Seventy years ago, the government created a quota system to regulate tobacco production. But as companies found it cheaper and easier to grow tobacco overseas, many tobacco farmers were forced out of business. Pressure has grown for Congress to do something.
Farmers, the industry, and most Southern politicians have advocated a proposal for a buyout that would help growers and eliminate the quota system altogether. In exchange — and here’s the important part — tobacco growers have said they would accept FDA regulation of their product. Bush ultimately accepted the deal, after flip-flopping on the issue.
Everything looked to be on track. The Senate backed the buyout and FDA authority by a wide margin (78 to 15) in July and the provision was added to the massive corporate tax bill that passed Congress Monday. All sides were getting what they wanted — tobacco companies would continue to get their international profits, tobacco farmers would get buyout subsidies, and public health advocates would finally have the power to regulate a deadly product (cigarettes).
Then House Republicans, at the last minute, decided compromise was out of the question.
[I]n the end, a strong-willed group of Republicans in the House outmaneuvered Senate negotiators and pushed through a tax bill that gives corporations billions of dollars in new breaks, and preserves a $10 billion buyout of tobacco farmers, but leaves FDA regulation of cigarettes on the cutting-room floor for this session of Congress.
“We were blocked by a small minority in the House leadership,” said Vince Willmore, director of communications for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
They know no limits; they have no shame.
Some believe the White House, which opposed the plan before they were for it, was involved with the scheme.
Some Democratic lawmakers saw the White House’s hand in it, as well. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a longtime supporter of FDA regulation, said House Republicans who negotiated with the Senate on a final deal were doing the bidding of the president. “I lay this right at President Bush’s door,” he said. “He concurred with big tobacco.”
Nevertheless, the result is the same — Big Tobacco wins, the public loses, and the GOP gets a fresh new round of campaign contributions from tobacco lobbyists.