AlonzoMourning23
03-29-2008, 03:59 AM
WASHINGTON - Ten years ago, Senator John McCain took on the tobacco industry, saying he would never back down from legislation to regulate the industry. He also supported a $1.10-per-pack tax on cigarettes to fund programs to cut underage smoking. "I still regret we did not succeed," he said as recently as last October.
Now, McCain's longtime effort to crack down on tobacco is being put to a new test. Within weeks, the Senate is expected to vote on legislation to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. McCain agreed months ago to cosponsor the current bill with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, but McCain's policy adviser said the senator won't commit to voting for it until he sees the final legislation.
McCain has also dropped his support for increasing cigarette taxes. Last year, McCain voted against legislation that would have used a 61-cents-per-pack tax to expand a children's health program. He told a television reporter earlier this year that he would have a "no new taxes" policy as president.
McCain's decade of work on tobacco, one of the most significant efforts of his congressional career, has earned him enmity from the industry and from some fellow Republicans over the years. At the same time, public-health advocates have celebrated his support of tobacco regulation. But now, some antismoking activists are disappointed that the presumptive Republican nominee for president has backed off from the tobacco tax, which they consider key to improving public health.
Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said McCain's support for regulating tobacco has been notable because of his "passion and commitment . . . he devoted countless hours to it." Myers's group has labeled McCain "one of the good guys" on the issue. But Ron Pollack, president of Families USA, a nonprofit healthcare advocacy group, said it is "disingenuous" for McCain to oppose the 61-cents-per-pack tax for the children's health program when he supported the $1.10-per-pack tax in the 1998 tobacco bill. "He very much trimmed his sails on that," Pollack said.
When asked during a policy forum in October why he opposed the tobacco tax for the children's health program, McCain seemed to reject the logic that taxing tobacco would reduce its use, and instead suggested the government would be profiting from a dangerous practice.
"Now help me out here: We are trying to get people not to smoke, and yet we are depending on tobacco to fund a program that's designed for children's health?" McCain said. "I can't buy that."
McCain and tobacco have long been intertwined. He wrote in his autobiography that he was a heavy smoker and noted that he once dated the daughter of a North Carolina tobacco magnate. But at the urging of his second wife, Cindy, McCain quit smoking at the time of their marriage in 1980, according to friends.
In 1997, when he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Republican leaders asked him to get involved in negotiations to expand a landmark settlement between state attorneys general and tobacco companies, in which the companies ultimately agreed to give $368 billion to the states.
McCain, who previously had said little publicly about tobacco, jumped on the issue, saying he wanted to ensure the money was spent wisely on public health. During negotiations with the Clinton administration, he agreed to back an additional measure, the $1.10-per-pack tax hike, with the money to be used for programs designed to cut underage smoking, among other health measures.
Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company, originally viewed McCain as a key ally. In an internal company memo, a company official described McCain as having "supported the industry on most issues of interest to us over the years."
But the memo, part of a file released as part of the tobacco settlement, said McCain had become "very discouraged" by the release of documents that raised questions about the industry's truthfulness.
The memo noted that among the Philip Morris representatives slated to attend a meeting with McCain was Charlie Black, who was a lobbyist for the tobacco company and is now McCain's senior campaign adviser.
In an interview, Black said McCain initially welcomed industry representatives to make their case in various ways and said the Arizona Republican wanted to strike a compromise that would satisfy the industry and public-health advocates.
During this period, McCain's falling out with the industry intensified, not least because he backed the $1.10-per-pack tax. The industry ended up spending an estimated $40 million to defeat the bill, one of the most expensive campaigns against a piece of legislation at the time, with McCain as the primary target.
"Is there anybody left in Washington who thinks that the McCain Tobacco Tax Bill is all about kids? . . . Contact your member of Congress now and tell them you oppose the McCain Tobacco Tax," said a typical newspaper advertisement, paid for by Philip Morris and several other tobacco companies.
McCain confronted the tobacco lobbyists, according to Black.
"He called me and said: 'Look, I'm not talking to you anymore about tobacco. I'm going the other way,' " Black said. "I said, 'You're kicking us out our your office?' He said, "That's right.' "
Black said he didn't talk to McCain about tobacco legislation after that, although Philip Morris continued to aggressively target McCain in its campaign against the bill. Black stopped working for the company in 2001 and said he hasn't discussed any issues related to his clients with McCain while serving as the senator's senior adviser in the current campaign.
With public opinion against tobacco companies at a low point, McCain's bill passed out of his Senate Commerce Committee by a 19-to-1 vote.
But Republicans leaders began to object to the bill, which included both the regulation of tobacco and the new tax. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Senate majority leader at the time, said his constituents weren't interested in the issue. Newt Gingrich, who was speaker of the House, blasted McCain and his backers. "They want bigger bureaucracies. They want higher taxes. They want more government. What does that have to do with smoking?" Gingrich said.
McCain was undeterred. Appearing on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on April 21, 1998, McCain was asked whether he would give up in the face of objections from the Republican leadership.
"Never," McCain responded.
Taking to the Senate floor one month later, McCain excoriated the industry. "They have sacrificed the truth and our children to their greed," he said.
After a monthlong debate, McCain fell three votes short of the needed 60 to end a filibuster.
Two years later, when McCain made his first run for the presidency, the tobacco legislation proved particularly unpopular in the crucial state of South Carolina, which held the nation's second primary. A group funded by the tobacco industry ran ads that pilloried McCain's support of a tax hike on cigarettes. McCain's main opponent, George W. Bush, benefited from the fallout; it helped him win the state.
The issue could again become a focus of a presidential campaign - but because of McCain's opposition to taxing cigarettes, rather than his support for it.
When McCain won backing for the tobacco regulation bill with the $1.10-per-pack tax 10 years ago, he issued a news release saying: "The problem of youth smoking is not a bipartisan issue - it's a nonpartisan issue . . . The health and well-being of America's children is a cause that transcends party affiliation."
The two Democratic contenders, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, are supporting the current proposal for a 61-cents-per-pack tobacco tax to expand the children's healthcare program, a tax increase McCain opposes, making it likely that the matter will become an issue in the campaign this fall.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/26/mccains_stand_on_tobacco_is_put_to_test/?page=2
Now, McCain's longtime effort to crack down on tobacco is being put to a new test. Within weeks, the Senate is expected to vote on legislation to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. McCain agreed months ago to cosponsor the current bill with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, but McCain's policy adviser said the senator won't commit to voting for it until he sees the final legislation.
McCain has also dropped his support for increasing cigarette taxes. Last year, McCain voted against legislation that would have used a 61-cents-per-pack tax to expand a children's health program. He told a television reporter earlier this year that he would have a "no new taxes" policy as president.
McCain's decade of work on tobacco, one of the most significant efforts of his congressional career, has earned him enmity from the industry and from some fellow Republicans over the years. At the same time, public-health advocates have celebrated his support of tobacco regulation. But now, some antismoking activists are disappointed that the presumptive Republican nominee for president has backed off from the tobacco tax, which they consider key to improving public health.
Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said McCain's support for regulating tobacco has been notable because of his "passion and commitment . . . he devoted countless hours to it." Myers's group has labeled McCain "one of the good guys" on the issue. But Ron Pollack, president of Families USA, a nonprofit healthcare advocacy group, said it is "disingenuous" for McCain to oppose the 61-cents-per-pack tax for the children's health program when he supported the $1.10-per-pack tax in the 1998 tobacco bill. "He very much trimmed his sails on that," Pollack said.
When asked during a policy forum in October why he opposed the tobacco tax for the children's health program, McCain seemed to reject the logic that taxing tobacco would reduce its use, and instead suggested the government would be profiting from a dangerous practice.
"Now help me out here: We are trying to get people not to smoke, and yet we are depending on tobacco to fund a program that's designed for children's health?" McCain said. "I can't buy that."
McCain and tobacco have long been intertwined. He wrote in his autobiography that he was a heavy smoker and noted that he once dated the daughter of a North Carolina tobacco magnate. But at the urging of his second wife, Cindy, McCain quit smoking at the time of their marriage in 1980, according to friends.
In 1997, when he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Republican leaders asked him to get involved in negotiations to expand a landmark settlement between state attorneys general and tobacco companies, in which the companies ultimately agreed to give $368 billion to the states.
McCain, who previously had said little publicly about tobacco, jumped on the issue, saying he wanted to ensure the money was spent wisely on public health. During negotiations with the Clinton administration, he agreed to back an additional measure, the $1.10-per-pack tax hike, with the money to be used for programs designed to cut underage smoking, among other health measures.
Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company, originally viewed McCain as a key ally. In an internal company memo, a company official described McCain as having "supported the industry on most issues of interest to us over the years."
But the memo, part of a file released as part of the tobacco settlement, said McCain had become "very discouraged" by the release of documents that raised questions about the industry's truthfulness.
The memo noted that among the Philip Morris representatives slated to attend a meeting with McCain was Charlie Black, who was a lobbyist for the tobacco company and is now McCain's senior campaign adviser.
In an interview, Black said McCain initially welcomed industry representatives to make their case in various ways and said the Arizona Republican wanted to strike a compromise that would satisfy the industry and public-health advocates.
During this period, McCain's falling out with the industry intensified, not least because he backed the $1.10-per-pack tax. The industry ended up spending an estimated $40 million to defeat the bill, one of the most expensive campaigns against a piece of legislation at the time, with McCain as the primary target.
"Is there anybody left in Washington who thinks that the McCain Tobacco Tax Bill is all about kids? . . . Contact your member of Congress now and tell them you oppose the McCain Tobacco Tax," said a typical newspaper advertisement, paid for by Philip Morris and several other tobacco companies.
McCain confronted the tobacco lobbyists, according to Black.
"He called me and said: 'Look, I'm not talking to you anymore about tobacco. I'm going the other way,' " Black said. "I said, 'You're kicking us out our your office?' He said, "That's right.' "
Black said he didn't talk to McCain about tobacco legislation after that, although Philip Morris continued to aggressively target McCain in its campaign against the bill. Black stopped working for the company in 2001 and said he hasn't discussed any issues related to his clients with McCain while serving as the senator's senior adviser in the current campaign.
With public opinion against tobacco companies at a low point, McCain's bill passed out of his Senate Commerce Committee by a 19-to-1 vote.
But Republicans leaders began to object to the bill, which included both the regulation of tobacco and the new tax. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Senate majority leader at the time, said his constituents weren't interested in the issue. Newt Gingrich, who was speaker of the House, blasted McCain and his backers. "They want bigger bureaucracies. They want higher taxes. They want more government. What does that have to do with smoking?" Gingrich said.
McCain was undeterred. Appearing on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on April 21, 1998, McCain was asked whether he would give up in the face of objections from the Republican leadership.
"Never," McCain responded.
Taking to the Senate floor one month later, McCain excoriated the industry. "They have sacrificed the truth and our children to their greed," he said.
After a monthlong debate, McCain fell three votes short of the needed 60 to end a filibuster.
Two years later, when McCain made his first run for the presidency, the tobacco legislation proved particularly unpopular in the crucial state of South Carolina, which held the nation's second primary. A group funded by the tobacco industry ran ads that pilloried McCain's support of a tax hike on cigarettes. McCain's main opponent, George W. Bush, benefited from the fallout; it helped him win the state.
The issue could again become a focus of a presidential campaign - but because of McCain's opposition to taxing cigarettes, rather than his support for it.
When McCain won backing for the tobacco regulation bill with the $1.10-per-pack tax 10 years ago, he issued a news release saying: "The problem of youth smoking is not a bipartisan issue - it's a nonpartisan issue . . . The health and well-being of America's children is a cause that transcends party affiliation."
The two Democratic contenders, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, are supporting the current proposal for a 61-cents-per-pack tobacco tax to expand the children's healthcare program, a tax increase McCain opposes, making it likely that the matter will become an issue in the campaign this fall.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/26/mccains_stand_on_tobacco_is_put_to_test/?page=2