If passed, this bill would have made a few hundred trial lawyers very rich. Of course the lawsuits won't end with tobacco. The American Medical Association's Office of Alcohol and Drug abuse already argues that the attention paid to tobacco should now be focused on alcohol. The Center for Science in the Public Interest is calling upon the FDA to regulate the caffeine content in coffee, tea, soda and chocolate. Yale University researchers are calling for federal regulation of unhealthy food and punitive excise taxes on high-fat foods.
Every American automobile is manufactured with the ability to go faster than the speed limit.
Surely, some lawyers somewhere may even now be approaching a state government official with a plan to sue the auto companies. This entire debate has gotten entirely out of hand. The tobacco bill that was killed in the Senate would not have done this. To the best of my knowledge there are laws on the books that make it illegal for kids to purchase tobacco products. The liberals counter to this mammoth tax hike will probably be to raise the minimum wage, again - forcing businesses to foot the bill, and pass along the costs.