[Vision2020] Is The Bush Administration Blowing Smoke?

[lfalen]

I will agree that the FDA is inadequately staffed.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: Tom Hansen thansen at moscow.com
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 09:02:08 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Is The Bush Administration Blowing Smoke?

> >From Bob Schieffer's commentary on today's (July 27, 2008) "Face the 
> Nation" -
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Is The Bush Admin. Blowing Smoke?
> By Bob Schieffer
> 
> First disclosure: I'm a cancer survivor, and have lived for a long time 
> with another disease called ulcerative colitis, both of which I probably 
> got because of a long-ago, heavy addiction to nicotine. 
> 
> So I am delighted the House will vote this week on legislation that for 
> the fist time will give the Food and Drug Administration real power to 
> regulate tobacco products. I hope it passes. 
> 
> For the record, John McCain and Barack Obama, who don't agree on much, 
> agree this needs to be done. So does the American Cancer Society, as well 
> as the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and on 
> and on. 
> 
> The administration - incredibly, in my opinion - opposes it for a reason 
> that would make the Queen of Hearts from "Alice in Wonderland" proud. 
> 
> Their reason: that the FDA already has such a huge job monitoring food 
> safety that it just doesn't have the resources to take on the additional 
> job of regulating tobacco. 
> 
> If it did, the administration argues, regulating food and drugs might 
> suffer. 
> 
> I couldn't be more serious. That really is their main reason. 
> 
> By that logic, we shouldn't have asked the military or our intelligence 
> agencies to get involved in fighting terrorism after 9/11. For sure, they 
> already had plenty to do before Osama bin Laden came along. 
> 
> In "Alice," after the Queen of Hearts issued her weird orders, her husband 
> the King had a way of undoing them when she wasn't looking. 
> 
> Well, maybe Congress can do the same and pass this by veto-proof margins. 
> 
> Because every day, 1,000 children in America are learning to smoke, and 
> for 20 years now, 400,000 Americans have died each year from tobacco-
> related diseases. 
> 
> That's no fairy tale. Those are just the facts. 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Any bets on how Idaho's Rep. Bill Sali will vote?
> 
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>  
> "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college 
> students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."
> 
> - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)
> 
> 
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