But a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the financial impact of a 50-cent-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes shows that while cutting the number of smokers trims government outlays over the short run, the increased longevity and higher end-of-life expenses of non-smokers eventually would cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more from Medicare and Social Security.
He feels that by the time they've unpicked a budget the impact's been made, the goodwill has been secured and the real analysis of the unpicking is sort of left to the small print, and the small change of politics.