Into Antiques?

On ebay you'll find over 100 categories covering the Medieval and Renaissance periods, through Georgian, Regency and Victorian, to Edwardian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

Antique Dealers in California

Linda Stamberger

Linda Stamberger, author of "Antiquing In Florida", is a Florida expert and freelance writer of many genres. Visit this site to read her articles - some of which are available for purchase - as is her book.


Brooks Novelty Antiques and Records

Brooks Novelty is an all-vinyl record store. We specialize in: jukeboxes, vintage soda machines, antique slot machines, pin balls, arcade games, neon clocks and signs, rare concert posters, old advertising signs and much more!


The Antique Company

Established in the late 1900's, we occupy a huge corner building with a small garden area that leads to another 1000 sq foot store (called TAC) that contains our Mid Century collection.


Vintage Westclox

Westclox photo identification gallery and history and information of clocks, watches and other timepieces. This site primarily displays American clocks made by Westclox that were made from the early 1900's up to about the 1960's.


Antique Appraisals On-Line

We are one of the country's largest, oldest, most qualified and respected appraisal services. The majority of our appraisals are estate and personal property evaluations for valuation documentation purposes. However, we have evaluated goods and personal property for natural disaster losses (hurricanes), theft, fire, freight and shipping damage after the loss has occurred.


Connoisseur Antiques

Featuring fine antique furniture, Connoisseur Antiques is a Los Angeles Antique Furniture Showroom specializing in antique clocks and mirrors, European and French antiques, Antique Lighting, Chandeliers, Sconces, Armoires and much more.


Liz's Antique Hardware

Antique Hardware is the backbone of our business. We offer a complete selection of door, window and furniture hardware, lighting and accessories circa 1890 to 1970.


San Francisco Antique and Design Mall

San Francisco Antique and Design Mall is the largest antique mall in northern California. We opened our doors in October 1997 with 75 dealers and today we have over 200 of San Francisco's most professional antique specialists.


Ambiance Antiques

Importer of 18th and 19th Century French Antiques


C'est La Vie Antiques

European Antique and Accessories in San Diego, CA.


Lang Antiques

We carry a large selection of fine antique jewelry, antique rings & antique engagement rings. We also have vintage estate jewelry, vintage estate rings & vintage estate engagement rings from the Victorian, Art Nouveau, Edwardian & Art Deco style periods.


Once in a Blue Moon Online Thrift Store

We are an online thrift store featuring new, used, and unusual items.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

California Tobacco Tax Pits Lance Armstrong Versus R.J. Reynolds (San Francisco) - Oregonian

California Tobacco Tax Pits Lance Armstrong Versus R.J. Reynolds (San Francisco) - Oregonian

(c) 2012, Bloomberg News.

SAN FRANCISCO — Lance Armstrong, the cycling champion and cancer survivor, is putting $1.5 million behind a ballot measure to add $1 a pack to California's cigarette tax, even as the tobacco industry has put up most of $40.7 million aimed at stopping it.

Voters in the June 5 presidential primary election will decide whether to raise the tax to $1.87 a pack and steer the additional revenue toward cancer research and stop-smoking programs. Leading the opposition are Altria Group and Reynolds American., the parent of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, the two biggest sellers in the United States.

"I resent the tobacco industry's ability to influence public policy in their favor, time and time again, for a product that kills when used as directed," Armstrong said through a spokeswoman, Katherine McLane.

His nonprofit cancer charity, Livestrong, is supporting Proposition 29 along with the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association. Armstrong overcame testicular cancer to win the Tour de France seven times.

If the measure is approved, California would become the latest state using a tax increase to raise the price of tobacco products to discourage smoking. Consumers pay the highest state tax at $4.35 a pack in New York, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationally, the average state tax is $1.46.

The proposed California increase would push the average price of a pack to about $7.50, said Brian Miller, a spokesman for the Equalization Board, the state's tax administrator, citing the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and illness in the U.S., according to the CDC. The agency said California hasn't raised its 87-cents-a-pack tax since 1998.

Altria, through its subsidiary companies Philip Morris USA, John Middleton Co. and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, has given a combined $27.3 million to defeat Proposition 29, according to campaign data compiled by MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization based in Berkeley that tracks campaign donations.

"Altria opposes additional targeted tax increases on tobacco," David Sutton, a spokesman for Richmond, Va.- based Altria, said by email. He called the ballot initiative a "flawed" measure.

Reynolds American's R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, American Snuff and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco units gave $12.1 million, according to MapLight data. Reynolds, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, announced in March that it plans to cut 10 percent of its U.S. workforce by the end of 2014 as demand for cigarettes wanes. A Reynolds spokesman, David P. Howard, referred questions to a coalition opposing the measure.

The California Republican Party contributed $1.2 million to fight the proposal, according to MapLight.

"I can think of a lot better uses for $40 million, like saving lives from cancer and other lethal diseases caused by tobacco," Armstrong said.

Opponents say the initiative creates a nine-member committee to administer the funds that would duplicate existing programs and have little accountability to taxpayers.

"The language in the initiative is so ambiguous that it leaves opportunity for fraud and personal benefit," George Runner, a member of the Equalization Board who spoke for the opposition, said by telephone. "And there is no ability for the Legislature to step back in and correct those loopholes."

The proponents have raised about $8.6 million, according to MapLight, including $500,000 from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and $10,000 from Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of San Francisco-based Salesforce.com Inc., the largest seller of online customer-management software. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

The tax would generate about $735 million a year by fiscal 2014, the legislative analyst estimated.

The committee would be subject to audits, and there are provisions in the measure to guard against fraud and conflict of interest, said Jim Knox, vice president of legislative advocacy in the California division of the American Cancer Society, in a telephone interview.

"This is a smokescreen from the tobacco companies," Knox said. "They're donating this money because they know that increasing the tax will reduce sales and cut their profits."

The $49.3 million raised in the cigarette-tax battle falls short of a state record, said Daniel Newman, MapLight president. Proposition 8, the 2008 measure that put an end to same-sex marriages in California, garnered nearly $107 million, according to the Helena, Mont.-based National Institute on Money in State Politics.

The amount of cash flowing into the opposition effort isn't unusual, Newman said.

"When there's a financial interest in the success or failure of the initiative, the corporation can afford to spend as much as it needs because of the financial stakes involved," Newman said.

Matthew Lanford, 41, owner of Santa Barbara Cigar & Tobacco, gave $1,000 in March to oppose the measure.

"A dollar on a pack of cigarettes — people will adjust to that," Lanford, who has owned his business for 16 years, said by telephone. "They are $10 a pack in New York and people are still buying them."

Smokers will go to neighboring Nevada or Arizona and buy cartons at a time, he said. The state excise tax is 80 cents a pack in Nevada and $2 in Arizona, according to the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health.

The outcome of California's cigarette tax vote may indicate the level of support for Gov. Jerry Brown's ballot initiative in November that would temporarily raise income and sales taxes to help close a $15.7 billion budget deficit.

"We will know a lot more on June 5, when that tobacco tax measure is voted on," said Bill Whalen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, near Palo Alto.

"If California voters do not sign off on an increase of cigarette taxes in a very nonsmoking state, and punishing tobacco companies that nobody likes, courtesy of ads featuring a cancer victim and Lance Armstrong, I'm not sure what tax increase can pass."

_ With assistance from Michael B. Marois in Sacramento.

bc-calif-tobacco


Source: www.oregonlive.com

No comments:

Post a Comment