Virginia state Sen. Emmett W. Hanger Jr. (R-Augusta) suggested raising Virginia's cigarette tax 1200%, which he claims will give the commonwealth an additional $117 million to piss away on government spending programs vote buying schemes. Since Virginia is a tobacco state and home to the world's largest cigarette company, the Washington Post reports that the tax is being approached with political caution.

Naturally, the tobacco prohibitionists are giddy with excitement. Donna Reynolds, a spokesman for the American Lung Ass. is calling for a tax increase of 3000%, which would raise the rate higher than the national average. She claims, "Obviously, a lot of people are looking at the tobacco tax because it's embarrassingly low." Yes, we Virginians are sometimes downright embarrassed at how low our tax rates are. We should raise them up high like Californiastan or Taxachussets.

Of course raising our tax rate would also raise the national average, giving her the ammunition to hit up other states (who suddenly find themselves lagging behind) for another increase. Supporting her do-gooder nanny temperance agenda, the Post editorializes, "The possibility of higher state taxes is no longer the primary threat to the cigarette manufacturers or the tobacco farmers, according to people familiar with the industry".

Of course, the Post doesn't mention just who those people are.