Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Tobacco Escapes Huge Penalty

So the White House's Justice department just cut the fine sought to 8% of what they were seeking before. can you guess who got more donations from cigarette companies: Bush or Kerry? I guess it pays to have the president in your pocket.

After eight months of courtroom argument, Justice Department lawyers abruptly upset a landmark civil racketeering case against the tobacco industry yesterday by asking for less than 8 percent of the expected penalty.

As he concluded closing arguments in the six-year-old lawsuit, Justice Department lawyer Stephen D. Brody shocked tobacco company representatives and anti-tobacco activists by announcing that the government will not seek the $130 billion that a government expert had testified was necessary to fund smoking-cessation programs. Instead, Brody said, the Justice Department will ask tobacco companies to pay $10 billion over five years to help millions of Americans quit smoking.

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