OBAMA APPOINTMENT DOES NOT BODE WELL FOR

CIGARS

Washington, DC, 12 January - submitted by Gary Arzt

President-elect Obama today selected William Corr, the current Executive Director of Tobacco Free Kids, as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. Corr is a long time anti-tobacco proponent and activist. Accompanying the announcement of the appointment, President-Elect Obama issued this statement:

“The time has come to bring about real health care reform in this country, and that means modernizing our health care system, reducing costs to families and business and providing affordable health care for every American. This will be no small task, but reforming our health care system will be a top priority of my administration and key to putting our economy back on track. Bill Corr has the depth of experience and commitment to this issue necessary to take on this challenge. Under the leadership of Tom Daschle and Bill Corr, I am confident that my Department of Health and Human Services will bring people together to reach consensus on how to move forward with health care reform, and I look forward to working with them in the days ahead,” Obama said in a statement.

A long time deputy to former Senator Tom Daschle, who will be his boss at H&HS, Corr’s Curriculum Vitae was released by the Obama transition team:

William Corr, Nominee for Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services
Corr is currently Executive Director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a privately funded organization established to focus the nation's attention and action on reducing tobacco use and its many harms among both kids and adults. Corr has extensive management and health care policy experience both in Congress and at the Department of Health and Human Services. Corr’s executive branch experience includes serving as the Chief of Staff for the Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton Administration, where he was principal advisor to Secretary Donna E. Shalala on all major policy and management issues and initiatives. He also served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Counselor to the Secretary.

In the Congress, Corr worked as Chief Counsel and Policy Director for U.S. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle from 1998 through 2000. He also served as Chief Counsel and Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Monopolies and Business Rights of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary under Chairman Howard M. Metzenbaum and assisted Senator Metzenbaum as a member of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. Corr also served as Counsel to the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce under Chairman Paul Rogers and Chairman Henry Waxman.

Before his career on Capitol Hill, Corr worked in the Appalachian Mountain area of Tennessee and Kentucky from 1974-1977. During that time, he directed four private, non-profit, community-run primary health care centers and assisted other communities in establishing and operating similar centers. Corr holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law.

It is frightening to imagine that with two (2) wars; a melt down of our financial institutions as well as the automobile industry, there are people that are going to concentrate on seeing to it that we can’t enjoy the relaxation of a fine cigar.

Obviously, these people aren’t familiar with history. The Volstead Act – the prohibition of the sale and consumption of liquor was an abject failure, save for the vast sums of money it put in the hands of gangsters and racketeers!

It is worth noting that the liquor industry said, “Never again.” While you can spend a few hours smoking  three (3) cigars; get in your car and drive and not kill anyone; the same cannot be said for liquor; and yet, no one wants to outlaw, ban, infringe on or add taxes to liquor.

This is another reason for cigar smokers to join and support Cigar Rights of America  (www.cigarrights.org) and communicate with our elected representatives to express our opposition to the impingement of our rights as Americans.