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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Senator Proposes Tobacco Prohibition In A Generation |
| 2007-07-23 |
| U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo, Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today introduced legislation to wipe out tobacco use in America through an innovative cap-and-trade program that will shrink the size of the tobacco market over the next 20 years. “Tobacco kills. We need new ideas to get people to stop smoking, or better yet, never to start,” Enzi said. “That’s what my legislation does. My bill contains a novel cap-and-trade program that will guarantee that fewer people suffer the deadly consequences of smoking, while providing flexibility in how those reductions are achieved.” “Cap-and-trade programs have a proven track record in the environmental arena, particularly in addressing acid rain. My tobacco plan is based on the successful program in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. This system achieved the desired results faster and at lower cost than had been anticipated. The same can be done for tobacco,” Enzi said. The cap-and-trade program will reduce the adverse health effects of tobacco use through reductions in the size of the US tobacco market to fewer than 2 percent of the population over 20 years. Tobacco manufacturers would be required to meet specific user level limits by specified deadlines and the plan would set up a market share allocation and transfer system in which allowances could be used, banked, traded, or sold freely on the open market. The Enzi proposal, the “Help End Addiction to Lethal Tobacco Habits Act” (HEALTH Act), would also close loopholes in the law that tobacco companies have exploited and enjoyed for far too long. It would use proven approaches to help people stop using tobacco products and implement tried and true prevention programs. “Some have suggested that FDA regulation of tobacco is the way toward safer tobacco products. But we know that there is no such thing as a safe cigarette,” Enzi said. “Proposals to have FDA regulate tobacco are a misguided attempt to force a deadly product into the regulatory structure developed for drugs and devices – products which DO have health benefits. The Democrat’s deadly scheme for tobacco would be very costly, and would not result in much of a health benefit. We can do better.” Who elected this bozo? |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #5 His idea is actually interesting in a way. If you believe that tobacco kills, then it is less hypocritical to try to eliminate than it is to tax it for revenue. His plan sucks, though. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2007-07-23 23:35 |
| #4 Lotta cows in Wyoming, Mike? How about we come up with a plan to shrink the size of the meat market in about twenty years? Even better, how about some term limits for U.S. senators? How about you keep your face outta my business, okay? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-07-23 20:56 |
| #3 If this happens, then they'll have police aircraft searching fields of marijuana for the clandestine tobacco plants. Enzi needs to be taken out behind the Capitol building and given a severe beating. I don't like tobacco, I don't like being around it, but I know it's none of my damned business. It's none of his, either. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-07-23 20:40 |
| #2 Who elected this bozo? The same deluded voters who elected every other bozo who was able to conceal himself until he held power firmly in his grasp. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-07-23 20:24 |
| #1 It would appear that the good people of Wyoming must have. Just another clueless politician who hasn't read his history and doesn't realize what prohibition does. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-07-23 20:01 |