WTF! GOV. PATTERSON WANTS TO RAISE THE TAX ON CIGARETTES BY $1.60 MAKING A PACK OF CIGARETTES IN NEW YORK WELL OVER $10 DOLLARS A PACK!

ALBANY - Gov. Paterson gave the Legislature another take-it-or-leave-it proposal Friday - this time over a whopping hike in cigarette taxes.
Paterson included a $1.60 per-pack increase in the state's cigarette tax in the emergency spending bills he sent the Legislature to keep the government running for the next two weeks.

Taxes on cigars, chewing tobacco and other tobacco products also would be increased from 46% of the wholesale price to 75%, state Budget Director Robert Megna said.

"Increasing the price hopefully gets people to stop using the products," Megna said. "An added benefit to that is we raise revenue."

If approved, the new cigarette tax would take effect July 1, while the hike on other tobacco products would begin Aug. 1.

Paterson's new taxes would raise an extra $290 million to help plug the state's $9.2 billion deficit.

The emergency bills also include $150 million from the collection of taxes on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations, setting up a likely court battle with the American Indian tribes.

By including the taxes in the emergency bills, Paterson has again effectively dared the Legislature to approve them or shut down the government. He used similar tactics in recent weeks to extract cuts in Medicaid, mental health programs and social services.

Legislative leaders Friday night seemed ready to go along with Paterson's latest gambit and approve the measures on Monday.

"A cigarette tax was always a part of the governor's proposal, so there will be an agreement on that," Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) said in a TV interview that aired Friday night.

Bronx Sen. Ruben Diaz, who nearly caused a government shutdown earlier this week when he refused to vote for the last emergency bill, said he'd support the tax hike on smokes.

Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau County) said in a statement that Republicans would not support any new taxes.

Megna announced the new taxes just hours after the Assembly approved a set of budget bills that trimmed nearly $1.04 billion from the state's deficit, but also eliminated $300 million in municipal aide funding for the city.