| The Tobacco Reference Guide
|
| by David Moyer, MD. |
| Chapter 30 Tobacco farmers |
| globalink (artefact pour saut de ligne) |
| The U.S. tobacco subsidy takes the form of a price support system, which guarantees a minimum price for the crop. The system was established during the 1930Ęs, when a period of market instability threatened to put many farmers out of business. One could argue that it still offers at least one public benefit; it tends to inflate prices, which may help discourage consumption. But the security that the system confers on tobacco farmers also offers a huge benefit to the cigarette companies. It does more than effectively guarantee them a crop. It has allowed them to build a powerful political base: a farm constituency. To understand the value of this constituency, you have to see it in action, providing political cover for the manufacturers. Whenever Congress threatens to raise tobacco taxes, the companies bring a few tobacco farmers and their families to Washington - to display at a press conference, or to testify before the appropriate congressional subcommittee. Voting for a tax increase that might put family farmers like these out of work is not a politically appealing prospect. The industry is spared the extra taxes, and the tobacco companies score PR points by portraying themselves as representatives of rural America. |
| Quote from World Watch magazine, July-August 1997, p. 26 (Anne Platt McGinn) |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| Most politicians from the southern tobacco states have used their clout to blindly back the tobacco industry's agenda instead of truly helping the tobacco farmer. They mistakenly assume that if the manufacturers prosper, as they have been with rapid growth in sales and profits, the struggling farmers will also. |
| Tobacco Use: An American Crisis, p. 85 |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour saut |
| The government guarantees tobacco farmers a minimum price for their crop, and when the free market doesn't meet that price, taxpayers make up the difference. Ever some staunch defenders of tobacco criticize the public cost. "The American taxpayer got stuck for $800 million," says Rep. Charlie Rose (D-NC), former chairman of the House subcommittee on tobacco. |
| Common Cause magazine, April 1991, p. 9 |
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| Page 12 of 12 |
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