Big Tobacco

How, over the past two decades, did the image of the tobacco industry change - in the words of one of the interviewees in "Addiction Incorporated" - from Kellogg's to the Gambino crime family? This eminently watchable documentary traces the work of scientists, whistle-blowers, news reporters, lawyers, and ultimately Congress to expose what they say was decades of deceit by Big Tobacco in making and marketing products it long knew to be highly addictive. In a film rich with engaging talking heads, the star witness is easily scientist and whistle-blower Victor J....

How, over the past two decades, did the image of the tobacco industry change - in the words of one of the interviewees in "Addiction Incorporated" - from Kellogg's to the Gambino crime family? This eminently watchable documentary traces the work of scientists, whistle-blowers, news reporters, lawyers, and ultimately Congress to expose what they say was decades of deceit by Big Tobacco in making and marketing products it long knew to be highly addictive. In a film rich with engaging talking heads, the star witness is easily scientist and whistle-blower Victor J....

WASHINGTON - The Senate struck a historic blow against smoking in the United States yesterday, voting overwhelmingly to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in the cigarettes that kill nearly a half-million Americans a year, to drastically curtail ads that glorify tobacco, and to ban flavored products aimed at spreading the habit to young people. President Obama said he was eager to sign the legislation. The House passed a slightly different version in April, but planned a vote for today to accept the Senate bill, sending it to Obama's desk.

WASHINGTON - The Senate struck a historic blow against smoking in the United States yesterday, voting overwhelmingly to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in the cigarettes that kill nearly a half-million Americans a year, to drastically curtail ads that glorify tobacco, and to ban flavored products aimed at spreading the habit to young people. President Obama said he was eager to sign the legislation. The House passed a slightly different version in April, but planned a vote for today to accept the Senate bill, sending it to Obama's desk.

A $25 billion settlement with the nation's top mortgage lenders could provide a tempting and timely pot of new money for state lawmakers and governors looking to fill multi-million-dollar budget gaps. Although most of the settlement goes directly to homeowners, the agreement includes nearly $2.7 billion for state governments to spend as they wish. Officials in several states already are planning to use the money to plug budget holes while others are pledging to spend it on foreclosure prevention and counseling programs.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Discount tobacco stores near the Tennessee line are bracing for sales to drop this week as Kentucky raises its cigarette tax for the first time in 30 years. From a national low of 3 cents per pack, Kentucky's tax will rise tomorrow to 30 cents per pack -- topping the 20-cent tax in neighboring Tennessee. "It's going to knock my socks off," said Frank Hinton, who employs 22 people at four Discount Tobacco City & Lottery outlets near the border. While Kentucky's rate will still be low compared with many other states, analysts say the increase...

WATCHING THE country's biggest banks, 49 states, and the federal government stumble toward a $25 billion mortgage foreclosure settlement brings back memories: Just like the 1998 Big Tobacco deal, this is a complex agreement with lots of moving parts. And just like the tobacco settlement, it's far more than a legal matter - it's a grand spectacle built around money, politics, and lots of heated rhetoric. The press releases for the foreclosure deal will be thick with words like "fairness" and "forgiveness," but don't think for a moment that it represents a resounding victory over...

US Representative Jim McGovern, a Worcester Democrat, generated some unwanted controversy two years ago when he publicly declared: "The Constitution is wrong. " The context was a discussion of campaign finance during a debate between McGovern and his Republican challenger, Marty Lamb. "A lot of the campaign-finance laws we've passed have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court," McGovern said. "I think the Constitution is wrong. I don't think money … equals free speech.

NEW ORLEANS-- A jury ordered the tobacco industry yesterday to pay $590 million for nicotine patches, telephone hot lines, advertising, and other programs to help Louisiana smokers kick the habit. Legal specialists said the verdict marks the first time a jury has found that tobacco companies should pay for such programs. "This case is unique and certainly a major precedent that I'm sure the tobacco industry is very concerned about," said Edward L. Sewda, senior attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston.

MADISON, Wis. - Texting while driving, smoking in public, and cooking with artery-clogging trans fats will be that much harder under a slew of state laws set to take effect around the country on Friday. Faced with huge budget shortfalls and little extra money to throw around, state lawmakers exercised their (inexpensive) power to clamp down on impolite, unhealthy, and sometimes dangerous behaviors in 2009. Even toy guns were targeted. Among the most surprising new laws set to take effect in 2010 is a smoking ban for bars and restaurants in North Carolina, the...

NEW YORK -- South Dakotans rejected a toughest-in-the-nation law that would have banned virtually all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest -- defeating one of the most high-profile state measures facing voters yesterday . The outcome was a blow to conservatives, although they prevailed in five other states where voters approved constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage. Among them was Wisconsin, where gay-rights activists had nursed hopes of engineering the first defeat of such a ban. Five states approved increases in their minimum wage, while Arizona passed four measures...

MOUNT STERLING, Ky. - Lindsay Pasley is an eager young man in what used to be an older man's game - tobacco farming. He recently took 20 tons of his early prepared leaf to Clay's Tobacco Warehouse in Mount Sterling, due east of Lexington in the Appalachian foothills. He said he earned enough to "have a nice Thanksgiving and Christmas. " The auctioneer's singsong chant still rings out at Clay's and a few other tobacco-selling sites stubbornly hanging on with limited sales, but not nearly as often.