[jimpeel]

Its about the MONEY! It always was. It only was.

http://www.710knus.com/localnews.asp?Id=6410

(Denver-AP) -- The grandson of tobacco magnate R-J Reynolds is
urging Colorado not to sell off its share of a national tobacco settlement.

Patrick Reynolds appeared at the state Capitol yesterday with other opponents of the plan.

He says selling the payments would completely eliminate tobacco prevention and cessation programs in Colorado.

Governor Owens has proposed selling off 35 years of tobacco settlement payments for a lump sum of about 800 (m) million dollars.

He wants to use 80 (m) million dollars to restore programs that have been cut, and put the rest in a rainy-day fund.

Reynolds is founder of the Foundation for a Smokefree America and president of Tobaccofree-dot-org.

His father and oldest brother died from emphysema and lung cancer.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

Are you surprised? Not me. California did it last year. The money vanished very quickly. I think it was $4B. Poof :uhoh:

There is also another storm brewing on the horizon for the States. Tax revenue is falling from the lack of sales (tobacco) due to the prohibitive taxes and built in "fee" to cover the settlements. Some say that the "big evil tobacco" companies may not survive long enough to pay off the claims/settlements. This condition is further eroded by all of the "single" lawsuits which threaten to bankrupt big tobacco. One was recently 2.4 billion, and RJR could not post the "bond" in order to appeal.

So, is it wise for Colorado to take the money now? Or wait and possibly not receive it? :rolleyes:

This is what the anti's have in store for the gun industry. Make it too expensive to do business, the risk too great, and finally, the uncertainty will cause a collapse. Gun makers are dwarfed by big tobacco. with regards to cash reserves to fight the fight.

:cuss:

[Sergeant Bob]

This whole tobacco suit is prime example of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

[jfh]

it's more than killing the goose that laid the golden egg, I think--

lawsuits like this promote the victimology game, and remove the individual responsibility side of it. What's even more important is that in suits like these, the individual benefits only indirectly at best. The results of the MN settlement--which I believe was the precedent-setting one were the following:

The State and insurance got "compensated" for their expenses.

The tobacco-free programs here got set up--which consisted of
a) a few media ads to discourage teen smoking;
b) some minor promotion for 'stop-smoking programs', and
c) a LOT of 'activist' marketing by the primary group to encourage government bodies (Cities, Counties) to pass legislation to make all areas non-smoking, etc., etc.

This just promoted the culture/victimology wars--they were running around pressuring small towns into passing public-heath laws where the only impact was to probably drive those local cafes / business 'community-meeting places' out of business.

Fortunately, they got hauled up short by the state AG for not providing more funds for smoker cessation. This group (obviously, I forget the name) is basically centered around the Mayo Clinic....and clearly subscribe to "public health issues" more than stopping smoking.

So what does this have to do with guns? Here's the link: this type of quasi-government activism--usually done by people I call HLs, or hysterical liberals--is exactly the model Sara Jane and the Travelling Cripple Show, Johns Hopkins, et.al.--have used to advance the current version of government regulation over firearms.

Rochester, MN, is also a hot-spot for anti-gun activity--and I would love to know the overlap between their anti-gun group and the anti-tobacco group.

[Cool Hand Luke 22:36]

The way the State and Federal Governments have handled the tobacco settlement money is a scandal. Very little of it went to programs to help people quit smoking. Such spending is a dubious use of public funds any way. When I quit for good (hopefully) 4 years ago there was no program to subsidize Nicorette ($60 a package) or Zyban from tobacco settlement money.

There's also the sick way that politicians like Ted Kennedy, Orrin Hatch, John McCain and other leftists propose to fund children's health programs from tobacco taxes. Promoting the health of children off of an adult drug addiction that destroys health over time? That's depraved.

It won't be too long before a Federal tax on ammunition, x cents per round, will be proposed for a similar reason.

[El Tejon]

"Atlas Shrugged" fans have to laugh about the looters being in Red!:D

[Standing Wolf]

Eventually, Socialists run out of other people's money.
—Lady Margaret Thatcher

[jfh]

well, sometimes they just turn on the printing presses--but that is not necessarily limited to socialism.

Right, Maggie?

[Monkeyleg]

This was never about "tobacco education," or smoking cessation programs, or even about The Children.

It was about money. Money for the trial lawyers, and money for the politicians who took the trial lawyers' donations.

It was about going after a very profitable--and legal--industry to impose upon them yet another tax, and use those taxes to fund programs that federal and state governments just cannot pay for anymore. At least not without raising taxes on "working families."

It's just another shell game. Move this guy's income under a shell, do a fast shuffle, produce the other guy's tax bill, and tell him how grateful he should be that he's not the one getting fleeced, at least not today.

Atlas Shrugged? I'd love to see an "Atlas" shrug. Actually, I'd like to see the business owners here give the stiff middle finger to the state and federal governments and take their businesses elsewhere. What would the do-gooders do then?

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

Monkeyleg

Didn't you hear? They are trying to write laws so that corporations cannot leave the country (ie offshore). They already have a 60-90 day "warning" for the shutdown of major plants to allow stakeholders to have input. One judge in Oklahoma(?) already ordered a business that it can not shut down and move to Mexico.

[Bill Hook]

Corporate Serfdom?