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SUCCESS FOR LIBERTY Striking a blow for free political speech and against subsidized elections, the Arizona Supreme Court has overturned a major aspect of that state's Clean Elections Act, which had directed public money into a fund for political campaigns. "The ruling struck down a 10% surcharge on criminal and civil fines, including on parking tickets, which last year represented 69% of the fund's revenues," reported the Institute for Justice, whose Arizona chapter litigated the case. "An earlier ruling invalidated lobbyist fees for the same purpose, and the Clean Election Commission is refunding up to $400,000 in wrongfully collected lobbyist fees." The court did grant a stay on enforcing its own decision until July 8.

WHO FOR WAYS AND MEANS?

With the announced retirement of Rep. Wes Watkins (R.-Okla.), intense maneuvering has already begun for the slot he will relinquish on the House Ways and Means Committee. "There are quite a few Republicans trying to get that spot," Rep. Clay Shaw (R.-Fla.), third-ranked Republican on the tax-writing panel, told HUMAN EVENTS last month. Capitol Hill sources tell us that the early GOP favorite for the coveted spot is freshman Rep. Henry Brown (S.C.), a strong conservative and past chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in the South Carolina house.

DELAY'S BIG OPENING: Just as House GOP Whip Tom DeLay (Tex.) had nailed down the position of majority leader to succeed retiring Rep. Dick Armey (Tex.), DeLay's longtime right hand, conservative Susan Hirschman, revealed that she also is retiring. So far, Capitol Hill sources say, DeLay has not decided on anyone to replace Hirschmann, who formerly worked for the Eagle Forum and Rep. Van Hilleary (R.-Tenn.). The leading contenders to succeed Hirschmann are DeLay's chief floor assistant, Tim Barry, and policy aide Kathryn Lehman.

TANCREDO SUCCESS: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R.-Colo.), chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, said June 21 that his online petition to ask President Bush to put troops on our borders overwhelmed the White House e-mail system. "Perhaps the White House is finally getting the message," he said. "It's about time they realize that the people of this country justifiably feel that the U.S. border is a sieve. It poses a real threat to our security and ignoring this fact represents the most egregious evidence that the federal government is shirking its responsibility to the people of this nation." The petition was posted on June 11 and 11,400 electronic petitions had been sent up to the time of Tancredo's announcement. "The White House e-mail system is overloaded," reported Tancredo's office. "To sustain their e-mail system operations, the system is sending an auto-reply to each petition with a `service unavailable' warning. To see the petition, go to www.house.gov/tancredo."

TOBACCO $ FOR TOBACCO: State governments across the country have diverted money from the huge tobacco settlement away from health care, education and other noble purposes-where public assurances insisted it would go-to all kinds of things. The great tobacco state of North Carolina has found its own use for tobacco settlement money: the promotion of tobacco. Reported the Charlotte Observer June 23, "When North Carolina won a $4.6-- billion settlement from tobacco companies, officials said they'd use the money to break tobacco's grip on the state.... But since the money began flowing in 1999, not a dime has been spent on new health services, and only a fraction has gone toward moving tobacco farmers into other crops. Instead, about 73% of the $59 million spent so far-- about $43 million-has gone toward production and marketing of N.C. tobacco, an Observer investigation has found." The newspaper said that the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has spent most of the settlement money received so far, "$41 million to reimburse tobacco farmers for equipment they needed to remain competitive."

TOBACCO $ FOR TERRORISTS:

Another unintended consequence of the government's war to stop cigarette smoking: more funding for terrorism via Hezbollah. The huge artificial increases in cigarette prices over the last few years have created fertile ground for tobacco smuggling, and, reported the Associated Press June 21, "Two brothers were convicted Friday of helping run a North Carolina-based support cell that funneled cigarette-smuggling profits to the militant group Hezbollah. Mohamad Hammond, 28, accused of being the leader of the cell, was convicted of 16 counts that included providing material support to Hezbollah. Chawki Hammond, 37, was found guilty of charges including cigarette smuggling, credit card fraud, money laundering and racketeering."

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jul 1, 2002
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