John Kerry: “I must say that what fascinates me about it is that the real bait and switch is not the bait and switch that he has…”

“I must say that what fascinates me about it is that the real bait and switch is not the bait and switch that he has described. He has tried to describe that somehow because this bill defines a problem of smoking and then raises the prices on cigarettes, which is what the tobacco companies have agreed to do, and the tobacco companies have acknowledged affects the number of people who smoke; but he tries to allege the switch is that we don't like the tobacco companies, so what do we do? We turn around and hurt the victims. Now, in the next breath, at the end of his speech, the Senator says why don't we just raise the price and give it back to people. Why don't we raise the price, but give it back in tax cuts. The bait and switch is that the Senator from Texas doesn't give the money back to the people who pay it. He gives it back to a whole bunch of people, many of whom are doing much better than the people who will pay the higher cigarette taxes and are also people earning much more income, and also people who don't smoke.”