Profiteering with Big Tobacco
The other day I went for a walk in the neighborhood and was watching the county truck picking up recycle trash from a large trash truck with a robotic arm. On the side of the truck it indicated that (part of ) the truck was payed for “with tobacco settlement” money. The first thought is myself and others pay for that truck and the union workers who drive them. Sacramento got roughly $214 million dollars with the law suits against Big Tobacco yet the government while profiting handsomely from sales of cigarettes. In most circles this is called Profiteering. The dictionary defines profiteering as:
profiteer |ˌpräfəˈti(ə)r|
verb [ intrans. ]
make or seek to make an excessive or unfair profit, esp. illegally or in a black market : [as n. ] ( profiteering) the profiteering of tabloid journalists.
California and the rest of the government have been profiting from cigarette sales, through special taxes, while the industry has been slapped around as being illegal in its actions. At least illegal enough to warrant billions of dollars in lost court cases. I for one think smoking is one of the dumbest activities you can participate in but Big Brother should not be allowed to conduct profiteering.
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