Word: tobaccos
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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FIGHTING BIG TOBACCO...
WASHINGTON: While tobacco is still a legal drug, it seems to be having a downright hallucenogenic effect on the Senate floor. The legislation that skated through John McCain's committee with a 19-2 vote is suddenly sparking furious debate -- and making Senators say some very strange things...
...Take tobacco-country Republican Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), who wants to cap the fees of trial lawyers who take on tobacco at $250 an hour -- "more than a fair wage," he said. "Let's stop the national lawyers enrichment tour before it starts." This from the head of the Republican fundraising committee, who single-handedly torpedoed campaign finance reform on the grounds that caps on soft-money contributions were unconstitutional. Maybe he's sore that the trial lawyers contribute overwhelmingly to Democrats. Maybe he just doesn't like John McCain...
...Trent Lott, meanwhile, was in his usual spoiler's role; his proposal to scrap price supports for tobacco farmers and replace them with a buyout program drew snipes from Democrats, who accused Lott of bursting the bipartisan bubble the bill had enjoyed thus far. Responded Lott: "If you don't want us to try to find a way to deal with children smoking and drug abuse by children . . . go right ahead." The upshot: this could take a while...
Then there's the phony statistic that just a handful of smokers are teenagers. Sure, but only because 19-year-olds eventually turn 20. More than 90% of smokers begin as teenagers because even 20-year-olds are too mature to start up. Republicans are so addicted to tobacco money that they seem to be willing to risk kids' health and their majority in Congress for it. Gingrich's postelection book might be Lessons Learned the Really Hard...