From: ufo777@webtv.net (ufo777)
Subject: [Illusions] Fwd: Nov. 25 column -- tobacco deal follo
Date: 26 Nov 1998 05:22:02 -0500
To: illusions@bticc.net

-=> Illusions Mailing List <=-


--WebTV-Mail-1466995136-2475
Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit

Same old itsha   Pat

Sincerely, Patricia  http://www.serve.com/ufo7
"If you suppress The Truth it becomes your enemy...if you expose the
truth it becomes your weapon.Col Corso"                   


--WebTV-Mail-1466995136-2475
Content-Disposition: Inline
Content-Type: Message/RFC822
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit

Received: from mailsorter-104.bryant.webtv.net (207.79.35.94) by
	postoffice-141.iap.bryant.webtv.net; Wed, 25 Nov 1998 04:36:13
	-0800 (PST)
Return-Path: 
Received: from ez0.ezlink.com (ezlink.com [199.45.150.1]) by
	mailsorter-104.bryant.webtv.net (8.8.8/ms.graham.14Aug97) with
	ESMTP id EAA22406; Wed, 25 Nov 1998 04:34:11 -0800 (PST)
Received: (from list@localhost) by ez0.ezlink.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) id
	AAA08541; Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:36:35 -0700
Resent-Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:36:35 -0700
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 23:33:53 -0800 (PST)
X-Sender: vin@dali.lvrj.com
Message-Id: 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
To: vinsends@ezlink.com
From: Vin_Suprynowicz@lvrj.com (Vin Suprynowicz)
Subject: Nov. 25 column -- tobacco deal follo
Resent-Message-ID: <"C4C5b1.0.S12.gCxMs"@ez0.ezlink.com>
Resent-From: vinsends@ezlink.com
X-Mailing-List:  archive/latest/597
X-Loop: vinsends@ezlink.com
Precedence: list
Resent-Sender: vinsends-request@ezlink.com


    FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED NOV. 25, 1998
    THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz
    The chop-licking begins

    There are plenty of reasons for thoughtful citizens to scratch their
heads over the new $206 billion tobacco settlement -- which is expected to
flood even little Nevada's state government coffers with $1.2 billion
through the year 2027.

  First, though most Americans probably figured the civil courts exist so
actual victims can win compensation for actual harm, the settlement is to
be paid not to sick smokers, but rather to the states, on the theory that
the states have some  obligation to treat sick smokers. This notion of some
collective obligation for the state to wetnurse us all, forcing those who
choose safer lifestyles to help defray the costs incurred by those who
knowingly indulge in risky behaviors, is an underlying tenet of socialism,
and a pretty good explanation of why that system has bankrupted every
nation that gave it a try.

  Second is the risk that such a settlement will set a precedent for
further extortions -- or protection payments, depending on which side of
the looking glass you're peering through. Nevada Attorney General Frankie
Sue Del Papa specifically insisted on Nov. 20 that the tobacco deal
represents a unique confluence of factors which will not be repeated with
other industries -- including the fact that the big tobacco firms lied
about their product's addictiveness.

  Oh, so this is all about (start ital)lying(end ital). I see. And we're to
presume that if the tobacconists had gone before Congress, admitted their
product was addictive, and furthermore that they were trying to breed even
more nicotine into every leaf, the fair-minded lawmakers would have said,
"Well, thank for your honesty, gentlemen. Surely no more regulation is
needed now that the public has been fully informed; I guess we can all go
home"?

  I don't think so. In fact, the federal government (start ital)forbids(end
ital) brewers and vintners from advertising the proven health benefits of
beer or wine, lest it "encourage consumption" -- and truth be damned. Yet
we're supposed to believe the federal government will forgive all, if only
we tell (start ital)the truth(end ital)? How about if I stand on the street
corner selling marijuana in packages labeled "less addictive or harmful
than either alcohol or tobacco"?

  I don't endorse fraud, but there are lies, and then there are lies. If
the armed burglar asks if you have any virgin daughters, will you tell him
about the one hiding in the closet ... or will you lie? Let government obey
the Ninth Amendment and stop interfering in consensual commerce in
mind-altering plant extracts, and the purveyors will no longer have any
cause to act furtive.

  But back to this assurance that the tobacco deal will set no precedent:
If the private attorneys who launched this giant lawsuit are to pocket up
to $500 million per year over the next 25 years (and they are), why on
earth would they (start ital)not(end ital) now proceed to seek compensation
from automakers for the medical costs of drunk drivers who run into
immovable objects, or from firearms manufacturers for the medical care of
liquor store robbers wounded by policemen?

  And we haven't even mentioned the plain invitation to hypocrisy in the
fact that the "tobacco deal" is supposed to include measures to curb
smoking -- at the same time states will now find an incentive to keep
smoking at levels high enough to guarantee the steady flow of their payoffs
... for at least another 25 years.

  But at the very least, onlookers might have expected that -- having filed
suit to recover medical costs for treating sick smokers -- the states might
actually earmark the booty for that purpose.

  Fat chance. While Nevada Gov.-elect Kenny Guinn said Nov. 23 he does not
want Nevada's windfall spent for any purpose other than curbing tobacco use
or paying for tobacco-related medical costs, his attorney general admitted
she cannot "guarantee" these funds will not become a $48 million annual
legislative slush fund.

  Nevada Assemblyman Vivian Freeman, attending the Reno news conference on
the tobacco windfall, was even less sanguine. Some lawmakers are already
lining up to use part of the first year's tobacco moneys to expand teacher
training programs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, she reported.

  In Phoenix, the wires reported on Nov. 24 "Arizonans are beginning to
develop ideas for spending the $2.8 billion dollars the state will receive
from a tobacco industry settlement. Governor Jane Hull says she wants to
use some of the money for new medical clinics (and) for increasing health
care for the working poor. ..."

  And in one final irony, Ms. Del Papa said one reason she's reluctant to
earmark funds for future Medicaid costs is that the federal government
could then use such an "earmarked" allocation as an excuse to reduce
Medicaid payments to the states by an equivalent amount -- resulting in a
zero net gain from the whole gambado.

  Nevada Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, confirmed he expected just
such a federal maneuver, and vowed to fight it. But why? "Maybe this is a
way we can fund health insurance for everyone in the state," the speaker
enthused.

  At the very least, a set of (start ital)honest(end ital) grafters would
set aside this loot for the sole purpose stipulated in their lawsuit.

  But given the degree of chop-licking already in progress, I wouldn't
count on it.


Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas
Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com.

***


Vin Suprynowicz,   vin@lvrj.com

The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it. -- John
Hay, 1872

The most difficult struggle of all is the one within ourselves. Let us not
get accustomed and adjusted to these conditions. The one who adjusts ceases
to discriminate between good and evil.  He becomes a slave in body and
soul. Whatever may happen to you, remember always: Don't adjust! Revolt
against the reality! -- Mordechai Anielewicz, Warsaw, 1943

* * *



--WebTV-Mail-1466995136-2475--

-=> Send 'subscribe' to illusions-request@bticc.net <=-
-=> Posted by:  ufo777@webtv.net (ufo777) <=-