DATE: Friday, September 12, 1997            TAG: 9709120890

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   34 lines

TAXPAYERS ALMOST BURNED HOW TAX LAW IS MADE AND UNMAE: A SICKENING SIGHT

Well, apparently you really can't fool all of the people all of the time. But some members of Congress can be counted on to give it a try.

A part of the recently concluded tax and budget deal in Congress was a sweetheart provision for tobacco companies. It gave them a $50 billion tax credit which would have had the effect of offsetting an increase in excise taxes on their products that is part of the pending tobacco settlement negotiated by state attorneys general and the industry.

This giveaway was smuggled into the bill under the cover of darkness. It is widely believed to have had the blessing of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. But when the disreputable provision came to light, no fingerprints could be detected on it, and no one stepped forward to claim authorship. Apparently the phantom credit wrote itself.

Wednesday, an amendment introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, came to a vote. It called for the repeal of the boondoggle. It passed 95-3.

But if no one had read the fine print and objected, 50 billion tax dollars would have found their way into the pockets of the tobacco companies. When the lights came on, 95 percent of the Senate opposed the idea. But when the legislation was sliding down greased skids, no one was looking.

This episode is yet another reminder that Congress bears watching, and that the campaign funds provided by heavy contributors such as the tobacco companies aren't a gift. They are payments for services rendered or likely to be.

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