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Snarkoleptic

(5,997 posts)
Fri Jul 15, 2016, 09:13 AM Jul 2016

Mike Pence, Cigarette Truther

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/07/14/3798417/mike-pence-tobacco-money/

More anti-science repliclown misbehavior.
At the linked article, you can read about how his family owned a chain of stores operated under the corporate name "Tobacco Road". (I shit you not!)

Over his political career Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN) has consistently carried the tobacco industry’s water, denying the dangers of cigarettes, opposing government regulation, and slashing smoking cessation efforts. In return, they rewarded him with more than $100,000 in campaign donations.

In 2000, Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN), then running for an open U.S. House seat, came out against a proposed settlement between government and the tobacco industry, calling it “big government.” In a shocking editorial, he wrote:
“Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill.”
Pence acknowledged that smoking is not “good for you,” but claimed that two-thirds of smokers do not die from smoking related illness and “9 out of ten smokers do not contract lung cancer.” He warned of a slippery-slope in which government would soon seek to discourage fatty foods, caffeine, and SUVs.

In a debate that September, his Democratic opponent pressed him on the suggestion that smoking does not cause cancer and noted his contributions from tobacco companies. According to the Indianapolis Star’s coverage of the exchange, “Pence clarified that he wrote that there was no causal link medically identifying smoking as causing lung cancer.” While cigarette manufacturers might have been still claiming that there was not causal link between smoking and lung cancer, medical science had settled the question years earlier. A landmark report by the U.S. Surgeon General had documented the link — in 1964.

After the debate, the paper reported, Pence acknowledged he had received an estimated $5,000 and $10,000 in contributions from tobacco companies. His actual total was already at least $13,000 in contributions from the political action committees for Brown & Williamson, Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, and US Tobacco, according to Political MoneyLine data reviewed by ThinkProgress. A May 2000 letter from the Reynolds PAC to Pence, now available in the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents archive archives, conveyed a $1,000 check and praised his “position on issues important to our company.”
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Mike Pence, Cigarette Truther (Original Post) Snarkoleptic Jul 2016 OP
Just back from work and astonished this hasn't see any replies and just 3 recs. Snarkoleptic Jul 2016 #1
K&R mcar Jul 2016 #2
Recced! Thanks for posting! nt Logical Jul 2016 #3
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