>To lose one speaker, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks
>like carelessness.
>
>But already Gingrich and DeLay are scrambling to get consensus for a
>"healer" in Dennis Hastert, who has worked with DeLay in the past.
>
>About whom very little dramatic is known except there is one video clip of
>him losing his temper questioning an official of the Federal Food and
>Drugs Agency over ... funny thing ... tobacco.
>
>Now why should such a calm, healing, man, lose his temper over an innocuous
>recreational product like tobacco?
Doubt it's because of campaign contributions. The CRP website says of $583,087 in PAC contributions in 1997-8, $500 came from tobacco-related entities. Here are his top contributors by sector:
Insurance $45,869 Electric Utilities $45,454 Health Professionals $35,300 Telephone Utilities $28,480 Commercial Banks $26,675 Accountants $24,360 Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $23,600 Securities & Investment $23,090 TV/Movies/Music $20,849 Retired $17,100 Hospitals/Nursing Homes $16,165 Automotive $13,450 Building Materials & Equipment $13,450 Chemical & Related Manufacturing $12,770 Lawyers/Law Firms $11,575 Health Services $11,000 Business Services $10,750 Oil & Gas $10,750 Air Transport $10,550 Real Estate $10,500
Insurance & health professionals would suggest an anti-tobacco stand, if there were a crude determinism at work.
Doug