Blowing Smoke

I keep hoping that somehow things in the capitol can't continue to degrade, and then this happens.

Why on earth would the government cut the penalty they were seeking from the tobacco companies from $130 billion down to only $10 billion? Perhaps he had something to do with it:

Who else but the tobacco lobby benefits from this move? The money was not going to fund any kind of extraneous programs. The $130 billion number came from the recommendation of several scientists and officials as the necessary funding for a smoking cessation program. Now, not only is big tobacco going to be minimally penallized, there will be no programs to help people quit.

The whole case was predicated on the fact that documents and memos proved that these tobacco companies intentionally mislead the public about all the things they already knew were wrong with smoking. Therefore, it doesn't take much of a logical leap to realize that there are more smokers today then there would have been without the web of lies. Those same smokers, 95% of whom fail if they try to quit smoking, are now also without any kind of government funded cessation program. In other words, just more money back in the pockets of big tobacco.

Overall, that's one of my largest frustrations with the current regime. It seems that every time corporate profits and the public interest conflict, the corporations will win out. Arguments are often made for "the sake of the economy" as a justification for such choices, under the assumption that the public's concern for the economy in general will outweigh any individual issue. However, you tell me which you think has a more significant impact on the economy: (A) Corporate profits for big tobacco, or (B) The expenditures for all the people who's health has been detrimentally affected by smoking. Personally, I think they're all just blowing smoke.