LEGAL PACT Act Passed

C

Chair Warmer

Membership Revoked
PACT Act Passes Congress, Seneca Nation Blasts Decision

By WKBW Directors
Story Published: Mar 12, 2010 at 4:26 PM EDT
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WKBW) --

The PACT Act unanimously passed in the U.S. Senate late Thursday night, to the pleasure of the American Cancer Society.

The goal of the act is to eliminate the illegal sales of tax-free cigarettes and tobacco through the Internet and U.S. mail.

The Seneca Nation disagrees, claiming the act only serves to protect big tobacco company's market share, and will cost more than 1,000 native and non-native tobacco industry jobs in Western New York.

“The PACT Act is being portrayed as a tool to fight cigarette smuggling. In reality, it is about big tobacco protecting market share. This action will result in the death of legitimate, treaty-sanctioned Native American commerce, causing significant economic harm," Seneca Nation President Barry E. Snyder Sr. said.

The American Cancer Society claims that when excise taxes are collected on all tobacco product sales, as many as 100,000 New Yorkers will quit smoking, and thousands more will never start.

The Seneca Nation estimates that enforcement of the PACT Act could result in up to a 65 percent loss in Import/Export revenue, which it uses to fund health and education programs.

Read both press releases from the Seneca Nation of Indians and from the American Cancer Society under the 'Related Content' tab.

http://www.wkbw.com/news/87493582.html

Mrs. Chair Warmer
 
C

Chair Warmer

Membership Revoked
PACT Act a hidden power grab for states

Lance Morgan
Friday, March 12, 2010
Filed Under: Opinion

The US Constitution has what is known as the Indian Commerce Clause. It basically states that Congress has the power to regulate commerce with Indian Tribes. Unfortunately, Congress just outsourced that power to the states.

On Thursday night, the US Senate passed what is known as the PACT Act, without even taking a vote. It was by unanimous consent. All Indian Country needed was one US Senator to object, but no one stepped up.

The PACT Act does several things. Mainly it prevents the post office from shipping Internet tobacco products, which for some tribes is big business. However, it does something else that isn’t so clear. It gives the states the power to enforce what is known as the Jenkins Act, a federal law, against tribal economic interests.

Giving the any state the power to enforce a federal law against a tribe is wrong and sends chills up my spine. To be blunt the states have proven over and over again that they can’t be trusted. Their greed always kicks in at some point and they use the law to rationalize it.

But the PACT Act is particularly tricky. There is a portion of the PACT Act that is intended to make tribes feel better. It clarifies that the new law doesn’t impact Tribal sovereignty. Well that is nice of them until you realize what game the states have been playing the last 20 years.

States rarely attack Tribes directly on economic issues because they largely can’t make us do anything. What they do is attempt to get their way indirectly by controlling those who deal with Tribes. “Don’t sell that to the tribe without state tax or we will take your license and throw you in jail” is surprisingly effective on non-Indians.

Interestingly, the US Supreme Court gave them idea in 1990’s when it made the helpful suggestion to states that they move the “legal incidence” of tax upstream economically to those who sell to tribes. This system was further endorsed in 2005, when the court ruled that the downstream economic effects of state tax laws on tribes don’t matter. The states have been using this playbook to isolate tribes economically ever since.

But the Tribes’ are not stupid! In the tobacco industry, the Tribes have been selling directly to each other in what is the modern day emergence of Tribe-to-Tribe commerce. When one tribe sell to another tribe, they are much more likely to ignore the state laws and their threats.

States hate the emergence of Tribe-to-Tribe commerce because it forces them to confront tribes who are acting under tribal law on tribal land. Enter the PACT Act. The Pact Act protects tribes, it says so right in the law. But it doesn’t protect those who sell to Tribes. In fact, it requires all sales to Tribes to be reported to the state and if it isn’t reported then the state can sue you in federal court for a felony violation of the Jenkins Act.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. The Tribes can’t win with this law. About 10 years ago most states entered into what is called the Master Settlement Agreement (“MSA”), with big tobacco companies. The states basically became partners with the tobacco companies by doubling the price and agreeing to split it amongst themselves. Tribes get nothing under this settlement, but the state is required to diligently enforce it against tribes or the Marlboro Man will withhold payments, which he is threatening to do right now if the states don’t crack down on Tribes.

The Jenkins Act is a simple law. All it really does is require you to notify the state if you ship tobacco products into that state. However, states have enacted a series of laws around the MSA and they plan to use the information required to be reported regarding tribal sales to no doubt sue those who sold to the tribes for MSA payments. The same MSA payments they won’t share with Tribes.

So basically, if you sell to a Tribe and don’t report you get sued. If you report your sales to the tribe, then you get sued under a different law. The only way you don’t sued is if you give the state an extra $4.50 per carton and even then the state can blacklist the native tobacco product and declare it contraband. This is especially helpful in protecting Marlboro’s market share, upon which the MSA payments are calculated.

This is so about money. It is about taking money away from us and protecting the state’s money and the Marlboro Man’s market share. Unfortunately, it is also a way to kill intertribal commerce and a way to continue the playbook of controlling tribes economically by threatening those who deal with Tribes.

I know I am right on this because if the PACT Act was serious about protecting Tribes, then it would have allowed tobacco sellers to report their sales directly to the Tribe, and not just to the state. This could have been done by simply adding the words “or Tribe” to the Jenkins Act. But the PACT ACT instead just requires that the feds and the states share their information with the Tribes, which is essentially a meaningless gesture because we will no longer have any tax income to protect now that the PACT Act is passed.

This PACT Act passed today, actually while I was writing this column. I was going to say contact your Senator, but not one of them stepped up to object. Dozens of tribes and several tribal organizations objected to this law and we couldn’t even get a hearing scheduled. In the world of Washington, DC we are reminded once of again of our worth. So it comes down to Obama. He is an adopted Crow and he says all the right things, but this is real and not the campaign trail. So it will be interesting to see how he reacts when the rhetoric is tested against the reality of supporting tribes. Maybe someone should start calling the White House!

Indianz.com your internet resource
http://64.38.12.138/News/2010/018769.asp

Mrs. Chair Warmer
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
It's gonna be a long, hot summer here in Seneca land....

Hope no one is planning on driving on Interstate 86...

Summerthyme
 
C

Chair Warmer

Membership Revoked
Here's what the Coalition To Stop Contraband Tobacco has to say
http://www.coalitiontostopcontrabandtobacco.com/pact-act-qa

PACT Act Q&A

Why should Congress care about online cigarette sales?
Isn’t there already a federal law on this issue?
How would PACT Act help?
Who would bear the burdens of the PACT Act?
Is this a Native American issue?
Who would be subject to the PACT Act?
Does the PACT Act violate tribal sovereignty?
Are sales made by a tribal business to non-tribal consumers off of the reservation subject to State taxation?
What impact will the PACT Act have on the states’ payments under the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA).
Will the PACT Act result in a reallocation of MSA payments from one state to another?
Won’t the PACT Act hurt jobs and economic opportunity in the areas that have Internet businesses?

Excerpt from website;

As tobacco product excise taxes increase, so do the prices of tobacco products. Criminal organizations exploit these increases by selling contraband or counterfeit tobacco products for their own financial gain and without regard to youth access prevention laws. This illicit activity deprives governments of tax revenue and hurts law-abiding businesses. Law enforcement groups, trade associations, health care advocates and the states have been advocating for the passage of legislation to combat illegal Internet sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco a number of years.

The House is reconsidering S.1147 – the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (“PACT Act”), which would impose new restrictions on Internet cigarette and smokeless tobacco sales. This legislation will help States recover revenues at a time when they need it most, ensure appropriate age verification, and restore a level competitive environment for the law-abiding wholesalers and retailers throughout the United States who pay their taxes and play by the rules. The PACT Act is an important step in addressing the larger issue of stopping the trade of contraband tobacco.

... In May 2009, the House passed the PACT Act by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 397 to 11. The Senate passed the PACT Act the evening of March 11, 2010. Because of slight differences in the Senate and House bills, the House of Representatives will need to take a final vote to accept the Senate version of the bill and it will then go to President Obama’s desk for his signature.

Since 2002, both houses have passed the PACT Act on multiple occasions.


---------------------------------------------------end

Mrs. Chair Warmer
 
W

Windy Ridge

Veteran Member
They should really start raising their own tobacco. It can be grown anyplace that has a 90 day growing season. I raised some in Montana last year. It did quite well.

Windy Ridge
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
All this go's right back to the unconstitutional Healthcare power grab and they all must stand to make billions from its passing or otherwise they would not care one way or the other.
 
ainitfunny

ainitfunny

Saved, to glorify God.
Windy Ridge said:
They should really start raising their own tobacco. It can be grown anyplace that has a 90 day growing season. I raised some in Montana last year. It did quite well.
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/images/smilies/aargh.gif
Windy Ridge
Click to expand...
Good idea. Indian grown tobacco, grown by Indians, transported by Indian trucking companies, sold by Indians on Indian land is none of the Govt. business. It also prompts Indian jobs and economy.

THE US MILITARY purchaser IS GETTING RIPPED OFF ON BASE. Here in Washington state, the COMMISSARY AND BX is charging prices for cigarettes THAT because of the high price, you would think "SUCH A HIGH PRICE, DAMN THAT "CIGARETTE TAX", but the cigarettes ARE NOT "TAX PAID" AND AAFES is POCKETING THE TAX MONEY and SELLING UNTAXED CIGARETTES AT TAXED PRICES!! The soldier doesn't get a break, and AAFES pockets the profits. The friggin claim that "ALL profits go to benefit the soldiers "Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund ARE PURE BULLSH*T! Nothing is free or even reduced cost as far as welfare and recreation on base, never has been. They (AAFES) charges the soldiers at least 10-15% more for everything they buy on base than they could get it for at local stores, while claiming they are doing them some friggin favor.

I WISH THERE WOULD BE A REAL PUBLIC AUDIT OF AAFES to show where the money REALLY goes and who REALLY has their hands in the till. It has to be at least hundreds of millions of dollars profits that mysteriously NEVER shows up in anything free anywhere for "Morale, welfare, and Recreation." And in case you aren't aware of what it is like IT IS A HUMONGOUS SHOPPING MALL on each base all "nonprofit", yea riiiight. Check out the bottom of those VERY expensive base ciggys....no tax paid stamp.
 
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P

Publius

TB Fanatic
When the first Europeans showed up in the Americas, tobacco was found growing wild threw out much of the continent, and it would not take to much work from 100 or so people in each state to sow seeds from their own back yard stock where ever they can.
 
MaureenO

MaureenO

Another Infidel
I don't think the Indians will take this sitting down. More reservations will need to begin selling tobacco products for customers to purchase in person.

Maureen :dstrs:
 
MaureenO

MaureenO

Another Infidel
Here's my Senatorial response letters to Feinstein and Boxer:

"I would like to address my extreme displeasure in the passage of the PACT Act. I REMAIN in opposition of this Act. Tobacco is legal and its shipment method should NOT be regulated by the government.

Any thoughts as to how much revenue will be lost by the USPS due to the PACT Act? Or is the government more interested in the profits made by the retailers?

Who will be held to answer for the most serious health threat--the melting rubber and asphalt residue we ALL inhale everywhere a motor vehicle is operated? Does anyone ever ask where the tread went on their tires when they need replacing?

We're ALL breathing it in with no end in sight!

I do not believe this issue revolves around legislative concern for the health or welfare of the American people, but for the increase in revenues gained from lobbyists."
 
Caplock50

Caplock50

I am the Winter Warrior
Several questions for the Indians to consider...Does that 'act' forbid them from giving it, free, to another person? If not, then give it free and ask for a 'donation' so they can pay their workers and buy more crop-growing stuff. Does the 'act' prevent them from passing the tobacco on to family members? If not, then make all of their customers 'brothers'...members of the tribe/family. That's how many folks got around the 1920s prohibition on alcoholic beverages.
 
N

night driver

ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
ST, I-90 may get interesting too. I remember more than one year they were rolling burning tires across the road.....

+++++++++++++++


Suques for the folks who live in a different country inside the US, doesn't it??? NO representation in the home of the Great White Father Who Speaks With Forked Tongue.
 
Wise Owl

Wise Owl

Deceased
Roll your own with pipe tobacco purchased locally. It costs about $30 for a cig machine, $20 for a lb of tobacco and 2 cartons of cigarette tubes. So cigs are about $10 a pack after you pay off the machine's cost and that is done after two cartons are made.

The tobacco companies have done a work around selling pipe tobacco. Yeah, it's not as smooth but then if you want a smoke and can't afford $50 for a bag of cig tobacco, that is what you do now.

I don't see any uprising's over the pact act since it passed. At least not yet.
 
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