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Those hopes were only days from being realized last week, with the government closing in on a proposed $130 billion award from the industry. But Monday, the hopes blinked out. Instead, government lawyers unexpectedly reduced their request to $10 billion. A federal judge is reviewing whether the lawyers' decision was politically motivated. "I am deeply troubled by the appearance that Bush Administration political appointees pressured career Justice Department attorneys to protect tobacco companies," Rep. Marty Meehan said last week. He and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., asked the Justice Department's internal oversight arm, the Inspector General's office, to investigate. The Justice Department said in a statement that its $10 billion request, to be paid over five years, is "only an initial requirement" that could change if tobacco companies continue to commit fraudulent acts. … Richard Daynard, chairman of the Tobacco Product Liabilities Project, expressed concern that recent reductions in smoking could backslide without long-term funding. The significantly smaller-than-expected penalty to big tobacco in the federal case forecasts that backslide, said Daynard, whose project encourages lawsuits against the tobacco industry as a public health strategy. "I think it's the difference between a program that would almost certainly be effective, versus a program that would be under-funded and unlikely to make a large impact on smoking prevalence," he said.
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