Bob Lung Ass, the Fee, & Big Tabacco
Posted by Andy on August 29th, 2005
Good Old Bob from the Am Lung Ass points out on my post about the Fee, that big tabacco is going to save Pawlenty’s Governorship.
Now Big Tobacco has reared its ugly…..head…and is suing the state re: the fee. Why would they do this, unless they think (as we do) that raising the cost of tobacco products will prompt many Minnesotans to quit, and for many young people to not start using tobacco? The news from the smoking cessation programs (see Sunday Strib story, page 1) suggests that is EXACTLY what is happening since the bans and price increase (call it what you will) began. So Phillip Morris wants to fight in the open, eh? (instead of hiding behind Sue Jeffers skirt) — as our President say’s, “Bring ‘em on.”
Mr. Lung Ass,
Do you see any of the same correlations to your situation? Your group is funded by pharmaceutical companies. Do you ever get confused which business you are supposed to attack? Do you have a cheat sheet next to your computer so that you don’t accidentally falsely accuse one of your donor companies with unethical behavior?
The only ray of hope is that Hatch is siding with the tabacco companies (against the state again), according to MDE. So will Mr. Lung Ass take Hatch to task for cozzying up to Tabacco?
I wonder if the Lung Ass gets any money from the tribal casinos?
Sphere: Related Content
August 29th, 2005 at 10:13 am
As I have stated before, the nonpartisan American Lung Association of Minnesota has no interest in political careers of the Governor nor any other politician of any stripe. We are concerned with lung health and clean air. The ALAMN’s tobacco control program IS NOT funded by pharmacutical companies (in spite of what you might have read on the blog of a former Smokeeater salesman), nor have we taken money from tribal casinos.
As for the blog posting you cite, I would suggest that the Attorney General will do his job and defend the State of Minnesota against Big Tobacco with full vigor. The Tobacco Industry is running scared, and for good reason.
Our volunteers at the State Fair tell me this morning that there has been a huge run on brochures on our Freedom From Smoking cessation program, and that questions about smoking and lung cancer are up sharply from last year. Call it the “Jennings Factor,” the fee, the local bans, whatever…it’s working, and Big Tobacco is already felling the pinch.
August 29th, 2005 at 12:10 pm
While I volunteered at the TPL booth, everyone came up saying the fee(calling it a tax or course) was terrible and needed to be repealed. I guess the type of booth you have reflects the types of inquiries you would get. Go figure.
As for the AG, he hasn’t dutifully defended one of MN’s laws yet. He rolled over on the first attempt at defending the Personal Protection Act, and I fully expect him to rollover on the 2nd as well. And I have zero faith that he will give it his all on the fee. His opening defense statement (It’s a tax) sounded a little too much like something from the DFL Party or Tabacco’s lawyers, and not enough from a State AG.
Which just gets me back to the point of why the fee should be hated. Not because groups like yours will use it to irradicate freewill, but rather that the fee was needed to balance the budget because spending got increased too much.
August 29th, 2005 at 12:22 pm
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January 27th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
The pharmaceutical companies every year increase sales volumes who it supervises? WBR LeoP