March 30, 2009 5:04PM 

# Obama’s First Tax Hike Hits the Poor 

By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) 

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It is curious that President Obama keeps claiming that he is not raising taxes on lower-income Americans, yet a [tax hike that will impose a disproportionately large burden on the poor goes into effect Wednesday](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-tobacco-tax,0,3796742.story).

In February, Obama signed into law a large tax hike on cigarette consumers. The federal tax on cigarette consumers is jumping from 39 cents per pack to $1.01 per pack — a huge 159 percent increase. If you smoke two packs per day, President Obama has raised your taxes by a $453 annually.

Next on the Obama low-income tax hike agenda: global warming taxes of about $80 billion per year, as revealed in the Obama budget, which equals an annual tax boost of $700 for every household in the United States.

##### Related Tags 

[Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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