rssThe Ultimate in Regional Protectionism
Tuesday, June 02, 2009 at 11:24 am
- 3 Comments
The Senate this morning is poised to vote on a historic bill empowering the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the tobacco industry for the first time. The proposal, approved by the House in April, is expected to pass, but not without opposition from Southern lawmakers hoping to protect their famously regional industry. And this being Congress, the regional protectionism is bipartisan.
Roll Call (subsription only) points out that the measure has forced an odd political alliance between freshman Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan (N.C.) and a long-time foe.
Not only is she likely to be the only Democrat to oppose the bill, she will also be fighting side by side with Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who campaigned hard to prevent her election last fall.
“I will not stand idly by while the [Food and Drug Administration] is put in charge of such a critical industry to North Carolina,” said Hagan, who believes the bill amounts to a de facto ban on tobacco products.
To be clear, the bill is not a ban on tobacco products. Instead, it would authorize the FDA to restrict marketing tactics and force tobacco companies to disclose the ingredients in their products. It would also empower the agency to place limits on ingredients found to be harmful, including nicotine.
No doubt that would threaten some jobs in tobacco country. The question is, are they worth protecting an industry estimated to kill 400,000 Americans each year?
3 Comments
Comment posted June 2, 2009 @ 9:55 am
You would think Congress had nothing better/more urgent & pressing to do than to spend all this time once again on debating tobacco! The time they spend “discussing” such low importance issues takes greatly away from the time that is necessary and NEEDED to solve many more-pressing problems our country is facing!
Can someone show me WHERE in the US Constitution the power is granted to Congress to be passing laws that protect individuals from themselves (and other errant social legislations)? QUIT WASTING TIME, CONGRESS and quit piddling, twiddling, resolving, and start SOLVING some of our nationally MORE URGENT PROBLEMS!
Comment posted June 2, 2009 @ 4:55 pm
You would think Congress had nothing better/more urgent & pressing to do than to spend all this time once again on debating tobacco! The time they spend “discussing” such low importance issues takes greatly away from the time that is necessary and NEEDED to solve many more-pressing problems our country is facing!
Can someone show me WHERE in the US Constitution the power is granted to Congress to be passing laws that protect individuals from themselves (and other errant social legislations)? QUIT WASTING TIME, CONGRESS and quit piddling, twiddling, resolving, and start SOLVING some of our nationally MORE URGENT PROBLEMS!
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