At his press conference on Monday to announce a new $1.5 billion economic stimulus package, Governor Ted Strickland unveiled plans for a $250 million college-internship program intended to quell the dreaded brain drain currently afflicting Ohio.
And in a coup for committed smokers, Strickland’s internship program means certain death for the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation (OTPF); the new program will poach $240 million from OTPF’s budget, leaving the nicotine-haters with a measly $40 million with which to save you and your lungs from a long, slow, but pretty relaxed (and skinny!) death. And it isn’t the first time the legislature has used OTPF, funded as a result of successful litigation against big tobacco companies, as its own get-out-of-jail-free card. ...
When OTPF was originally founded in 2000, they had a billion bucks and some change, which they used for counter-marketing, a 1-800 quit line, and developing more effective ways to dispense common-sense statements like “smoking kills.” But now, with a tanking economy, legislators have been forced to take sides: job creation over lung preservation.
We understand Governor Strickland’s intentions. But we wonder if, in all the calculations to determine the long-term economic benefits of his internship program, the Governor ever thought to account for all the time his new workforce will waste taking smoke breaks? – Caleb Hannan
I agree! Makes you wonder who supports his campaign fund. Who's best interests do these three have in mind--Ohioans or Big Tobacco?
Posted at: April 9, 2008 10:05 AM