I think the AG's who signed on to the MSA should all be disbarred. They did not defend the best interests of 25% of their clients,, ( the smokers in the 46 states which were involved)
They should be disbarred AND tried for open discrimination AND extortion.
I prefer this story.
Abuse Of Democracy
This government is guilty of abusing democracy after it is revealed that fixed the outcome of a public consultation about cigarettes being displayed.
The Health Secretary Alan Johnson dishonestly claimed that an overwhelming majority of 96,000 responses to a six month public consultation was in favour on a display ban on cigarettes.
Yet of the 96,000 respondents nearly 70,000 came from pressure groups funded by the Department for Health.
Among the pressure groups were anti-smoking groups so it is hardly surprising that they got the result they did.
This so called public consultation was nothing more than a sham and blatant corruption.
http://kevsoft.co.uk/?subaction=...990431&
archive=
Have to agree with the gang here, Doctor, but I bet you expected that! Right after the MSA was signed, the Attorney General here in Texas was arrested for some crime which involved the MSA. I wasn't living here at the time, so I really wasn't paying all that much attention to it and I am sure I could look up his crime if I had the time, which one of these days, I might just do. Then Spitzer was Attorney General in New York during the MSA days and he was even bold enough to go after the shipping companies who shipped internet sales of cigarettes. Let's see, how humiliated did he end up being once his power continued to grow and he became the Govenor? Each and everyone of them has dirty linen and it eventually will be aired. One State at a time.
My favorite part of the MSA is this part:
"IT'S NOT ABOUT MONEY"
Remarks Made by Key Attorneys
General on the Tobacco Deal
"Friends of Tobacco"
20 June 1997
Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore: ... We are here today to announce what we think is -- we know, we believe, is the most historic public health achievement in history. ...We had to punish this industry in such a way that everybody in this country and everybody in this world would recognize that they had paid a higher price than any other corporation in history, because, frankly, this corporation has done more harm than any other corporation in history. And they have acted irresponsibly more than any other corporation in history. What we have extracted from them in punishment for their past misconduct is an extra $60 billion in payment. And what we have hoped to do with that money specifically is to create a $25 billion trust fund that can be used for the public health of this country in such a way as a presidential commission will advise the president and the officers of this country in the states. We have also raised enough money, we hope, we believe, that will fully fund children's health care coverage in this country for those children in our states who don't have health care coverage. And rightfully so. Who better to pay for children's health care than those people who do more damage to our kids than any other industry in this country. We also have punished the industry by changing the way they do business. ...... we have a plan we think that'll work, a plan that will reduce smoking in this country not only for teenagers, which has been one of our main focuses, but also for adults in this country. See, I've got a little boy. His name is Kyle, and he's 10 years old. And every day when I've been in the room, that's who I've been thinking about. And I also have a dad. He's about 76 years old, and has been smoking for a real long time. [50-60 years? Still alive.] And I worry a whole lot about that. And it's my dad and your dads and your moms and your grandpas and your grandmoms that we did this for. This is about the people and the public health of this country. This probably the finest hour of attorneys general in this country. It's probably the finest hour for trial lawyers in America. And we're very proud of our folks who have helped us in this regard.
Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire: ...the look-back provision. What it's intended to do is ensure that this industry in fact stops marketing to kids, but in a way where we can judge their performance. We want, in 10 years, to have 60-percent reduction in youth smoking. And really what that translates to is almost 70 percent, based on the amount of children that are smoking today. We want that to happen. That's the performance standards that we have put out there for these companies. And if they fail -- if they fail -- we want harsh penalties for every percentage point they fail. And those percentages, by the way, is to disgorge them of all the profits they would otherwise make for addicting a child, over the life of that child. There is no financial gain to them, at all, to addict a child from this point forward.... And like Attorney General Mike Moore and those who stand with me today, I have been here on behalf of an 82-year-old mother who has been smoking since the age of 13. ..." [Smoke for 70 years. Live anyway.]
Florida Attorney General Robert Butterworth:" ...And this industry has been punished and will be punished more than any other industry has ever in the United States because it should be, and it will be. ...... The long implications of this agreement remain to be seen....
"Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods: "You can see, from the bullet points and from what Attorney General Moore mentioned, they're going to pay an awful lot of money. They're going to pay more money than any companies have ever paid in the history of the United States to settle a lawsuit. But this isn't about $60 billion in punitive damages. It's not about $308 billion to settle lawsuits over a 25-year period -- which, by the way, I hope everyone will make clear. We did not settle for 25 years; this agreement lasts forever. After five years they will pay $15 billion forever, so you do the math. They'll also pay 3 percent on top of whatever they've been paying each year, to adjust for inflation. So this number becomes astronomical very quickly, but that's what they have agreed to pay. It's not about money. ..."
http://www.fujipub.com/fot/ag-full.html
.
What a bunch of criminals!
.
Derthick writes: "The industry received protection against competition, in defiance of state and federal antitrust laws, which are criminal statutes."
Sort of like when restaurant associations that have already been the targets of smoking bans openly support bans that extend it to bars, etc? The "level playing field"? That, in effect, is not support for a ban but support for a law that provides them protection against competition. (Because we all know that the need for a "level playing field," by definition, can only be based on the inescapable logic that places that do not ban smoking will do better business).
Kayci wrote:
"My favorite part of the MSA is this part:
"IT'S NOT ABOUT MONEY"
Remarks Made by Key Attorneys
General on the Tobacco Deal
"Friends of Tobacco"
20 June 1997"
The so-called Global Tobacco Settlement of June 20, 1997 (which was subsequently introduced by John McCain and then rejected by the US Senate in 199
was distinctly different than the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), which was negotiated and agreed to by 46 state AGs in the fall of 1998 (and which didn't involve federal legislation).
After criticizing and organizing the defeat of John McCain's legislation in 1998 (along with Mike Siegel, ALA, MN AG Humphrey, ATLA and hundreds of grass roots anti smoking activists), I also campaigned against the MSA in the fall of 1998.
On a previous thread, somemone posted my presentation at 1999 at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health analyzing the MSA, at:
http://no-smoking.org/august99/0...08-30-99-
1.html
Hi Bill,
Yes, BT is protected, as well as government and TC. In fact it seems that everyone except the citizens who buy tobacco products are well represented in the protectes class.
As far as I'm concerned, excise taxes and the MSA are taxation without representation for the sole purpose of persecution.
However, I also am quite sure that this is all a concentrated study in how NOT to conduct social engineering. All the bans will be lifted.
.
Commenting by HaloScan
