04 Aug 2005
The Triumph of Conservatism

Years ago I stumbled across the book The Triumph of Conservatism by Gabriel Kolko. It dramatically altered my perception of the relationship between government and big business, showing beyond a doubt that the "trust-busting" of TR and the "Progressive Era" was, in fact, orchestrated by the trusts themselves, and inured to their benefit!

The recent (1998) multi-state tobacco settlement proves this point better than any re-reading of history. How has this "punishment" of "Big Tobacco" for various crimes and misdeeds worked out in practice?

Most of the money isn’t going to treat smoking-related illnesses, help smokers quit, or prevent teenagers from smoking.
  • Low-income smokers are paying for massive trial lawyer fees, state and local spending to cover budget deficits, a wide range of general state expenditures, and pork barrel projects.
  • Attorneys general are scrambling to preserve the financial well-being and market shares of major tobacco companies and impede sales by smaller companies that did not sign onto the settlement.
  • Trial lawyers are an estimated $13 billion richer, in some cases having earned well over $7,000 an hour for work on the settlement.
  • Tobacco companies are still getting sued.
  • Attorneys general and trial lawyers are using the tobacco lawsuits and settlements as a template for targeting other industries and inducing settlements.
  • Overall smoking rates among adults have not fallen appreciably.
  • Illicit cigarette trafficking has shot up, with millions of dollars flowing to terrorist groups, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

    • This settlement created a windfall for all parties: Big Tobacco gets bigger, attorneys general get to look like public spirited crusaders and win re-election and the trial lawyers get richer. Only consumers were left out of the equation.

    Americans have been led to believe that the 1998 tobacco settlement punished “Big Tobacco” for decades of dishonest business practices, such as lying to the public about the health risks of smoking. But the truth is that the settlement that was negotiated behind closed doors created a new cartel arrangement between state governments and big tobacco companies.

    (link) [Control Abuse of Power.org]

    via Overlawyered

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