CLINTON SMOKE
Tobacco Lawsuit Is Wasteful Political Theater

President Clinton would dearly love to inhale -- inhale the pot of
money that he smells at the tobacco companies. His grandstanding,
politically motivated Justice Department lawsuit against the tobacco
companies is but the latest chapter in his craving for that money to
finance huge new spending programs.

No one is defending the indefensible tobacco companies. But Americans
should see clearly now that the president is blowing smoke.

Throughout his tenure in the White House, Clinton has schemed and
maneuvered to tap into that pot of money, but there are several things
wrong with the current suit -- allegedly filed to recoup federal
Medicare money spent on treating ill tobacco users.

No. 1 is that the suit unduly politicizes the Justice
Department.

Second, it is probably unwinable and is, thus, a huge waste of
taxpayers' money and the Justice Department's resources. Critics of
the suit argue, with merit, that it amounts to usurping Congress'
constitutional power to levy taxes. "Taxation through litigation" is
how one observer describes it.

Perhaps most important, the suit could jeopardize the
multimillion-dollar settlements Texas and other states have reached
with the tobacco companies. So alarmed are state officials that Texas
Attorney General John Cornyn said he is looking into how Texas might
intervene in the president's ill-advised lawsuit.

And remember, it was the Clinton administration that refused to help
the states pursue those cases but tried to finagle a sizable portion
of Texas' money once our state's case had been settled. U.S. Attorney
General Janet Reno has insisted for years that the Justice Department
had no standing to file such a lawsuit in the first place.

It's also worth noting that the White House case ignores numerous
studies that have shown that tobacco users pay far more to the federal
government in tobacco taxes than the government spends in treating
their illnesses.

Furthermore, government scientists knew of tobacco's dangers as far
back as the 1930s, yet the government continued to both heavily tax
and heavily subsidize the industry.

There's much more, but in short, the lawsuit is yet another act of
grand, cynical political theater and gross waste. Clinton is still
blowing smoke.