Friday, July 23 2010
By Michele Clock, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Tanya Sierra, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
(San Diego Union-Tribune)
A Florida maker of premium cigars has a message for Congress, and he believes at least one congressman is listening.
Rocky Patel, who operates a cigar brand under his own name out of Bonita Springs, Fla., said he and other cigar makers want lawmakers to understand how taxes can wipe out his industry. Cigars provide the legitimate pleasure and social experience to adults, he said, comparing the art of making cigars to winemaking.
Patel believes he has an ally in Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, who gave the necessary sponsorship last year for a group of Capitol Hill staffers to form the Congressional Cigar Association. The group hosted smoke-filled parties attended by lobbyists, legislators and staffers. Story continues here
