Market Maker Follies
Posted on October 8, 2015
Shocking! Create a black market and black market types things occur:
An alderman is warning that the sale of so-called “loosies” — single cigarettes — on the street has the potential of sparking gang wars in the city.
At a City Hall budget hearing Tuesday, Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) warned of gangs having turf battles over who was entitled to sell loose, untaxed cigarette on various street corners.
“You’re gonna have a gang war over loose cigarettes,” Burnett said. It’s one of those things we need to pay attention to or somebody’s gonna get hurt.”
Duh! Really?
Wally helps create a black market by raising taxes on a legal product in the name of health care and the children (of course). But when some undesirables see dollar signs and take advantage of the situation, the market makers seem surprised with the outcome.
Plus, isn’t selling “loosies” one of those “quality of life” crimes that these same aldermen were just complaining to GMath about the other day? When the cops enforce the ordinance, they bitch, when they don’t enforce the ordinance, they bitch some more. Quite the confounding situation.