Tobacco.org

• House ready to consider tobacco plan / Buyout bill leaves FDA regulation out 

A $10 billion buyout for American tobacco farmers heads for the floor of the U.S. House today, but a decision to shield tobacco from Food and Drug Administration regulation left the measure's outcome uncertain.

Both Republican and Democratic senators weighed tactics that could prevent the measure from coming to a vote in the Senate.

The two tobacco provisions, and their political implications on the North Carolina Senate race, have emerged as focal points of sprawling tax legislation that would provide more than $130 billion in tax cuts for businesses in the next 10 years.

The provisions would bring about $3.8 billion to nearly 76,000 people who grow tobacco or own quotas in North Carolina.

One of the Senate candidates, Rep. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican and member of the conference committee that approved the measure Wednesday, is billing himself as the buyout's crucial mover. In response, his Democratic opponent, Erskine Bowles, flew to Washington to join in lobbying for the buyout provision, which would end the Depression-era quota system.

Jump to full article »