1998
2002
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2003

July 26, 2002 - Health Department's Suit Thrown Out - The renegade Oklahoma state department of public health was dealt a blow when the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals thwarted its effort to shop for a sympathetic judge in a case challenging the state-wide smoking ban.  Business owners appropriately took their case against the bureaucratically imposed ban to a state court.  The health department attempted to move the suit to a federal court thought to be sympathetic to prohibition.  Taking a case regarding state policy to a federal court demonstrates a contempt for the citizens that is breathtaking even for anti-tobacco.  The ruling against the health department, of course, is not the final world.  The American Lung Association has weighed in on the matter by filing its own suit in federal court.  How the ALA is an interested parting in an Oklahoma smoking ban dispute is anyone's guess. 

July 17, 2002 -  Court-shuffling in Oklahoma - The Oklahoma Restaurant Association succeed in  moving its lawsuit against the Oklahoma smoking ban back to Creek County District Court from the federal court in Tulsa.  Yesterday, Oklahoma District Judge Donald D. Thompson issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the state Health Department from enforcing smoking regulations in Oklahoma restaurants and indoor workplaces. Health Department lawyers have now turned to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to have the lawsuit heard in federal court in Tulsa instead of district court in Sapulpa.

July 9,2002 - Finding A Good Use For Settlement Money - Wisconsin lawmakers are considering using the state's entire share of the national tobacco settlement — once estimated to be worth $5.9 billion — to help cover a one-time budget deficit.  Most states put the tobacco settlement money into escrow accounts to earn interest.

Wisconsin is the only one considering using all the profits for a one-time budget Band-Aid, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.  Predictably the anti-tobacco cartel is screaming foul since it wants most of the money allocated to the incompetent anti-smoking campaigns that have boosted Wisconsin's underage smoking rates into the stratosphere.

April 1, 2002 - Illogical Thought Processes, Anti Style - California State Sen. Don Perata said last week he will introduce a bill next week that would levy a 5-cent tax on every bullet sold in California. Perata, D-Oalkand, said he wants the money to pay for hospital trauma centers, some of which are facing budget problems. "There's no reason why the general public should be paying for gunshot victims. It is an avoidable injury. It is a preventable injury and therfore I think it's fair to fix a very small tax on the sale of bullets," Perata said. Opponents of the plan said it would lead to ammunition smuggling, with gun owners going out of state to buy ammunition or make it themselves.  Perata said he hopes to convince the Legislature to put the tax before voters in November.

Don "Pistol-packing" Perata -- the anti-gun senator holds a rare concealed carry permit and owns a semi-automatic handgun -- believes that problems, in this case gun violence, is solved by attacking inanimate objects.

March 13, 2002 - Another One Bites The Dust - Former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales was trounced in his bid to become the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for governor.  By a large margin the state's voters prefer Tony Sanchez to the man who loudly took credit for shaking down the tobacco industry and raping its customers in Texas' tobacco settlement.

The voters haven't been kind to the attorneys general identified with the various tobacco settlements.  Minnesota's former attorney general came in a poor third in that state's last race for the governor.  Hubert "Skip" Humphrey, like Morales, crowed endlessly about "defeating" Big Tobacco.  Both states rightly rejected two men who could more accurately be described as gangsters than statesmen. 

March 4, 2002 - Tax Hike For Thee But Not For Me - It was a dark day in the Peoples Republic of Connecticut. A cigarette tax bill hit the Senate floor at approximately 9 pm Wednesday. After very little debate, it passed by a wide margin. By 2 am, the bill was on the floor of the House. Again, after very little debate, the bill passed by a narrow margin. By 3 pm Thursday afternoon, less than 12 hours after the bill passed, Governor Rowland signed it into law. As of April 1st, the cigarette tax will be increased by $.61 per pack. At $1.21 per pack, Connecticut now has the third highest cigarette tax in the nation. It was a dark, dark day indeed.  Governor Rowland smokes cigars.  The tax hike doesn't affect him nor his elite buddies.

March 1, 2002 - Bill to strengthen smoking ban is shelved - A bill to prohibit smoking in Utah bars and to extend the state's draconian smoking ban into private clubs was placed in abeyance and most likely won't be voted upon this legislative session.  Despite being touted as one of the states with a total smoking ban, Utah is filled with restaurants and bars where smoking is permitted.