This morning, I was listening to NPR news-they carried a piece by a doctor who was curious about how the states have been spending the 200+ $ billion tobacco lawsuit money. Interestingly enough, most states are NOT using the money to either treat sick smokers, or educate their young people about the dangers of smoking!
In fact, the findings were that:
-most states put the money in with general revenues-you can’t tell how the money is actually spent
-those states with anti-smoking programs typically spent PENNIES on the dollar (of tobacco lawsuit revenue)
-some states (like Virginia and NC) actually spent some of the money ON AID TO TOBACCO FARMERS!!-thus aiding the problem that the money was supposed to solve!
My question; in view of the mendacity which the states have indulged in (with regard to the tobacco lawsuits), why should we the citizens have to accept this farce? Is there any way to launch a class-action lawsuit to force the states to USE THE MONEY for its INTENDED PURPOSE (i.e. to stop people smoking in the first place)? That-ed be one lawsuit I’d like to see!:smack:
I have some info, but no cites handy.
Niagra County NY spent $700,000 to install a sprinkler system on a public golf course.
Alaska spent $3.5 million to renovate shipping docks.
And the granddaddy of them all, North Carolina spent $42 million to help tobacco farmers mondernize their curing process.
What did you expect when the politicians got their hands on such largesse? Thoughtful, careful spending of what it was intended for? The tobacco settlement was a farce. Just wait until the fast food settlement comes through…
Well, Wisconsin used it’s entire tobacco settlement to make up a one-time budget deficit of over a billion dollars. Of course next year, the deficit will be just as big if not more so, but the terbacky money’s gone for good.
And no, you can’t sue the government for mismanaging money.
- The states are not all spending the tobacco money to educate people on the dangers of smoking or the treatment of smokers.
- This isn’t misusing the funds.
The states won the settlement to REPLACE the money that they had ALREADY SPENT on the treatment of tobacco-related illnesses. IOW, at some point in the past, the state in question had to spend, say, $10000 to cure the lung cancer of somebody on medicare, so they didn’t have that $10000 to resurface the freeway. So now that they got the money, they can damn well use it however they please.
The settlement was never intended to provide funds for future treatment of new cases, I don’t even think that’s legal. It was inteded to be reparations.
-lv
I thought it was to help smokers quit smoking.
ivylass, according to the settlement , there appear to be two separate funds, one which funds “VI. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL FOUNDATION”, who’s purpose is to educate teens and things like that, and “IX. PAYMENTS”, which go directly to the states with no restrictions on use. The only ‘ongoing responsibilities’ of the state are related to the National Foundation.
Since there were no limitations on how the state could spend their settlement dollars in the settlement itself, then by definition the state can’t misuse the funds, and the radio and TV personalities who say otherwise are either stupid enough to not understand the settlement or deliberately spreading pro-tobacco FUD.
-lv