Read Obama's Lips, No New Taxes

At least that's what Obama said on the campaign trail. Specifically, he said in Dover N.H. on Sept. 12 "I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes." He repeatedly vowed "you will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime."
But now that he's in office, Obama has signed a law raising the tobacco tax nearly 62 cents on a pack of cigarettes, to $1.01. Other tobacco products also got steep tax increases. Taxes on tobacco products fall disproportionately on those who are not "rich" (according to Obama's own definition).
The extra money will be used to finance a major expansion of health insurance for children, which was enacted last month with the passage of the SCHIP legislation. And that's where the logic really gets twisted.
The bizarre logic evident in this legislation belongs in the book “Catch-22”, not in U.S. law. In an economy where half the people pay no income taxes at all, the House has passed legislation that will provide free health care to families of 4 making up to $65,000, which is more than three times the federal poverty threshold. To fund this giveaway the House decided to increase the tax on smokers. Brilliant logic – given that the taxes on tobacco were initially raised with the specific goal of decreasing the number of smokers. So if the taxes succeed in their original purpose and drive down the number of smokers, then the funding for SCHIP will evaporate. If this is what passes for logic in the Congress, I fear that they’d all be losers on the TV show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”.
Since Congress has proven itself totally incapable of eliminating any program, even the most egregious failures, the loss of funding from taxing smokers will inevitably lead to Congress looking for something or someone else to tax to fund SCHIP.
You just can't make this stuff up.