Word: voorst
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...Although not unexpected (RJR was making loud pullout noises late last week), the move was bold nonetheless; this was (don't laugh) Big Tobacco's bid for sympathy. "Tobacco feels betrayed by the Senate on this deal," says TIME Washington correspondent Bruce Van Voorst. "Senators aren't returning their calls, and the legislation is draconian compared to their deal with the states...
...stand, pushing up tobacco stocks as word got out. Politicians aren't panicking; negotiations aren't negotiations until someone walks away. But if the Senate is serious about saving children's lives, it will want to start right away. "Politically, there is a sense of urgency," says Van Voorst. "And to get this done in the near future, without long court battles, they'll need Big Tobacco to sign on." That's what RJR is betting...
...Tobacco has no friends on the Hill in this one," says TIME Washington correspondent Bruce Van Voorst. "The Senate has been thumbing its nose at the industry all week." McCain was unworried Thursday -- his concern right now is to get the bill through Congress -- but as Van Voorst says, "Tobacco is not without cards in this game." RJR is prepared to fight any restrictions on industry advertising in the courts as a First Amendment violation -- and experts say they more than have a case...
...McCain knows he's writing a bill that's unacceptable to the industry," says TIME Washington correspondent Bruce Van Voorst. "It's a tactical move. The only haggling is between the hard-liners and the really hard-liners." The industry has already balked at one agreed-upon provision, a hike in the federal tax on cigarettes of $1.10 a pack by 2003, and as McCain and Co. hammer out provisions on liability protection, they do so knowing that the industry's demands are for far more...
...Tobacco's livid right now, because they can't get to any of the key senators," says Van Voorst, "and they're threatening to walk." Van Voorst expects the committee's version to emerge sometime this week. Then the real negotiations can begin...