Big news: President Barack Obama has finally quit smoking. It’s about time. What a terrible image from our country’s role-model­in-chief.

But now we have a new smoker-in­chief — it’s the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner. He’s known for spending time in “Smoker’s Alley” outside the lobby of the Speaker of the House. And he’s un­apologetic about the image he proj­ects to our nation’s youth. He’s fine with smoking. And why not? He’s an old hand at corrupting government with tobacco money.

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011.

The media wastes its focus these days on tawdry priorities like Boehn­er’s orange tan and penchant for tears. It forgets the more important stuff — like the time the man ran around the floor of the House of Rep­resentatives just minutes before a crucial vote on tobacco legislation. The House was about to vote to end federal tobacco subsidies. Why was he running around? — to pass out a fistful of tobacco lobby checks to con­gressmen whose vote big tobacco needed.

Today, this man is in the driver’s seat. His rise to power is an example of corporate money well spent. For the next several years, don’t expect much to come from the House of Rep­resentatives to relax the stranglehold big business has on our nation’s gov­ernment.

Teddy Roosevelt — where are you when we need you?

source: www.dailyrecord.com

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