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TOBACCOJune 21, 1998 - Today I am ashamed of being a Republican. The senate has failed to pass a tobacco bill.Smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death in the United States. Our legislators are unable to take the simple step to eliminate it. The Republican dominated senate is acting like a bunch of monkeys making love to a football. A simple step, in my book, is to place tobacco in the same category as other addictive drugs. However, we can't simply turn drug enforcement agents loose on tobacco users. They can't keep up with drug users. No tobacco smoker has ever kicked in the door of a home and stolen a TV in order to buy a package of cigarettes. If you were a drug enforcement agent, with a family, would you go after a a tobacco user or dealer instead of a drug user or dealer? I doubt it. It wouldn't take long for the drug industry to reach a record high. We can prohibit, by law, the growth and importation of tobacco and tobacco products in the United States. Then all law enforcement agencies from customs agents down to your local sheriff can participate. I realize the tobacco farmers will be hurt. My solution is to buy their land or subsidize their operations for the next ten years while they get reoriented. I understand the bureaucracy believes the federal government will lose money without the tobacco tax. No so - Read on. According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Control, Four Hundred Thousand People die each year from causes directly related to tobacco. The current tobacco tax is in the $8 Billion per year range. That’s $20,000 the government receives for each death. I doubt the expiring lung cancer patient gets any comfort knowing he or she is generating $20,000 for the US Treasury. The June 24th edition of the Wall Street Journal contained the headline "Conservative Agenda Lies in Ashes". They confirmed the annual "Vice Tax" at $50 Billion for tobacco related medical costs. That is $6 the taxpayers must pay for every dollar the Government receives in tax and get to spend any way they want. The Medicare bill is running about $300 Billion a year and trending up. The record does not disclose how much of this $300 Billion is for tobacco related illnesses. My perception is the Government is spending a whole lot more for tobacco problems through Medicare than it receives from the tobacco tax. Too bad the bean counters can't realize tobacco is a lose-lose situation, financially and physically. My perception of the tobacco situation is the United States Congress is owned and controlled, lock stock and barrel, by the tobacco companies. Considering under the failed legislation the tobacco tax would have escalated to $16 Billion per year the tobacco lobby must be powerful indeed. Amendments to major bills do not have to be related in any way. Believe it or not, Georgia Senator Cloverdale had inserted an amendment to the tobacco bill allowing private aircraft to be forced down on suspicion of drug smuggling. There was also an amendment eliminating the marriage tax. The amendment that brought down the full force of the American Bar Association against the bill would have created a cap on runaway legal fees. I expect this amendment was guided into the bill by the tobacco lobby. Meanwhile, every day, seven days a week, 1,000 children sign up for a slow, lingering, early and horrible death from tobacco related causes. In about 40 or 50 years they are going to start dying at the same rate. And the Government of the United States doesn't seem to care. 10 October, '98 - A recent study reports the rate of increase of new teenage smokers has increased 78% since 1988. 5 February '00 - No change. Kids are still taking up smoking and people are still dying. Return to Top of Page
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John Wallen, 3 Bear Trail - HC 1 Box 1204, Strawberry, Arizona 85544 e-mail johnwallen@wallens.com Metal Art Commercial Website www.fancyfoxx.com |