FIRST THEY CAME FOR TOBACCO ...
The $200-plus-billion settlement between the tobacco industry and seven states, including New York, sets an ominous precedent - it's a direct transfer of money from the private sector to the public sector, a new kind of payoff.
The tobacco companies themselves deserve little or no sympathy. Their leaders have refused to make a principled case in defense of the right to smoke without government interference - but have continued to defend the preposterous fiction that tobacco doesn't cause cancer.
But that doesn't absolve the politicians of their shameful role in criminalizing the sale of a legal product.
In theory, the tobacco settlement money is supposed to pay the cost of treating Medicare patients who have spent their lives smoking. But surprise, surprise: That money won't go anywhere near Medicare.
Instead, it will be dumped into the operating capital of the states in question over a 20-year period - to be spent on whatever strikes the fancy of the politicians.
The blunt fact is that politicians have bumped up against the ceiling of taxation - voters will not countenance giving up another cent. But in order to keep getting re-elected, politicians must convince the public that they are doing good for humanity. That requires money. And the tobacco settlement has proved that the best way to get the needed funds is by pillaging legal, but unpopular, industries.
Members of the New York City Council are beginning to hover around the gun industry, and other states have already begun to do so. There are rumblings about going after the liquor industry, and maybe even the food industry (for selling cholesterol-packed products, natch).
The primary offense here is against the philosophical principle that makes democracy possible - the principle of self-governance. Attorney General Dennis Vacco should not be holding up tobacco companies in the name of "the people." If tobacco is evil and harmful, it should be declared illegal. If it is legal, it should be treated like any other business.
The real concern is that every other business will, sooner or later, be treated like the tobacco companies.
