Now that that has been swept aside they can get on with doing the same about ken lay and osama

Racketeering?  How can the federal government charge the tobacco companies with racketeering when the feds were Big Tobacco's biggest enablers (other than the tobacco-buying consumers)?
You want to talk about some racketeering? How about the racket among the Defense Dept., the Pentagon, and the private defense contractors?  I mean, they don't call it racketeering, but that's what it is!

Heck, they've gotta win against the tobacco companies...how else are they going to reduce the deficit?


By cutting spending (Bush's new budget out today cuts 150 programs including medicaid and money for environmental clean-ups.)  All I can say is it's about time Bush, it only took a few years and more money wasted on fighting AIDs in Africa, for the same people who won't put on condoms.

The 280 billion dollars was all the profits made by tobacco since it was legalized in the early 1900's.  That fine was absurb, and so was Janet el Reno and her injustice department for pushing this.  Luckily Ashcroft stopped that when he became AG.

By cutting spending (Bush's new budget out today cuts 150 programs including medicaid and money for environmental clean-ups.) 
As the folks back home say, what do you expect from a pig but a grunt?  That's what you always get with the Republicans, rule by lobbyists.  More public money for defense contractors, corporations, and the rich, less public money for the public.
::)

All I can say is it's about time Bush, it only took a few years and more money wasted on fighting AIDs in Africa, for the same people who won't put on condoms.
You didn't actually think African nations were going to ever see any of that money, did you?  Anyway, the AIDS situation in sub-Saharan Africa is so severe right now, it just may have to run its course.  I know that sounds like a horrible thing to say, but the AIDS plague is a horrible thing.

The 280 billion dollars was all the profits made by tobacco since it was legalized in the early 1900's.  That fine was absurb, and so was Janet el Reno and her injustice department for pushing this.  Luckily Ashcroft stopped that when he became AG.

Are you sure tobacco was "illegal" in the 19th century, or was it just unregulated?
I don't agree with Ashcroft on much of anything, but I do think it is an extremely dangerous precedent to try to order the tobacco industry to cough up 280 billion.  Are we going to seek financial redress from the soft drink companies for 100 years worth of high dental bills?

As the folks back home say, what do you expect from a pig but a grunt?  That's what you always get with the Republicans, rule by lobbyists.  More public money for defense contractors, corporations, and the rich, less public money for the public.
::)
You didn't actually think African nations were going to ever see any of that money, did you?  Anyway, the AIDS situation in sub-Saharan Africa is so severe right now, it just may have to run its course.  I know that sounds like a horrible thing to say, but the AIDS plague is a horrible thing.
Are you sure tobacco was "illegal" in the 19th century, or was it just unregulated?
I don't agree with Ashcroft on much of anything, but I do think it is an extremely dangerous precedent to try to order the tobacco industry to cough up 280 billion.  Are we going to seek financial redress from the soft drink companies for 100 years worth of high dental bills?


How exactly is cutting wasteful spending helping the rich and corporations?  And, in a time of war, don't you think the annual increase in military spending is more needed now than ever?

As for AIDs in Africa, Bush increased spending, to God knows what.  It was already at 15 billion, more than any other nation.  Though it was nice to see Bush cut spending, it didn't go anywhere near enough to create a surplus, which is really what we need.  He increased spending in many places, and a lot of these so-called cuts are really just a spending increase less than the cost for inflation.  Example: a program gets 50 million a year.  Yearly inflation says that the program should now get 60 million to cover the costs for inflation.  Bush's budget plan gives that program 55 million.  Not really much of a spending cut is it, though to be fair, I think he did really cut spending and cut some government programs out, hopefully the republican-controlled congress will pass the budget, usually, even when republicans have control, congress acts like cutting spending is like kissing the devil.  They want to bring home the pork so they can buy more votes.  The 'rats do this more, but the republicans do it as well.

And I think you are right, tobacco was legal in the 19th century, and probably throughout all of American history.

How exactly is cutting wasteful spending helping the rich and corporations?  And, in a time of war, don't you think the annual increase in military spending is more needed now than ever?

And I think you are right, tobacco was legal in the 19th century, and probably throughout all of American history.


Wasteful?  Like doing away with the subsidies for college loans (so what if we lag behind in science), and kicking people off Medicaid (hey, if your poor, just say no to sickness).  For years the Retard...I mean Repubs have screamed about tax and spend Democrates, but this admin has run up the biggest deficits in history, and since the budget proposal DOES NOT include the cost of war in Iraq and Afganistan...So now we have the borrow and spend Re-pubs, an apt name since they all seem to be drunk.

But back to the topic.  The tobacco corps have for years hidden reports on the danger of smoking and touted it as cool, sexy, the in thing, and safe, and the gov't has been their ally.  Talk about accountability.