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10 Why have the tobacco companies agreed to court settlements costing them hundreds of billions of dollars if they're not guilty?




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This article is from the Smokers FAQ, by jdawson@netcom.com (Joe Dawson) with numerous contributions by others.

10 Why have the tobacco companies agreed to court settlements costing them hundreds of billions of dollars if they're not guilty?

The big tobacco companies are not the ones actually paying the money:
ordinary smokers are paying every dime in the form of increased prices and
"invisible" taxes on their cigarettes. The McCain Bill actually FORBADE
the tobacco companies to pay the costs themselves because of fear they'd
go bankrupt and leave the treasuries without their ill-gotten loot.

By agreeing to these terms, the tobacco companies seek to save themselves
billions in court costs and judgements. In doing so they have submitted
to acting as agents in the extortion of hundreds of billions of dollars in
"taxes" aimed largely at lower income people. While the *real* villains
in this crime are tax-hungry politicians, Big Tobacco has been far too
cooperative in supporting these actions to cover their own legal
liabilities.

~~From: dambik@warner.fnal.gov (Ed Dambik)~~
Did you ever wonder why the smoking issue gets so wrapped up with
attacks against Tobacco companies? Why, when the issues always boil
down to someone smoking in the office, the mall, a restaurant, etc.?
I think because it's not considered polite to attack regular PEOPLE
But attack a large, impersonal corporation (among others) and
everyone's resentments immediately come bobbing to the surface, even
smokers'. By verbally attacking the corporation, they can justify
draconian measures against INDIVIDUALS because such laws are reported
and come to be seen as if they didn't hurt people but instead only
cause financial problems for those large, rich, impersonal corporations.

 

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