Cohen Takes Aim at Pipe Tobacco

Vol.: 2     Issue: 1

You can judge for yourselves what sort of legislator U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is from the some of the stuff I have found. He is the fellow who is attempting to raise pipe tobacco taxes by more than 100 percent, to match that of RYO taxes. 

Is this the man you want watching out for your pipe tobacco interests?

Cohen is from Memphis, Tenn., elected Nov. 7, 2006 to represent House District 9 in Washington. He was re-elected  Nov. 4, 2008, in a heavily Democratic part of the state. This is Harold Ford country, for those of you who aren’t aware. You can also look up brother Ford for some eye-opening stories. 

I covered Cohen when he was a Shelby County (Memphis, Tenn.) Commissioner from 1978-1980. He was something of a joke then, as now. But, as a county official, Cohen couldn’t cause too much trouble then. Today, he can and is proposing big, serious problems for the tobacco industry, once a large staple in his area. 

The folks at Project Vote Smart have the goods on Cohen. 

In 2008,he amassed $1,238,073 in campaign funds and still has nearly $500,000 of that left. The top contributor to his campaign was JStreetPAC, which describes itself from its web site thusly: JStreetPAC is the first political action committee to endorse and raise funds for federal candidates based on their support for Israel and for American policy in the Middle East that promotes security through peace, a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and active diplomacy to address regional conflicts. 

His largest supporters come from labor, lawyers, Real Estate, insurance, the health care system and farmers’ groups, such as the National Farmers Union, which supported the Democratic Party choice Martha Coakley in the recent Massachusetts election to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat. You will recall that an angry electorate smashed up the Democratic machine in Tuesday’s vote, sending a loud message to Washington and the White House. 

You might saythat folks in Massachusetts had had it up to here with big government and big bailouts. And then there is the matter of a proposed health care system on crutches with nothing but a big bill for the taxpayers, not to mention sweetheart deals for U.S. senators to get their votes. 

Back to Cohen. He is part of that muck up in Washington, and now he proposes to increase pipe tobacco taxes from $2.43 per pound to nearly $30 per pound, to equalize it with federal taxes on roll-your-own tobacco. 

The RYO segment of the tobacco industry was the first to feel the big squeeze from the new muscled up Food and Drug Administration regulators and those in Congress, like Cohen, who support ripping away your civil rights. 

Cohen’s top contributors ($151,500) came from labor organizations, naturally. Then, health care providers dropped in $80,650. 

Oddly, agribusinesses popped in $28,900 to reelect Cohen, for some reason. He certainly is not looking out for the poor, tortured tobacco farmer. 

Is he watching out for your interests?

Tags: bailouts, civil rights, Cohen, healthcare, insurance, Memphis, Project Vote Smart, Realtors, RYO