During the Bush and Obama years, it was absolutely essential to the liberals’ and Democrats’ self-image that they were the scourges of the special interests, and that the Right and the Republicans were the toadies of Big Business.
This was hogwash — both parties were the parties of Big Business. Liberals toned down this line of attack a bit when President Donald Trump took over the GOP. But still, this self-conceit persists on the Left, even in the face of very clear facts to the contrary.
Consider this lengthy essay by liberal blogger Matt Yglesias about the “politics of ‘big tobacco.’” He’s mostly making a point not about lobbying (that when you win a legislative battle, sometimes it is over, and you don’t get political credit for it), but the whole context of this 2,300 is about special-interest power. After all, “big tobacco” is in the headline.
Yglesias casts the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (and its failed 2008 version) as one in a series of regulatory “blows against the tobacco industry”
“By 2009, the tobacco lobby had lost its grip on Congress,” Yglesias writes.
You would infer from this piece that “big tobacco” was against the bills to regulate their industry. You would be wrong.
If you have a Bloomberg subscription and can read the links Yglesias used to build his case, you will see that this piece from 2008 states the lobbying lay of the land:
“The House voted 326-102 today to approve the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, backed by public health groups and Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA, the nation’s biggest tobacco maker.… The Bush administration opposes the measure, saying it would undermine the credibility of the FDA.” (Emphasis added.)
In his 2,300 words on Big Tobacco and the 2009 law giving the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate the industry, he never once informs his reader that the biggest tobacco company — controlling 50% of the U.S. market — lobbied for and helped craft the bill.
Here are some details from a news story on the 2007 version of the bill:
“It is also supported by Altria Group unit Philip Morris USA, maker of top-selling Marlboro cigarettes.”
“Industry analysts have said Philip Morris backs the measure because it would help protect the company’s dominant market share by muting rivals’ advertising messages.”
“McConnell, whose state still has tobacco farmers and some small tobacco manufacturers, said some of the manufacturers call the bill the ‘Marlboro Monopoly Act.’”
TIM CARNEY: MORE REGULATION MEANS MORE PROFITS FOR LARGE FIRMS
More generally, regulation adds to overhead, which protects the dominant players from competition.
So no, Big Tobacco had not been defanged by 2009, as Yglesias claims. That’s the year the biggest of Big Tobacco won. Democrats and their friends in the media tried to paint it as a victory of Big Business, while it was nothing of the sort.