Political Quotes

“I plead for sanity in this tobacco debate. The punitive proposals before Congress are an affront to fairness. These proposed tax increases will devastate farmers who have done absolutely nothing wrong. Excise tax increases are regressive and fall hardest on the people who can least afford to pay. These tax increases could be as much as $900. They would wipe out the child tax credit that was passed last year and take two-thirds of the tax relief we have put in place for HOPE scholarships, and it is one of the largest tax increases ever. I was not elected to raise taxes on the 50 million people in America. If we can protect farmers, and we certainly ought to stop children from smoking and provide the opportunity for that, and have a balanced agreement that reduces the litigation, protects farmers, and curbs teen smoking, I can support a responsible increase in prices. However, responsibility and balance has been abandoned. Tobacco litigation is no longer about responsibly reducing teen smoking, it is about punishment, and we must return to sanity and a fair debate on this bill and stop this shameful political posturing.”