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Can’t tax the rich? States target nicotine — and working class

The political chant is “tax the rich,” but in at least 15 states, lawmakers looking for revenue are reaching instead into the pockets of smokers, vapers and nicotine-pouch users — disproportionately working-class consumers. Take Delaware. After Democrat Gov. Matt Meyers’s 2025 effort to raise income taxes on top earners failed to get through the legislature, lawmakers turned their revenue targeting toward nicotine users. They moved to raise the cigarette tax by more than 70%, double the tax on vaping liquid and impose a new 40% wholesale levy on nicotine pouches. Supporters ...

Trump stuck in a box of his own making

Normally, I worry that events may overtake a column. But not so with the Iran war. I don’t worry about running afoul of a headline or Truth Social post from the president because what is said about the situation is no longer very relevant to the reality. On April 8, Nick Catoggio, my Dispatch colleague, dubbed an earlier stoppage with Iran “Schrödinger’s ceasefire.” This was a reference to the famous thought experiment by the physicist Erwin Schrödinger, who was trying to explain the weirdness of “superpositionality” in quantum physics. A cat in a box is both dead ...

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Spurs, Knicks know they have to be better

SAN ANTONIO — The road to the NBA Finals was not exactly smooth for the San Antonio Spurs. They had — and lost — home-court advantage in Round 1 against Portland, before recovering to win the series. In Round 2 against Minnesota, the same thing happened. In the Western Conference finals ...

Tea-drinking Chwalinski reaches final at French Open

PARIS — Sipping tea every night is working wonders for Maja Chwalinska. The Polish player became just the second qualifier to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era when she beat Diana Shnaider of Russia 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Thursday. The 24-year-old Chwalinska can match Emma ...

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