The mainstream media is up in arms ... Obama broke a campaign promise! Well, this wouldn't be the first time. But this one is a biggie in the eyes of many. During the campaign and even as president, Obama has promised not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000.

But guess what? The tobacco tax increase went into effect yesterday, raising the tobacco tax nearly 62 cents on a pack of cigarettes to $1.01. And guess who is more likely to smoke: poor people. People making less than $200,000 a year. People who are government educated. Barack Obama supporters.

I love it. If the Obama administration is going to increase taxes to pay for government healthcare, at least let the poor and the ignorant people pay for it. They are the ones, after all, who put Barack Obama in the White House. They can afford to fund his dreams and schemes, one puff at a time.

By the way ... just why are poor people more likely to smoke? Because, generally speaking, they're dumber. As much as you might hate to admit it, intelligence translates into wealth in a free economy. Ignorant people just don't usually make the big bucks. Well ... there are athletes and entertainers ... but that's another story. The tests are out there ... smoking is a habit for the ignorant. Deal with it.

The single largest federal tax on tobacco is taking effect this week. Wednesday to be exact. And I couldn't be more thrilled. The cost of cigarettes has apparently already risen in order to offset and drop in profits because the per-pack tax will climb from 39 cents to $1.01. And it's not just cigarettes. Other tobacco products will see tax increases as well.

Just in case you didn't know .. one out of every five adults is ignorant enough to smoke cigarettes. These disgusting, full of self-hatred smokers cost our economy $193 billion a year in medical expenses and lost time at work.

If you are a regular listener to the show, or reader of Nealz Nuze, you know that I believe smokers to generally be stupid, ignorant people .. who also stink. There is no small amount of research that shows smokers have lower IQs and score lower on intelligence tests than non-smokers. If you're an employer and you're looking to make cut backs in these economic times, my suggestion is to start with the smokers. You save money in so many ways. Your smoking employees are probably less intelligent and will miss work more often than people who chose not to submit themselves to such poor habits. Now for this ....

More than half of smokers who are diagnosed with cancer continue to smoke. This is according to a West Virginia survey published in the Journal of Oncology Practice. And guess who gets the blame? The doctors. Not the people who willingly choose to continue smoking. Nope. The doctors are at fault for not doing enough to help them quit.

Amazing. Personal responsibility ... out the window. Just wait until the government gets a hold of your healthcare, then you have someone new to blame it on - the government!

... should be the man who gave him the job. Barack Obama is a smoker. He's also America's principal celebrity at this time. Teenagers are going to want to emulate their celebrity hero. I think that there is no doubt whatsoever that many young people will take up smoking because their hero-celebrity president smokes. Sanjay Gupta could make quite a statement if he made Obama's quitting of the nicotine habit as a condition of his acceptance of the appointment to Surgeon General. That could be an initial victory for the cause of public health.

By the way ... please consider this. I know that ending your addiction to nicotine is a tough job; so is the presidency. If Obama isn't strong enough to quit smoking, how is he strong enough to be an effective president?