Swedish smokers and American taxes

Trends

“  A Swedish woman has been sued for smoking in her own garden. Her neighbor in Akarp in southern Sweden, a lawyer, demands 15,000 kroner ($2,000) in damages for her previous smoking plus another 2,000 kroner ($280) every time she lights up in the future, The Local reported. She has received a district court summons to respond to his complaint. "It makes me sad and angry," the 49-year-old single mom told Aftonbladet. "Should somebody else be able to control my life?" The woman said she has already made concessions to her neighbor's dislike of cigarette smoke, including picking a spot to light up that is more than 20 feet from his property. In court filings, the lawyer complains that he is hit with cigarette smoke every time he enters or leaves his house and has been unable to open his windows. ” Before rushing to compare Sweden with the jack booted thugocracy that more frequently rule our lives, in the land of the free, consider the trend. “ Traditionally a European champion when it comes to high taxes, Sweden has been getting a dose of economic liberalization over the past six months from its new conservative government.     In just a matter of weeks, the new government of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has announced it is abolishing the property tax, and very symbolically, the wealth tax.    The moves signal an easing of control by the state and a move away from the lavish welfare system that has been held up as a model of social democracy by a large part of Europe's left-wing for decades. ” Ain't that some road apples.