NYT- The Stinky Tobacco Deal (yesterday's 'buy out')

[Rose Siding]

Federal regulation of the tobacco industry is long overdue, and tobacco growers shouldn't be paid a huge ransom just so Congress feels it can do the right thing. But that is precisely the deal unfolding on Capitol Hill. The Senate overwhelmingly voted last night to grant the Federal Drug Administration jurisdiction over the tobacco industry, a long-overdue move. But the price for getting senators from tobacco-growing states on board is an unseemly $12 billion handout to tobacco growers, who have already been coddled for far too long by protectionist quotas meant to keep out cheaper foreign-grown tobacco.

This compromise at the heart of the unusual alliance struck between antismoking advocates and tobacco farmers is ill advised. It creates a disastrous precedent for a nation that direly needs to start dismantling other crop supports, both for domestic budgetary reasons and to comply with international trade laws.

The F.D.A.'s lack of jurisdiction over tobacco is an absurdity. But this is no way to give it the authority it deserves. Almost comically, the tobacco deal has been attached to a bill that was supposed to remove a corporate tax credit for exporters. That credit was ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization, and American exporters now face mounting punitive tariffs while Congress dithers. Unfortunately, that theoretically simple legislation has since become a major magnet for pork.

Over on the House side, things get only worse. The House has approved a bailout for tobacco farmers while rejecting F.D.A. oversight over the industry. It lighted up the bad quid and didn't bother with the good quo. Moreover, the House version would have the taxpayers pick up the tab, but the Senate bill puts the burden on cigarette manufacturers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/opinion/16FRI2.html?hp