARETTES.
– Print and distribute NYC Butt labels to retailers with this message.
– Encourage everyone to recycle cigarettes and carcinogenic waste.
– Be fiscally responsible and report suspected tax evasion and fraud.
– Recycle NYC BUTTS cigarettes and send them out by mail today.

NYC Butts is a rare Win – Win collaboration benefiting smokers, non smokers, anti smokers, minors and tax collectors alike!

NYC BUTTS – Free Cigarettes – Promoting Responsible Smoking – Recycling of Cigarettes – New Tax Revenues and Protest of NYC Cigarette Taxes.