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With a cigarette smoking president in the White House for the first time in decades and an economy in the dumps, the perennial battle between the Federal Government and the tobacco industry lobby could be a little bit more interesting than usual this year. If you haven’t been following this dance for the past half a century, this is basically how it has played out.

1. Doctors figured out that smoking is bad for your health.
2. A decade or so of study later, the Government agreed.
3. The Government said “We need to protect people from themselves.”
4. Tobacco lobby said “Hold on there, tiger. Consider the impact of your decision on the poor folks working for the fine American companies that produce cigarettes.”
5. Government said, “Oh, yeah.”
6. Tobacco lobby said “And what about the farmers? You’re not going to drive the farmers into poverty by taking away their only cash crop, are you?”
7. Government said, “Um, I don’t think so.”
8. Tobacco said “Go back to your committees, and study the matter. And by the way, here is four kagillion dollars for your re-election campaign.”

And so it came to pass that nothing came to pass. The federal government, regardless of the party in power, continues to condemn the tobacco industry while allowing it to thrive. Either cigarettes are a danger that needs to be squashed from existence, or they are not. The middle ground, the position that cigarettes are bad, but it is an individual choice to smoke or not smoke, does not work. Not while states are suing tobacco companies over health insurance costs.

Taxing the living crap out of cigarette smokers isn’t really a solution, either. It does make me, a non-smoker, happy to have smokers paying a disproportionate share of the tax burden. I’ll vote for bumping the tax up to about eight bucks a pack. But a government tax that is intended to encourage people to quit smoking isn’t a substitute for a clear position on the subject. It doesn’t resolve the hypocrisy of the government verbally condemning cigarette manufacturers while giving tacit approval to the industry by allowing, even supporting, its continued existence.