Can You Pay for Preschool With Cigarettes?

President Barack Obama has put a respectably high price tag on his preschool proposal -- $75 billion over the next 10 years. The spending would start modestly, amounting to $1.3 billion in the first year, but rise to about $10 billion annually by 2020. That would go a long way toward helping states create and expand programs for the poorest American 4-year-olds.

Added to that, in the president's budget released yesterday, is a bonus for teenagers and others well beyond preschool age: Obama suggests paying for the preschool plan by almost doubling the federal tax on cigarettes, to $1.95 a pack from $1.01. History shows that when cigarette taxes rise, consumption drops, especially among the youngest smokers.