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SHOWDOWN OVER SCHIP THIS WEEK

Plus: an electric cigar?

Los Angeles, September 24 – The showdown between the Democratic-controlled Congress and U.S. President George W. Bush over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program will play out this week as the program’s authorization will expire next Monday, September 30.

The Democratic program likely to be submitted to Bush includes a massive tax increase on tobacco products, including a 256% raise in the tax rate and a more than 6,000% raise in the tax cap from 4.875 cents per large cigar up to $3.00 each. Not to mention a devastating floor tax on retailers on stock in place as of January 1, 2008.

In a news conference on Thursday, Bush made his position clear: “I have strongly supported S-CHIP as a governor, and I have done so as President. My 2008 budget proposed to increase S-CHIP funding by $5 billion over five years. It’s a 20 percent increase over current levels of funding. Unfortunately, instead of working with the administration to enact this funding increase for children’s health, Democrats in Congress have decided to pass a bill they know that will be vetoed. One of their leaders has even said such a veto would be, ‘a political victory.’

“As if this weren’t irresponsible enough, Congress is waiting until the S-CHIP program is just about to expire before getting a final bill passed. In other words, members of Congress are putting health coverage for poor children at risk so they can score political points in Washington. The legislation would raise taxes on working people, and would raise spending by between $35 billion and $50 billion. Their proposal would result in taking a program meant to help poor children and turning it into one that covers children in households with incomes of up to $83,000 a year.”

That’s clear enough. The White House and the Congress are getting an earful not only from the tobacco industry, but also from foreign leaders from cigar-producing countries such as the Dominican Republic. President Leonel Fernandez sent a message to the Congress asking it not to approve the cigar tax, which he says could cost 50,000 jobs in the Dominican alone, in a country with an unemployment rate of 16.3%.

If the bill is passed as currently envisioned and vetoed by Bush, the options include a supplemental appropriation to keep the program going while a bill that both sides can agree on can be created.

An electric cigar?
This is amazing. A Scottsdale, Arizona-based company called Crown 7 has introduced an “electric” smoking device that it claims can be used in smoke-free areas. According to the company:

“Crown7 is an Art Deco styled tube which contains a cartridge and rechargeable battery. The cartridge contains water, propylene glycol, nicotine, and a tobacco flavor. One Crown7 cartridge is the equivalent to about two packs of cigarettes. It is a wonderful invention that allows a person to virtually smoke anywhere! It contains nicotine, but does not pollute the environment, nor offend people in the surrounding area, bar, home, workplace, car, any situation which would be a public place.” The device comes in three different styles: cigarette, cigar and pipe. It is supposed to provide a nicotine supply to the smoker without projecting any smoke; according to a review on Switched.com, “A filter cartridge is inserted in the device and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery (just like in your cell phone or laptop) activates a smoke-like water vapor that fills your lungs with nicotine and an earthy (read: tastes vaguely like dirt) tobacco flavor.”

The cigar device is about the size of a corona-sized cigar; the cigarette unit looks like a long cigarette holder and the pipe unit looks like a standard bent pipe. They’re not cheap: the cigar unit costs $64.95 each, the cigarette unit is $99.95 and the pipe device is $149.95. The replacement cartridges are $10 for a pack of five.

The Switched.com folks were not impressed: “While the idea sounds pretty good on paper, in practice the whole thing sort of falls apart. First, we doubt you’ll actually get away with smoking this thing in restaurants, on trains, or any other place where smoking is banned. Second, the price is astronomical, even for us smokers who are plenty used to being taken advantage of. . . . Third, we’re not sure how comfortable we are sucking on anything that needs to be charged like a cell phone.”

You have to give the Crown 7 folks credit for trying, though.

Annual Cuba blame game on now:
There are 192 member nations of the United Nations and Cuba trades, or is able to trade, with all but one of them: the United States.

But according to the Cubans, in a 56-page report that it issues annually, the 45-year-old U.S. trade embargo has cost the Cuban more than $89 billion so far and $3 billion last year. The booklet is prepared for the purpose of winning yet another meaningless vote in the United Nations against the embargo. The U.N. General Assembly has voted 15 years in a row for a resolution that the U.S. should end the embargo. No impact.

Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque said that during 2006, just 37,000 Americans of Cuban origin visited the country last year, down from 85,000 in 2003. He noted, however, that another 59,000 American visited Cuba last year in contravention of the embargo, but that was down from 115,000 in 2003. The Cubans estimate that if the embargo were not in place, some five million Americans would visit Cuba.

Some U.S. Presidential candidates, notably Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, want to end the embargo. Democratic Senator Barack Obama would like to relax the travel restrictions, but both are a long way from being able to do anything about it.
~ Rich Perelman

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