Obama Tobacco-Tax for Pre-Kindergarten Draws Opposition
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Even before President Barack Obama officially proposed a federal cigarette tax increase to fund preschool programs, tobacco companies and sellers lined up against it while anti-smoking groups praised the plan.
Obama’s 2014 budget proposal, to be released April 10, would finance a pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds with higher taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. The president outlined the program in his annual State of the Union speech to Congress. He’s seeking to increase spending in areas such as education while Republican lawmakers are pushing for additional budget cuts as a way to reduce the federal deficit.