But what is a surprise, perhaps, is that even the sponsor of the tax increase bill understands there are limits to what the tax can accomplish:
The proposed tax increase "is not something we dreamed up to try to balance the budget," Deutch told lawmakers. "It is something we introduced to try to save lives."
If approved, the bill's success would be marked by a drop in tax revenue, the result of fewer people smoking, Deutch said.
"That's what we want to happen," Deutch said. "We won't have an ongoing stream of revenue. We will see it shrink every year."
That's more than we can say for Kentucky's wild-eyed tax raisers.
