McCain and Big Tobacco: Smoke and Mirrors

As promised, a note on tobacco issues -- something I'm particularly passionate about. 

McCain, touting his "marverick" credentials, likes to say that he's "taken on Big Tobacco."  He said it in his ad, and he said it again in his convention speech.

As a historical matter that's true -- John McCain was once one of the tobacco industry's greatest foes.  In 1997, he sponsored a bill that would have increased taxes on cigarettes by $1.10 per pack and given the FDA the ability to regulate cigarettes.  The tobacco industry unleashed millions of dollars in advertising to defeat the bill, much of it directly targeting McCain.  At the time, McCain said he would "never" give up fighting the tobacco companies.

But that was then.  Guess who is now opposed to increasing cigarette taxes and regulating tobacco?  That's right -- John McCain.

Last fall, McCain was one of only 31 senators to vote against increasing the federal cigarette tax to pay for expanding SCHIP (the State Children's Health Insurance Program), i.e., providing health coverage to uninsured children.  The bill, which had strong bipartisan support, was ultimately vetoed by President Bush.  McCain suggested that a cigarette tax was a "phony smoke-and-mirrors way" to pay for the SCHIP expansion, even though he had previously sponsored an even larger cigarette tax increase. 

On the FDA regulation of tobacco, McCain has also changed his position.  Although McCain is a co-sponsor of a bill that would allow the FDA to regulate tobacco products, his campaign now says he won't commit to supporting his own legislation.

With Ohio de-funding its tobacco control program and Philip Morris expanding into new areas, we desperately need a president who will take this issue seriously.  The last thing we need is a president whose chief advisor is a tobacco industry lobbyist.  

Unlike McCain, Obama voted in favor of the bill to expand SCHIP, and his health care plan calls for significantly increasing access to SCHIP.  And despite (or perhaps because of) Obama's well-chronicled struggles to quit smoking, he has consistently voted against the tobacco industry's interests. 

So while it may be true that McCain has "taken on Big Tobacco," only one candidate appears willing to do so in the future.  And it's not John McCain.