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Originally Posted by dc_dux
BTW, Waxman first made his reputation 20+ years ago by being one of the few members of Congress willing to take on the tobacco industry. A bad thing to do? Politicizing the dangers of smoking by exposing the blatant lies and cover-ups of the industry? link |
On the surface Congress taking on the tabacco industry appears to be a net positive for society, I think it has been a net negative and those hearings were a bit late, weren't they? Smoking was already on the decline and smokers were aware of the dangers of smoking. They first started putting warning labels on cigerette packs in 1965 those hearings I thought were in the 90's, but even if they were in the 80's they were still late. Seeing the tabacco companies CEO say nicotine was not addictive was good theater but the issue was not in question at the time of the hearings. In my view this was an attempt at political grand-standing by congress. Another recent example were the baseball steroid hearings.
What can I say if people think Bush and the Republicans are the only people who will attempt to use data to promote their cause.
It is interesting, but a difference between conservatives and liberals is that perhaps as a conservative I assume people will do what they think is in their best interest, liberals seem to be surprised by this and further assume people who believe as they do would never manipulate data to prove a point or be self-serving. To that I say - mmmm?!?