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WARNING: This site deals only with the corporate corruption of science, and makes no inference about the motives or activities of individuals involved.
    There are many reasons why individuals become embroiled in corporate corruption activities - from political zealotry to over-enthusiastic activism; from gullibility to greed.
    Please read the OVERVIEW carefully, and make up your own mind.




TOBACCO INDUSTRY EXPLANATORY

ABBREVIATIONS
JARGON
SPIN-MEISTERS
INITIALS
FIRST & NICKNAMES
Misc.RESEARCH HELP
Smoking-Gun docs.

RELEVANT LINKS

NETWORK OPERATIONS
Cash-for-comment economists' network
General TI networks
James E Long
George Berman
James Savarese
Ctr.Study Pub.Choice
James Buchanan
Robert Tollison
Anna Tollison
Richard Wagner
James C Miller III
Carol M Robert
Elizabeth A Masaitis
Committee on Tax & Economic Growth
Harold Hochman
Fred McChesney
Thomas Borcherding
Delores T Martin
Dennis Dyer
George Minshew
Fred Panzer
Susan Stuntz
Peter Sparber
Carol Hrycaj
Debra Schoonmaker
Jeff Ross
Cal George
William Prendergast
Bill Orzechowski
CASH-FOR-COMMENT
NETWORK MEMBERS

Dominick Armentano
Burton A Abrams
Lee Alston
Ryan C Amacher
Gary Anderson
Lee Anderson
William Anderson
Terry Anderson
Scott E Atkinson
Roger Arnold
Richard W Ault
Michael Babcock
Joe A Bell
Bruce L Benson
Jean J Boddewyn
Peter Boettke
Thomas Borcherding
William J Boyes
Charles Breeden
Lawrence Brunner
Henry N Butler
Bill Bryan
Cecil Bohanon
John H Bowman
Dennis L Chinn
Morris Coates
Roger Congleton
Jeffrey R Clark
Michael Crew
Allan Dalton
John David
Michael Davis
Arthur T Denzau
Clifford Dobitz
John Dobra
Randall Eberts
Robert B Ekelund
Roger L Faith
David Fand
Susan Feigenbaum
Clifford Fry
Lowell Gallaway
Celeste Gaspari
David ER Gay
Kenneth V Greene
Kevin B Grier
Brian Goff
Sherman Hanna
Anne Harper-Fender
Kathy Hayes
Dennis Hein
James Heins
Robert Higgs
Richard Higgins
F Steb Hipple
Harold M Hochman
George E Hoffer
John Howe
Randall G Holcombe
William Hunter
Stephen Huxley
John D Jackson
Joseph M Jadlow
Cecil Johnson
Samson Kimenyi
David Klingaman
Michael Kurth
David Laband
Suuner Lacroix
Dwight R Lee
Dennis Logue
James E {Auburn} Long
C. Matt Lindsay
Donald P Lyden
Craig MacPhee
Mike Maloney
Delores Martin
Chuck Mason
Charles Maurice
Fred McChesney
James E McClure
William McEachern
Richard McKenzie
Robert McMahon
Arthur Mead
Paul L Menchik
John F Militello
William C Mitchell
Greg Neihaus
James A Papke
Allen Parkman
Mark Pauly
William Peterson
Harlan Platt
Michael D Pratt
Thomas Pogue
Barry W Poulson
Edward Price
Robert Pulsinelli
Raymond Raab
Roger Riefler
Terry Ridgeway
Mario Rizzo
Morgan Reynolds
Simon Rottenberg
Randy Rucker
Richard Saba
Todd Sandler
David Saurman
Mark Schmitz
Robert Sexton
Gordon O Shuford
William Shughart
Robert J Staaf
Thomas Stimson
Wendell Sweetser
Mark Thornton
Mark Toma
David G Tuerck
Richard Vedder
Bruce Vermeullen
Richard Wagner
J Keith Watson
Burton Weisbrod
Walter E Williams
Thomas L Wyrick
Bruce Yandle
Boon Yoon
Richard O Zerbe

 

 

OPINION ONLY

Gary M Anderson     [ Prof]    

— A 'core' member of the cash-for-comments economist network from the Californian State University, Northridge. Anderson supplemented his income writing pro-smoking newpaper opinion pieces for the tobacco industry and performing many other services for them. —  

Gary Anderson was a 'core' member of the Tollison/Wagner economists network. who had been trained by the Tobacco Institute to make their "Social Cost' arguments. His name appears in both the 1989 Five-man core group of 'Consulting Economists Team; and in the 1990 Six-man core group.

He is clearly an enthusiastic servant of the tobacco industry for many years and he was closely associated with Robert Tollison, the Center for the Study of Public Choice, and the Public Choice Society.

Tobacco lobbyist James Savarese and Professor Robert Tollison of George Mason University had collaborated in 1984 to provide the tobacco industry, through the Tobacco Institute, with a number of networks of academics who would be willing to write propaganda material ... always provided their names were not linked to the industry or to any of the cigarette companies.

The idea was simply that the academic 'sleepers' would be available on a cash-for-services basis when needed to counter attempts to increase excise taxes, or to ban public smoking, or just to appear as independent experts at Congressional hearings and promote the industry causes.

Economist were by far the most useful academics to the tobacco industry because the distinction between economics and politics was never clear: so support of the cigarette companies could always be claimed as support for free-market economics ... the rights of individuals to make public choices ... small government ... or even the first Amendment to the Constitution.

The economist always claimed to be 'independent' 'professionals' and ' academics' from some credible university, and never revealed the source of their funding in their op-eds or letters-to-the-editor.

If ever put under cross-examination, they must be able to claim with weasel-word precision, that they had never received a penny from the tobacco industry. Therefore all payments were laundered, either through tobacco industry lawyers (usually Covington & Burling), the principle organisers, James Savarese & Associates, or through Bob Tollison's Center for the Study of Public Choice at George Mason University.

The aim was to have, in each State, at least one academic economist, one academic lawyer, and one academic from a business management, business law, marketing or advertising discipline willing to jump into action and write op-ed articles for their local newspaper, or to appear at local ordinance or legislative hearings. Copies were always sent to a local Congressman, who sat on some important (to the tobacco industry) committee.

The academics were always expected to wave their own and their university's credentials vigorously, and loudly proclaim their "independence' from any crass-commercial motives. And those who could boast of being 'non-smokers' were especially prized — since without this addiction, their non-dependent-on-tobacco status was thought to be proved beyond any doubt!

DISAMBIGUATION

The cash-for-comments economists network had four 'Professor Andersons' at various times.
  • Gary M Anderson of Californian State, Northbridge (a 'core' team member)
  • Terry Anderson of Montana State University
  • Lee Anderson from the University of Delaware
  • William Anderson from Chatanooga

    Most confusing is the fact that a professional lobbyist, Gary Anderson, worked for the Tobacco Institute in Texas. Gary W Anderson was Regional Director in Texas for the Tobacco Institute and he turns up later as Executive Director of the Texas Public Employees Association.

RJ Reynolds also had a Gary Anderson who did consumer, flavor and sensory testing of cigarettes/

The archives show also a K Gary Anderson who appears to be writing to Philip Morris in 1996 asking for information about smoking and health. His letter was passed to John Mulderig at Shook Hardy & Bacon for drafting of a legal reply.

Then there is another economist, Gary S Anderson at the Federal Reserve.
   

There are also a number of Gary Andersons who have no tobacco connections:
  • A jazz musician named Gary Michael Anderson
  • There is a Gary Michael Anderson Childrens Foundation in Portland Oregon
  • Eric Gary Anderson who teaches literature at George Mason University who was not involved at all in the tobacco industry, despite being at Tollison's university.
  • Then there's a Gary Anderson who was an area manager for OSHA in Calmet City, Ill. in 1994
The Gary M Anderson (the Californian economist) who is the subject of this timeline was also prominent member of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, the Cato Institute, the Ludwig von Mises Institute and worked with the Independent Institute. [Don't confuse this with the Independence Institute]. These think-tanks all worked for the tobacco industry.

There are a number of other Gary Andersons who turn up in the tobacco archive, so this is a particularly difficult name to untangle. Be wary.

Some key documents

• Professor of Economics, Californian State University at Northridge


1990 June: Carol Hryjak reports to the Tobacco Institute on her progress with the "Social Cost" program.

Consulting economists presented papers on the social cost issue during the Western Economic Association's annual meeting in San Diego, California. Dwight Lee chaired the session entitled, "Smoking and Public Policy." Papers were offered by Lee ("Smoking and Public Policy"), Gary Anderson ("Politics, Redistribution and Smoking") and Benjamin Zycher ("Insurance and Smoking: Market vs. Government"). A full report on the conference is expected next month.

    We have agreed to support consulting economists' presentations during sessions of two other major academic conferences later this year: the Atlantic Economic Society and the Southern Economic Association. Both will focus on aspects of "user fees" and budgetary politics.

    Consulting economists Bob Tollison and Richard Wagner began work on the manuscript for the revised edition of Smoking and the State.

    We received a proposal from consulting economist Dwight Lee to write an article on the social cost issue for placement in an economic periodical, The Margin. The publication is required reading for students of economics at universities around the country.

    We continued to work on the social cost plan for 1991, with a final draft submitted for Public Affairs review.



1984 Nov 20: O&M is organising the first economists forum at the Public Choice Society meeting in New Orleans, Feb 21-23.

The topic would be "Public Choices About Tax Reform."

W.F. Shugart II, an economist from Clemson University, would chair the panel. Those who would present papers would be:
  • Thomas Borcherding, from Claremont Graduate School. Subject: "Tax Reform and Simplification: A Public Choice Perspective."
  • Harold Hochman, from City University of New York. Subject: "The Value-Added Tax: Do We Need Another Excise Tax?"
  • Fred McChesney, Emory University Law School. Subject: "Tax Reform in a Rent-Seeking Perspective: The Role of Interests."
  • Gary Anderson, an economist from George Mason University, would be the discussant.
Bob Tollison would be responsible for getting us on the program. He and Jim Savarese would work with each of the people to ensure that each paper contained a clear anti-excise tax message.

    Shughart and Anderson would also mention excises in their presentations. We will be obtaining CV s from Anderson and Shugart, who Jim and Bob Tollison know well. The other economists have all worked with us before.
Savarese's estimate of the costs for running this Economists' Forum project with the three papers at $2,000 each and Gary Anderson with $1000, plus travel, hotel, administration, etc. was $16,000.



This appears to have been Gary Anderson's formal introduction to the cash-for-comments network.



1984 Dec 18: James Savarese at Ogilvy & Mather is organising panel discussion involving Henry Butler and Bob Tollison (See Below) He has already recruited Gary Anderson to give a paper at the Pittsburg Eastern Economic Association meeting in March 1985 (misdated)

Gary M. Anderson, George Mason University, "Tax Reform and the Size of Government," Department of Economics, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030 703/323-3770



1985 Mar 20: -23 [The report is dated Dec 18 1984] Jim Savarese, as subcontractor to Ogilvy & Mather, has set up seminars for some of the industry's cash-for-comments economists under the auspices of the Southwestern Social Science Association and the Eastern Economic Association. Jim Savarese writes to Trish Milita of O&M who refers this to the Tobacco Institute:

Attached are the panel sessions that were accepted by both the Southwestern Social Science Associations and the Eastern Economic Association in March, 1985.

    These are very strong academic panels and add a great deal of depth to our list of consultants for future use.

    I know all of these individuals personally except for Henry Butler who is a friend of Bob Tollison's at Texas A&M. They all understand their mission and will be submitting papers for us to review well in advance of the meetings.
[There can be little doubt as to what is meant by "their mission", and it is inexcusable for a genuine academic of this standing to submit a paper, about to be presented to an academic conference, to a PR company for vetting in advance of the conference.

    This is lobbying... pure and simple. These are lobbyists, not economists.]
  • The SouthWestern Social Science Association seminar run by O&M in Houston (Mar 20) was on "Taxation and Social Process. It had Robert Ekelund in the chair, and papers by Henry N Butler, Joseph M Jadlow and Richard E Wagner. Keith Watson was a discussant.

  • The Eastern Economic Association seminar, run by O&M in Pittsburgh (Mar 21) was on "Perspectives on Tax Reform". It had Robert Tollison in the chair, and papers by William Shughart, Gary Anderson, and a joint paper by John Bowman/Michael Pratt. The discussant was George Hoffer.
All of the speakers here were employed by the tobacco industry to promote their Social Cost and Taxation agendas.


1985 June 21: James Savarese submits his bill to the Tobacco Institute for

  • Op Ed Project - $1000 each 'professional fees'
    for Abrams, Alston, Armentano, Harper-Fender, T Anderson, Denzau, Bohanon, Jadlow, Wagner and Menchik.

  • Southwest Social Science Meeting — Houston
    • Keith Watson ($1,000),
    • RB Ekelund Jr ($2,003)
    • Joseph Jadlow ($2,605),
    • Richard Wagner ($2,716)
    • Robert D Tollison ($5,000)
    • Henry N Butler ($2,070)


  • Eastern Economic Assoc, Meeting — Pittsburgh
    • George E Hoffer ($1,431)
    • Gary M Anderson ($2,450)
    • Robert D Tollison ($6,375)
    • Bill Shurghart III ($2,529)
    • Michael D Pratt ($1,288)
    • John H Bowman ($1,000)



1985 Dec: The Annual Report of the Center for the Study of Public Choice at the George Mason University.

The Center for Study of Public Choice is an integral part of George Mason University. While maintaining its separate identity, the Center staff is part of the George Mason Economics Department. As such, the university budget covers the salaries of the permanent Center staff and minimal operating expenditures. Excluding the physical facility which houses the Center, St. George's Hall, general university support in 1984 additionally amounted to some $500,000 on an annual basis.

    Center activities extend beyond those supported by the university. Funds for summer and release-time research, guest lecturers, visiting scholars, graduate students, and for supplemental travel and operating expenses have been provided by external supporters. External support in 1985 summed to approximately $300,000. These funds were provided by numerous external supporters, to whom we are very grateful for their sustained support over the years.

[One of those generous supporters was the tobacco industry — and, in return, they were provided with the administrative and organizational services of the Center — both to create cash-for-comments lists of academics, and also for the Center to act as a front for seminars, conferences, and the production of published material.]

The nominal director of the Center was James Buchanan, but Robert Tollison actually ran the operation — certainly that part which became an arm of the tobacco industry.
  • Elizabeth A Masaitis and Carol M Robert were employed as secretaries at the Center
  • Dwight Lee and William Shughart were both Research Associates.
They all worked with Anna Tollison and James Savarese & Associates in organising and running the economists network for the Tobacco Institute.

    Other associates of the Center (as graduate students or research associates) also became recruited into this cash-for-comments network. Most are active in other far-right-wing influence organisations also.
  • Gary Anderson, University of Rhode Island
  • Wayne Brough, University of Central Florida
  • Samson Kimenyi, (University of Mississippi later)
  • Jack Wiseman, University of York, England
      — a renowned contributor to public finance and public sector economics, now dedicated to integrating public choice with Austrian economics, and a valued friend of the Center.



1986: Center Alumni, at the George Mason University lists Gary Anderson


1986: This is the Tollison/Saverese network list for 1986. It has 64 names, but it still doesn't cover all 50 States. Some States have two or three network members, so newspapers [and sometimes Congressmen] need to be specified for each member to ensure there is no accidental duplication.

    Telephone numbers (office and home) are often included in case an urgent op-ed or ordinance hearing is needed. These are grouped by State:

CALIFORNIA
Professor Gary Anderson
    Department of Economics, California State at Northridge, Northridge, CA, 91330, 818-885-2443 (W) 818-886-5837 (H)

Professor David Saurman
    Department of Economics, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95112, 408-924-5400


1986 May: /E A Tobacco Institute list of "Schedule of Payments - Excise Tax Op-Ed project." (April-May 1986) This lists those academic economists who have already planted their article on a local newspaper, and the amount they are to be paid.

    They appear to have been paid $900 for each article, and $1025 if they had also made contact with their local Congressman. However a number of the cash-for-comments network members still have not completed their commission.

    The George Mason (Uni) production staff of Bob Tollison, Bill Shughart, and Gary Anderson were paid for "rewrites, editing and research, 18 articles", and Carol Robert for the "production of final product. " A total of $18,000 + $1067 expenses [or $1000 per article to make them into saleable propaganda for their local newspapers]

    A month or so later the GMU production staff were also being paid $9,500 for rewrites, editing and research on 9 additional articles, while Savarese seems to have been charging $5,800 + $235 in expenses for recruiting replacement economists in California, Montana, New York, Ohio and Tennessee.


1986 Dec 11: James Savarese sends Fred Panzer at the Tobacco Institute a summary of the activities of his network of economists. This is effectively the beginning of the main cash-for-comments economists network.

Dear Fred,
    I have attached a list of all the economists we have used along with the projects they have worked on in behalf of the Tobacco Institute.
There are now 62 names on the list (Some states have 4 or 5) not counting himself and Bob Tollison. The details given for each consist of State, Regional Division [of the TI], Name, Address and Telephone number. Added to this is a list of the 'Projects' they have completed (in later lists, also the names of Congressmen they have contacted.)

    Virtually all of these cash-for-comment academics have been generating op-ed articles for newspapers, or have, in some unspecified way, opposed the Packwood Excise Tax plan — or perhaps helped fake up one of the 'Chase' [Econometrics studies]. A few participants have attended Congressional or government inquiries ['Treasury I') or local ordinance hearings as 'independent witnesses' while secretly acting for the tobacco industry. Two of the 64 members (Ann Harper-Fender and Gary Anderson) were acting termporarily as advisors to Ronald Reagan's Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations— which sought to bring pressure on the FDA, EPA and OSHA and stop them being pro-active with smoking bans.

    Other participants have been promoting the industry line at various academic conferences and fora [mainly as keynote speakers at economic society meetings] , and a few of the core-team were involved in brianstorming sessions with members of the tobacco industry looking for new angles for their PR, and for possible research project which might generate some economic propaganda for the industry.

    Many of them have joined in with the industry's orchestrated letter-writing campaigns opposing workplace smoking bans.
  • GSA = General (Government) Services Administration.
  • 'Ways & Means' = Congressional committee on finances
  • ALEC = American Legislative Exchange Council (a formalised way for big business to directly influence Congressional and State politicians)
  • Chase Econometrics = A company that did economic impact studies for the tobacco industry in various locations to 'prove' that smoking bans would destroy local economies.

        The references for this network member were:
Virginia [ Region VI ]

Gary M. Anderson

    Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations, 1111 20th Street NW, Suite 2000, Washington, DC 20575

    Services rendered:
    • academic forum

[He was on leave from the Californian State University at Northridge]



1987: He now has his PhD from George Mason University


1987 June 9: The Tobacco Institute's Phase II - Excise Tax Op-Ed project involved an article-writing campaign by cash-for-comment economists was run by James Savarese & Associates but organised by Robert Tollison at George Mason University.

    At the Tobacco Institute in the mid 1987 period, this project came under the control of Jeff Rose [who was himself under Peter Sparber]. It focussed on defeating cigarette excise tax increases — and especially the threat of such taxes being 'earmarked' to bolster health care budgets.

Anna Tollison, the wife of Bob Tollison, was employed by James Savarese Associates to keep a record of the articles generated by the large contingent of academic economists, and to organise payment. She reported that

"In sum, 41 economists were solicited to write editorials. We have publications in 20 states, 14 articles have been written and submitted, and 7 articles are still outstanding." [Others were in the offing]
[She included a long list of the economists who wrote the articles, the newspapers in which they were published, together with their circulation figures.]
CALIFORNIA, Anderson, LA Times, [circ.] 1,076,000, [no pub date]



1987 June 9: A number of tobacco industry witness appear at a Pittsburgh City Council public hearing on smoking bans.

    Three days later Gerald Kupris from the Tobacco Institute reported to his superiors on the value of their witnesses :

  • Gray Robertson: Gray's testimony was excellently received, As I had indicated previously, the public hearing was broadcast live over cable television, including cable reception in each council member's office.
  • Phil Witorsch: Phil's testimony was presented in a very strong fashion. obvious that he had control of his facts; even though it was equally obvious that the members of the city council not only did not find him credible but, in fact, found his testimony to be "overbearing."
  • Josh Douglas: It was obvious that Josh Douglas has difficulty speaking before groups. His delivery was weak. He stuck specifically to his three-page presentation, which at no time used language that any normal human being would understand. I would not request Mr. Douglas' presence at any public hearing over which I have any control.
    [An added handnote says he 'lacked conviction']
  • Gary Anderson: Mr Anderson presented his testimony adequately. But, in my estimation, he was not prepared to respond to direct, or leading, or barbed questions from city council members. Having seen such people as Savarese and Tollison in action, I would take Mr Anderson only when his superiors were not available. [Note the classification of Tollison and Savarese as his 'superiors']



1987 June 22: The Tobacco Institute has been sent by Savarese a "Schedule of Payments — Excise Tax Op-Ed Project" It details the name of the cash-for-comment economist, the State, the targetted newspaper, and both past and current payments — with a separate column labled "Total Earned to Date".

In CALIFORNIA
Anderson for LA Times —Owed $1200, — Total to date $1200

Borcherding for Sacramento Bee — Owed $1500 — Total to date $1500
Also there were payments to George Mason production staff ( Bob Tollison, Bill Shughart and Gary Anderson) for rewrites ($27,500) and a $5,800 payment for replacement of five economists (presumably because they were unproductive or unsatisfactoy). Carol Roberts was also paid for the final production. ($5,000)

    Total here with expenses was $33,810 on top of the $40,525 paid to the network economists.


1987 June 23: Savarese writes to Jeff Ross at the Tobacco Institute sending along a list of Democrat members of the House Ways and Means Committee...

... along with the economists we use in those areas. Nine of these are good, solid hits which we should be able to count on to do the job and get a publication. I have *ed these on the attached list. The remaining 6 are all people we have used in the past, but who have not been consistently successful.

    Since I'm under a new financial arrangement with the Tobacco Institute and I need to get these costs cleared in advance, I'll make my best effort here to budget this proposed project.

    If all 15 would get published, which is highly unlikely, the cost of Phase II Excise Tax Op-ed Project would run $45,000.

    More than likely we'll get 8-10 placements and 3 to 4 others who won't get placed, but will still send letters to their members on the Ways and Means Committee. In that case, the cost will be $37,000.
[This proves, beyond doubt, that under their arrangement with the network economists, they were only paid if their op-eds were published in local newspapers, and if they actually sent letters to their Congressmen.]

    The attached list showed who was considered reliable or unreliable:

DEMOCRAT WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE PROJECT
STATEDemocrat CongressmenEconomist Reliability
IllinoisDan Rosenkowski
Marty Russo
Fred McChesney Unreliable
FloridaSam Gibbons Richard Wagner Unreliable
Texas J. J. Pickle
Michael A. Andrews
Charles Maurice RELIABLE
California Fortney H. (Pete) Stark
Robert T. Matsui
Gary Anderson RELIABLE
IndianaAndrew Jacobs Cecil Bohanon RELIABLE
Tennessee Harold E. Ford Brian Goff
(in Kentuxky)
RELIABLE
Georgia Ed Jenkins Dwight Lee RELIABLE
Missouri Richard A. Gephardt Tom Wyrick Unreliable
New Jersey Frank J. Guarini JR Clark RELIABLE
Arkansas Beryl Anthony, Jr David ER Gay Unreliable
Alabama Ronnie Flippo Robert Ekelund RELIABLE
North Dakota Byron Dorgan Cliff Dobitz RELIABLE
Connecticut Barbara Kennelly Dominick Amento Unreliable
Pennsylvania William J. Coyne Ann Harper-Fender Unreliable
Wisconsin Jim Moody William Hunter RELIABLE



1987 Aug 21: Tobacco Institute's "Field Staff Evaluation of Economists"

In January, State Activities Division asked field staff to personally meet with 34 of our economic consultants to evaluate their suitability as economic witnesses. Roger Mozingo provided Bill Kloepfer with a compilation of their evaluations in May. Below.. I have attempted to summarize field staff comments along with our use of the economists for excise tax op-eds and preparation and delivery of testimony. As you can see, our excise tax op-ed project has been very successful.
    CALIFORNIA

    Professor Gary Anderson,
    California State at Northridge Northridge, CA
    Excise Tax Op Eds: None accepted for publication.
    Economic Witness/Testimony: Anderson and Robert Tollison prepared testimony opposing ACA 14. Tollison testified. Anderson prepared document rebutting "social cost" justification of an excise tax increase.
    Field Staff Contact: Meeting scheduled with Anderson.
    Field Staff Evaluation: No evaluation of Anderson. Delighted with Tollison's performance.

    In the same document, the outline of Mark Toma's recent achievements reads:
    OHIO
    Professor Mark Toma
    Miami University Oxford, OH

    Excise Tax Op Eds: None accepted for publication.
    Economic Witness/Testimony:
    Field Staff Contact: None.
    Gary Anderson (CA economist) prepared and submitted testimony opposing excise tax increase.
    Field Staff Evaluation: None.



1988 Feb 2: James Savarese reports to the Tobacco Institute on a meeting with a "core group of economists"...

To exchange thoughts and ideas on the social cost issue with the goal of determining projects and making assignments for 1988.

    [In order to attack] Anti-smoking activists [who] have distorted the issue of social cost. Even though economists ridicule their statistics, politicians and the press believe them.
The core group consists of
  • Gary Anderson
  • Bob Ekelund
  • Richard Higgins
  • Dwight Lee
  • Jim Savarese
  • Bob Tollison
  • Richard Wagner
with the support of PR/lobbyists from
  • Leslie Dawson, Karen Hochberger, Richard Marcus.- from Ogilvy & Mather and James Savarese & Associates
  • Mike Forscey - lawyer from Wunder and Diefenderfer, working for the Labor Management Committee of TI
  • Jeff Ross, Carol Hyrcaj and Paula Duhaime from the Tobacco Institute
Conclusions: This is lobbying pure and simple: The conclusions of their report expose numerous outright admissions as to the scientific and academic subterfuge these people are knowlingly engaged in.
  • The higher rate of illness of smokers is a 'private cost' not a social cost [and therefore should be ignored.]
  • It is not politically useful for us to argue the primary health statistics.
  • Up to this time, ETS has not been translated effectively by the opposition into cost numbers. Rather, it is a regulatory issue. We cannot afford to lose the argument among people who think they are being harmed by ETS. If ETS causes harm, it becomes a classic case of real social cost.
  • We must make sure that primary costs of smoking be kept out of any social cost calculation. We must separate primary smoking statistics from ETS statistics.
  • More research is needed on ETS in order to deny health consequences
Primary assumptions that need to be countered.
  • Insurance and Health Costs: Health problems exist for smokers. The cost for health care due to excess illness or death of smokers equals smokers' cost to society.
    • Insurance premium — Discounts for non-smoker (not justified?)
    • Pension Plans — Increased mortality rates saves money
  • Productivity and Absenteeism: Smokers are absent more frequently than non-smokers.The time spent by a employee smoking on the job is time spent not working. These factors make the smoker a less productive member of society than a non-smoker.
    • The worker bears the cost of absenteeism via fewer raises, less advancement, or termination. Society bears no burden.
  • Social Security and Medicare: [Death benefits argument]
    • Based on lifetime calculations, smokers should be getting a rebate. We should propose a rebate program, rather than a tax program.
    • If non-smokers live longer, when the baby boomers reach retirement age, very high tax rates will be necessary to finance Medicare and Social Security. If smoking is banned, it would cause some serious problems in future years.
  • Fires: It is not a social cost for a smoker to burn his house down, just a private cost. Social cost only exists if a neighbor's house burns down (a much smaller number).
  • ETS: Blanket smoking.restrictions raise costs to private employers. If restrictions are cost effective, individual companies will adopt them.
Goals:
    As a result of this meeting, we should devise a specific plan and timetable- of implementation with assignments for specific projects.

    We need to review and critique existing materials and develop our own core of research.
They then allocated Research projects to the economists and disussed additional research ideas which might prove useful to the industry. Both the Southern and Eastern Economic Association presented forums at which the economists could present papers and...
    Tollison is looking for one or two others. Major session of a university to bring together all relevant research on social cost will be planned after research projects are completed. Proceedings will be published in a monograph.



1988 July 27: Richard Wagner, writing on the letterhead of the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason University, writes to James Savarese [as surrogate for the Tobacco Institute] outlining a book editing project being mounted by himself and Robert Tollison.

    The tobacco industry is fighting to block the 'ear-marking' of cigarette excise taxes for Federal health programs. .

Bob and I both think we have an excellent chance of getting [libertarian journalist Henri] Lepage, as well as having a strong chance of getting [Nobel Prize-winner James] Buchanan.

    You may not know of Lepage. He is a prominent French journalist-economist, who several years ago had an international best seller that was translated into English as Tomorrow, Capitalism. Lepage is presently conducting a major research project into pricing in French utilities, and finds that the actual conduct of French utflities bears no relation to the normative economics of user-charging [actually a gross overstatement], but bears a strong relationship to the theory of public choice.

    I think you will agree that we have the makings of a strong and interesting book on user-charges and tax earmarking, one that will challenge very strongly the halo that seems to surround these terms in ordinary discourse about tax policy.
All of those involved [apart from LePage] were cash-for-comment economists.
Chapter 2."The Fiscal Significance of User Charges and Earmarked Taxes: A Survey," by Gary M. Anderson, California State at Northridge.
The newfound enthusiasm for user fees springs from "the notion that revenue can somehow be increased without raising taxes." The author explains that many so-called "user fees" would more appropriately be called "fines," since the users do not receive benefits.

The Tobacco Institute's Tax Hearing Readiness Plan in the following year had a note saying:
Several new excise tax-related studies are underway and will be completed by spring 1989. In addition, an update of the Chase economic impact study has been commissioned.

    Due by mid-year is a book examining earmarking and "user fees" from a public choice perspective. The treatise will contain 8-10 chapters written by respected economists, including, Henri LePage and Nobel laureate James Buchanan.

    Preliminary research has been conducted assessing public attitudes toward excise taxes.


    Specialist PR firm Fleishman-Hilliard were then contracted to promote this book and its authors around the various states in the USA.

See


1989: Social Cost Issue, Consulting Economist Team. This document is assumed to be the Tobacco Institute informing their litigation team about the facts of the cash-for-comments academics network — and its offshoot, the core team trained in Social Cost Issues.

The social cost economic team includes: Robert Tollison, Richard Wagner, Dwight Lee, Richard Higgins, Gary Anderson and Michael Davis,
These six consulting economists are specifically trained in the social cost issue, and are "prepared for a variety of assignments, from presenting testimony to conducting research."
How we use them
  • Conduct research.
  • Prepare op-eds and letters to the editor.
  • Review and comment on (government and private sector] social cost studies and reports.
  • Media tours to promote Smoking and the State.
  • Conduct briefings on the issue/arguments with legislators, staff and lobbyists.
Kinds of things they do
  • Conduct and publish economic research (constituting the basis of the social cost program).
  • Write and place op-eds on discrete topics.
  • Prepare and submit letters to the editor.
  • Available to present testimony.
  • Media tours.
  • Make presentations to academic/economic peers.
  • Conduct briefings on the issue (during social cost economist network meeting with PAD, SAD, lobbyists and legal counsel).



1989 Jan 10: /E This is a mixed bag of files dumped together. See page 54: Tobacco Institute "Confidential" memo on "Tax Hearing Readiness" which is their battle plan to counter earmaking of cigarette excise taxes to fund health programs. It lists a large number of organizations and a few congressmen who can be relied on to help. It also has both primary and secondary lists of economists willing to give testimony.

Economists: [Primary]
  • Bill Orzechowski, Tobacco Institute
  • Robert Tollison, George Mason University
  • Richard Wagner, George Mason University
  • Dwight Lee, University of Georgia, Athens
  • Michael Davis, Southern Methodist University
  • Gary Anderson, California State at Northridge
  • William Prendergast (Prendergast/Solmon papers)
  • Other Network economists [see Secondary attached list below]

        "Due by mid-year is a book examining earmarking and "user fees" from a public choice perspective. The treatise will contain 8-10 chapters written by respected economists, including, Henri LePage and Nobel laureate James Buchanan."
The Tobacco Institute's list of cash-for-comments professors and senior academics who were available to write op-eds and give evidence at Congressional hearings, etc. had grown extensively.
California only had one at this time:
  • CALIFORNIA
    Professor Gary Anderson, Department of Economics, Texas ASM California State at Northridge, Northridge CA



1989 Jan 11: The Tobacco Institute's list of economists and their state and university affiliations — made available to provide witness services, or to write op-eds, etc. [Which is referenced on the second document as "Other Network economists" (see attached list)


    It comes from the Tobacco Institute storage box on "Tax Hearings Readiness" and is labeled "Economists." The associated document on Tax Hearing Readiness outlines all the economic arguments available to counter legislation which raise tobacco taxes. Such ideas as:

  • Excise taxes are regressive and take away any tax reforms for low- and middle-income Americans. As a percentage of income, low income families pay as much as 27 times more in federal excises as high-income families.
    [Only if the users are totally addicted to tobacco company products.]
  • Cigarette excise taxes are discriminatory. They fall disproportionately on Blacks, Hispanics and other minorities.
    [As do medical costs — on people who can't afford these high rates of smoking.]
  • Excise taxes are unfair. Tobacco consumers are forced to pay more than others for government services benefitting everyone. Why should smokers pay more for national defense than nonsmokers?
    [What happened to the medical-cost argument? Why should non-smokers pay for smokers, also?]
  • Excise taxes are not a reliable source of revenue. When excise taxes increase, sales, as well as tax revenue, decrease.
    [Which is why excise taxes on cigarettes were such a good health measure]
  • Earmarking cigarette excise taxes is unfair tax policy. It is an indirect way to make smokers pay for government services that benefit the entire community.
    [Like health care? Welfare to widows?]
  • Excise taxes have a negative impact on the nation's economy. When sales decrease, the result is lost jobs and revenue.
    [It's the same with decline in opium sales and the demise of horse carriages]
  • An increase in excise taxes will not significantly reduce the federal deficit. Smokers should not shoulder the burden of the federal deficit.
    [What is significant? How many billion does it take to be significant?]
  • Overall cigarette excise taxes, as a percentage of price, have not decreased.
    [Who expected a decrease?]
This document also has a list of witnesses from different areas of business. Attached list of economists
Tax outline & general witness list


1989 Mar 17-19: The Annual Meeting of the Public Choice Society together with the Economic Science Assocition. These are Hayek-oriented neo-con economists of the kind which gave us the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-9. The speakers list mentions many active members of the economists network: — some of whom spoke more than once. (William Hunter in particular.) It is clear that this society was a profitable recruiting ground for Tollison and Savarese.

    The large group of speakers connected with Tollison's Center for the Study of Public Choice at George Mason University completely dominated the conference session on Public Health.

Public Choice Society Speakers on Public Health
Robert Tollison Richard Wagner David ER Gay
Dwight Lee William C Mitchell Burton Abrams
Cecil E Bohanon Charles Breeden William J Hunter
Bruce Benson Burton Weisbrod Bruce Yandle
Roger L Faith Roger Congleton James Buchanan
Gary Anderson Peter J Boettke Jeffrey R Clark
Robert J Staaf
This document also contains a list of the Public Choice Society's participants, many of whom were also members of the economist's network.


1989 April 18: Susan Stuntz (Issues Manager) at the Tobacco Institute memoes her boss Sam Chilcote. She is sending him material previously used for a two-day "Gerry Long" presentation. He wants to use it in a shorter one-day (unspecified) briefing session.

[Gerald H Long was the CEO of RJ Reynolds who in 1988 had just taken over as Chairman of the Tobacco Institute's Executive Committee and wanted to make changes.]

This document has the speaker's powerpoints, including a list of network economists divided on a State-by-State basis.       Note the document is 117 pages

The outline for the Powerpoint slides is here in full, together with the names of the politicians they were required to influence. It boasts that the..
Economists' Network 64 Strong [is] Targeted to Congressional Tax Writing Committees [and utilizing the] Production of Op-Eds on Federal Tax Policy.
[List of economists]



1989 May 31: Debbie Schoonmaker recommends funding of Tollison & Wagner's "Earmarking Book Proposal"


1989 June: Carol Hrycaj & Debbie Schoonmaker's monthly report to the Tobacco Institute on their "Excise Taxes" and "Social Cost" projects.

Drafts of all four of the 1989 research projects have been received. Gary Anderson's 1988 research paper, "The Social Cost of Everyday Life," was well received by his peers during the recent Western Economic Association annual meeting.



1989 Aug 8: Leslie Dawson of Savarese & Associate gives a status report on the Social Cost Project

  • Smoking & Absenteeism (Ekelund, Ault, Jackson, Saba, Saurman) — submitted to the Southern Economic Journal, then revised and resubmitted — no editorial decision yet.
  • The Social Cost of Everyday Life (Gary Anderson) — submitted to Contemporary Policy Issues — no editorial decision yet.
  • Smoking and the Problem of Social Cost (Tollison & Wagner — accepted by Journal of Public Choice (they controlled the journal)
  • Smoking and the Wealth of Nations (Wagner) — submitted to Journal of Contemporary Business.
  • Self-Interest, Public Interest, and Public Health (Tollison & Wagner) — submitted to to Journal of Public Interest and Public Choice
  • Smokers' Subsidy of Nonsmokers' Retirement Benefits (Higgins and Gordon Sufford from Capital Economics) — submitted to Social Science and Medicine
  • Social Cost and the Cigarette Excise Tax: A Misguided Rationale for an Inefficient and Unfair Policy (Dwight R. Lee) — Unpublished
  • Some Economic Consequences of the Koop Doctrine: National and State Revenue Shortfall from Smoking Regulation (Ekelund) - still at TI for review.



1989 Nov 13: Debbie Schoonmaker writes to her superiors at the Tobacco Institute about "Political Entry Barrier and Tax Incdence: The Political Economy of Sales and Excise Taxes," recently published in Public Finance. The authors are Robert Tollison, Gary Anderson and William Shughart — three of their favourite cash-for-comments academics. Walter Woodson has ccd the document to the Regional VPs, Kurt Malgrem, George Minshew and 'BC' with the note: "This piece may be of interest to you and some of your more 'scholarly' associates." It is an article on the "regressive" nature of excise taxes. Debbie says:

This hypothesis may be useful in tax battles in Congress and the states.

    While The Tobacco Institute did not commission the piece, legal counsel advises that we may use the article should we wish to do so.

[Note that she needs to tell everyone when the TI didn't commission Tollison's articles.

    About half the reference articles cited were written by fellow cash-for-comments economists.]


1989 Nov 14: /E Carol Hrycaj's monthly report to the Tobacco Institute on her project "Excise Taxes."

Economists Tollison, Shughart and Anderson have offered their article, "Political Entry Barriers and Tax Incidence: The Political Economy of Sales and Excise Taxes," (published in Public Finance) for our use. We are considering distribution options for the author's conclusions.

    A month later (report in same file) she reported.
Consulting economists Robert Tollison and Gary Anderson provided a state-by-state analysis based on the hypothesis set forth in their article, "Political Entry Barriers and Tax Incidence: The Political Economy of Sales and Excise Taxes." We will review the findings of the analysis and assess its utility in tax matters.



1989 Dec: Carol Hrycaj report to the Tobacco Institute on her project "Excise Taxes."

Responding to reports that an administration "task force" might recommend raising cigarette excise taxes, we implemented a new op-ed program designed to reinforce opposition to federal excise tax increases.

    Consulting economists Robert Tollison and Gary Anderson provided a state-by-state analysis based on the hypothesis set forth in their article, "Political Entry Barriers and Tax Incidence: The Political Economy of Sales and Excise Taxes." We will review the findings of the analysis and assess its utility in tax matters.



1990 Jan 23: Robert Tollison sends Martin Gleason the

"Preface and first five chapters of the book + the 'third of the four billings for this project" = $36,250
(Total must have been $145,000) This bundle consists of the contributions from Richard E Wagner, Gary M Anderson, Bruce Yandle. Dwight R Lee, Henri LePage, Mwangi S Kimenyi and James M Buchanan.

    It also contains comments from Michael T Buckley at Covington & Burling


1990 Feb 1: Savarese's report to Susan Stuntz at the Tobacco Institute lists a number of projects involving the cash-for-comment economists:

  • "Smoking and the Problem of Social Cost: A Survey" by Tollison and Wagner, published in Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice - reprints have been distributed.
  • "Smoking and Absenteeism: An Empirical Study" by Ault, Ekelund, Jackson, Saba, and Saurman - submitted to Applied Economics.
  • "Smokers Subsidy of Nonsmokers' Retirement Benefits" by Higgins and Shuford - submitted to Social Science and Medicine.
  • "The Social Costs of Everyday Life" by [Gary] Anderson submitted to Contemporary Policy Studies.
  • "Social Cost and the Cigarette Excise Tax: A Misguided Rationale for an Inefficient and Unfair Policy" by [Dwight] Lee - submitted to Contemporary Policy Studies.
  • "Self Interest, Public Interest, and Public Health" by Tollison and Wagner - accepted for publication in Public Choice.
  • "Some Economic Consequences of the Koop Doctrine: National and State Revenue Shortfall from Smoking Regulation" by Ekelund - returned to Ekelund for submission.
  • "Smoking and the Wealth of Nations" by Wagner - submitted to Journal of Contemporary Business.

    Began Phase III of the social cost research. Proposals have been submitted to TI.



1990 April: The annual Social Cost overview by Carol Hrycaj at the Tobacco Institute says:

[A] TI-commissioned social cost research paper on smoking and absenteeism, completed in 1989, has been accepted for publication by an academic journal.
"Smoking and Absenteeism," by consulting economists Robert Ekelund, Richard Ault, John Jackson, Richard Saba and David Saurman, has been accepted for publication by the academic journal, Applied Economics. The authors examine previous absenteeism and productivity studies and find that the "association of smoking and increased absenteeism is spurious."

    Consulting economists will receive TI support for a presentation of academic papers during the Western Economic Association's conference to be held in San Diego in June. The session, "Smoking and Public Policy," will involve Dwight Lee and Gary Anderson in a discussion of smoking and social cost issues.

See page 30

[Note the date the study was 'completed and accepted' — a date which is two years after it was being referenced by Tollison and Wagner for the tobacco industry.]



1990 May 7: The Tobacco Institute's "1991 Tax and Social Cost Plans" have sections on

  • "Social Costs" Hearings Readiness (preparation for fielding witnesses at Congressional hearings.) They list here the arguments that the Institute and its allies must be prepared to present.
  • "Tax" Hearing Readiness (as above, but for excise tax increases, State and Federal)
  • List of cash-for-comment network economists in each State.
This is an updated list with the current locations of each, with phone numbers and addresses.
CALIFORNIA
Professor Gary Anderson
Department of Economics, California State at Northridge
Northridge, CA 91330
818-885-2443 (ofc) 818-886-5837 (hm)


    (NORTHERN CALIFORNIA)
Professor David Saurman
Department of Economics, San Jose State University
San Jose, CA 95112 408-924-5400

(home) 20703 Celeste Circle
Cupertino, California 95014



1991 Jan: /E Tobacco Institute draft plan for 1991 with emphasis on "Taxes." These are the economist-related paragraphs:

Objective
To discourage reliance on consumer excise taxes on cigarettes to meet social and economic objectives by demonstrating that excise taxes are regressive and inconsistent with fair taxation.

Goals and Tactics:
  • Commission two op-ed articles in 1991 from consulting economists. As articles are published, provide to other Institute decisions for promotion and submission to appropriate policy makers.
  • Conduct at least 10 presentations by consulting economists on the excise tax issue before national, regional and state tax policy conferences.
  • Continue to utilize consulting economists for testimony and briefings. Expand appearances to include presentations to business clubs and the business press. Conduct media refresher courses for public speaking appearance and delivery of testimony.
  • Utilize the consulting economists for an op-ed program that addresses the national earmarking issue and state specific earmarking issues. As articles are published, provide to other Institute divisions and promote to appropriate public policymakers. Use field staff network to support distribution efforts.



1991 Jan 8: Jim Savarese has sent the current list of network economists to Carol Hyrcaj at the Tobacco Institute. It contains three new names, but otherwise it is essentially the same as the older lists.



For part of 1992 Gary Anderson appears to have been on leave from Northbridge, working for the Joint Economic Committee of the Republican Party in Washington. DC



1992 Mar 18: James Savarese writes to the Tobacco Institute attaching a reprint...

of Dwight Lee's paper, "Government v. Coase: The Case of Smoking." This paper is a product of the seminars and research projects which were commissioned over the past couple of years.
The article has been published in the Cato Journal, alongside an article by cash-for-comments economists Gary M Anderson and Adam Gifford Jr, and another by Richard B McKenzie [Not on tobacco topics] and has references to Tollison, Wagner and Ault.

    Attached to the Cato Journal is a draft academic paper by Richard Ault and Robert Ekelund specifically on tobacco and health measurements: "The Political Element in Science and Technology: SAMMEC II and the Anti-Smoking Movement." This article tries to argue that the standard statistical methods used for evaluating the health risk of smoking are wrong.
[SAMMEC = Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Costs.]

1992 Nov 7: Delores Martin, Lowell Gallaway and Gary Anderson, all cash-for-comments economists from the network, are working for Dick Armey (R-TX) by contributing to the preparation of outright political material for the Republican's Joint Economic Committee: "Derailing the Small Business Job Express."

    Lowell Gallaway and Gary Anderson are listed as Visiting Scholars on the JEC Republican staff.They are all working under the notorious lobbyist Ed Gillespie who was acting as Republican Staff Director.

The paper, authored by JEC-GOP Visiting Scholars Lowell Gallaway f Ohio University and Gary Anderson of California State University, Northbridge, calculates the cost of various new Federal rgulations from 1989, including an increased minimum wage, the Clean Air Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as increases in taxes on businesses.
[Note the inclusion of the Clean Air Act.] http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/bro26b00/pdf Press Release


1993 March: The Newsletter of the National Chamber Foundation (the NCF President was J Paul Sticht — Executive Chairman of RJ Reynolds)

    The NCF has published a free give-way report The Impact of Recent Federal Regulations on Small Business Job Creation by Gary M. Anderson and Lowell Gallaway (also a cash-for-comments economist).


1994 March 16: A group of academic economists including almost all the members of the Tobacco Institute's cash-for-comments network sent an "An Open Letter to President Clinton on Healthcare Reform." This had been organised by David J Theroux, the founder and operator of the Independent Institute apparently with the assistance of an academic network member, Simon Rottenberg. [The institute was well-funded by the tobacco industry]. They say:

In The Open Letter to President Clinton, 565 economists and 76 other scholars from all 50 states and the District of Columbia state their firm opposition to any form of direct and indirect price controls in any healthcare program.

    Rationing Health Care: The New Threat of Price Controls, by Simon Rottenberg and David J. Theroux

    They use the old straw-man scare techniques of the sky-falling.
In countries that have imposed these types of regulations, patients face delays of months and years for surgery, government bureaucrats decide treatment options instead of doctors or patients, and innovations in medical techniques and pharmaceuticals are dramatically reduced.
Which, as anyone who has lived in England, Canada, Australia, etc. knows, is pure rubbish.

    Along with Armstrong and his associates, also on this list of signatories were a number of think-tank lobbyists [including most of the Hoover Institute] and others who worked for the tobacco industry, and the Research Director of the Independent Institute, Robert Higgs, who was also a fill-in network economist.

1994: April/E Anderson has sent Philip Morris a draft of his proposed article (seemingly aimed at an academic publications by the citations) "Bureaucratic Incentives and the Transition from Taxes fo Prohibitions."

    Where his is unsure of an appropriate word, he has left a gap for someone to fill-in by hand.


1994 Aug: See the full outline of his involvement in creating the fake Alexis de Tocqueville ETS/EPA report written by S Fred Singer and Kent Jeffreys, secretly for the Tobacco Institute.


1994 Aug 11: The Alexis de Tocqueville Institute has produced a report by S Fred Singer of SEPP via Philip Morris's own PR-firm APCO, for the tobacco industry and other industries in a small coalition.

    This was a well-funded, and well-camoflagued attack on the activist concerns about Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), which hid behind the potential problems raised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over radon, pesticides and the SuperFund toxic chemicals in the environment. It says:

" Science, Economics, and Environmental Policy: A Critical Examination" is an evaluation of the data, statistical analyses, and underlying scientific theories that underlie the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) policy decisions on environmental tobacco smoke, radon, pesticides and hazardous clean-up under the Superfund law.

    With the total costs of environmental regulations estimated to be $150 billion annually — or $1,500 per U.S. household — it is extremely important that environmental decisions be based on sound scientific analyses of potential risks to public health and the environment, and that the costs of environmental regulation be weighed against the benefits. [Note the lack of conculsions that it was even more important for American industry to clean up its act and stop polluting!]

    But as Dr John Graham of the Harvard Center on Risk Analysis notes, "While it may seem obvious that EPA should use good science, students of the Agency have documented that the Agency's leadership, when preoccupied with public fears and legal pressures, has sometimes allowed good science to be neglected."
[Of course, no one mentioned that John Graham and his Harvard Center for Risk Analysis were also tobacco industry-funded lobbyists.]

    The aim of this report was to group together a number of different environmental threats (which most Republicans had been convinced were fallacious), create a giant scarecrow, then classify them jointly as examples of the EPA's strawman threats to health. This, they held, was evidence of the radical agenda of the EPA and other anti-smoking, anti-polluting zealots.

    The Advisory Panel for this operation comprised Robert Tollison, Richard Wagner, Dwight Lee, Gary Anderson, Mark Thornton, Robert Ekelund, Jeffrey Clark, and Richard Vedder from the cash-for-comments economists network, as well as a few other tobacco industry consultants and well-known lobbyists.


This report market a turning-point in the tobacco industry's fight-back operations. Philip Morris had just successfully established The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC). Steve Milloy at TASSC had the job of labelling any anti-tobacco study results as 'junk-science' and APCO who secretly ran TASSC, had extended the reach of this new 'junk-science' operation to embrace mutual-help relationships with the major poisoning and polluting industries which were becoming embroiled in the problems of climate change.

    This was one of the tobacco industry's contributions to the 'anti-science' movement which was intended to counter both anti-smoking and climate change research.



1995 July 13: The newsletter of the Independence Institute says:

To evaluate the effects of tax reform on the American public, the Independent Institute assembled 27 leading economists, legal experts, policymakers and journalists for the conference, De-Taxing America? Alternatives to Predatory Politics, July 13th, in Washington, D.C.
[Dwight Lee copied his speech to Philip Morris. (for payment)]


    Excise taxes on "politically incorrect" products [read 'cigarettes'] or activities are used increasingly to fund the "nanny state." In the opening session, chaired by Independent Institute research director Robert Higgs, William Shughart II (U. of Mississippi), editor of the forthcoming Institute book based on the studies presented at the conference DE-TAXING AMERICA: Predatory Politics and the Public Interest, examined the arguments used to rationalize excise and other selective taxes.

    Traditionally, such taxes are claimed to minimize economic distortions, to fund targeted programs, and to reduce "spillover" costs of the targeted behavior, but Shughart concluded that only anti-social political considerations and ill-founded attempts at social engineering can explain their widespread use.

    Uninformed voters, Dwight Lee (U. of Georgia) explained. are more favorably disposed toward tax increases when revenues are "earmarked" for popular programs. Earmarking helps politicians circumvent taxpayer resistance by making more funds from general revenues available for discretionary spending.

Thomas DiLorenzo (Loyola College) [A tobacco tout who worked outside the Savarese/Tollison network] explained how excise taxes funding "politically correct" propaganda threaten free speech, including that of business people who risk regulatory retribution and IRS audits for criticizing unequal taxation.
Also mentioned in the same conference report are William Niskanen (Cato Institute), Bruce Benson (network economist from Florida State); Gary Anderson (network economist from California State, Northbridge), Robert Ekelund (network economist from Auburn Uni).


1995 Dec: /E The Independent Institute has run a conference "De-Taxing America" at which a number of tobacco-economists were key speakers.

  • Dwight Lee (Uni of Georgia) explained that "Uninformed voters are more favourably disposed to tax increases when revenues are " earmarked" for popular programs. Earmarking helps politicians circumvent taxpayer resistance by making more funds from general revenues available for discretionary spending.
  • Thomas DiLorenzo (Loyola College) explained how excise taxes funding "politically correct" propaganda threaten free speech, including that of business people who risk regulatory retribution and IRS audits for criticizing unequal taxation.
  • Adam Gifford (California State Uni, Northridge) showed how taxes on whiskey, margarine, and the press illustrate politicians' diverse aims, and how citizens have responded to predatory taxation by rebellion, flight, and evasion.
  • Martin Thornton (Auburn University) said "Prohibition, the ultimate sin tax, evolved from new Enlgand Puritanism into today's secular neo-puritanism, often allying with empire-building bureaucrats and profit-seeking dealers of contraband. Prohibition produces undesirable side effects, especially violent crime.
  • Bruce Benson (Florida State Uni) explained that "Quebec's 60% cigarette taxes of the early 1990s led to gang warefare over the lucrative trade in untaxed cigarettes.
  • Gary Anderson (California State Uni, Northridge) explained that prohibition often results in more revenue for politicians and brueaucrats, more employees and more graft. Conventional wisdom further holds that selectively taxing some products will hardly reduce purchases, but Richard Vedder (Ohio University) showed that in the case of smoking, consumers cross state lines to buy cheaper cigarettes, hindering the tax collectors' goal.
  • George Tullock (Uni of Arizona) suggested that too many scientific and economic questions remain to determine the social costs of smoking or whether taxes are preferable to moral suasion.



1996: Northridge Economics Department faculty have published:

Gary M. Anderson & Dennis Halcoussis, 1996. "The Political Economy Of Legal Segregation: Jim Crow And Racial Employment Patterns," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 1-15, 03.


Excise Tax Forum
1996 Aug 14: Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds were trying to put together a coalition of tobacco and alcohol companies and organizations to run a three-day "Comprehensive Inter-industry Forum on Excise Taxes", to be held early January 1997 in Palm Beach, the Bahamas, or Nassau.

    It would bring together "15 Leading Academics, 10 Industry Representatives, 5 Decision Makers, and 5 Representatives from the Public Policy Community [eg. think-tank operatives]."

    It would be funded by the tobacco companies through the Coalition Against Regressive Taxation (CART) [a tobacco front], but officially run by the Tax Foundation [A subsidiary of Citizens for a Sound Economy which is now known as FreedomWorks.]
Deliverables
The Excise Tax Forum will produce two immediate deliverables:
  • A special journal supplement, and related articles summarizing the proceedings of the meeting. It is anticipated that this will be published in a scholarly economic journal:
  • Press materials and video summarizing the meeting, and its findings.

    In addition, participants in each of the four workshops will determine at least one area for additional research. The result of each of these research projects will be an academic journal article and related press material.

Estimated Cost.
Provisions wIll be made to provide small honoraria to forum participants [those who attend, not just those who speak] and all expenses will be paid by the sponsors. These expenses include airfare, ground transportation, 2 hotel nights, and all food and sponsored entertainment.

    As currently envisioned, the cost for the Excise Tax Forum will be approximately $195,000.[Plus the cost of future research committed.]

    It is recommended that a small New York based boutique shop, Current Medical Directions (CMD), be hired to undertake this event.

See also $205,000 version of document


1996 Oct 28: Gil Pinac, a politician in the House of Representatives, Louisiana, writes to Gary Anderson at The Tobacco Institute, 815 Brazos St, Austin Texas thanking him for "your generous contribution to my campaign."
[This would be the Texas lobbyist Gary Anderson.]


1996 Nov 20: Philip Morris Facsimile Transmission (coversheet only) refers to a Gary Anderson letter sent by their Legal Department to Shook Hardy & Bacon the tobacco industry disinformation lawfirm.
[This is probably the Texas Gary Anderson seeking information about smoking & health.]


1997: The Independent Institute publishes "Taxing Liberty and other 'Sins': Predatory Politics and Taxation" — a book edited by William F Shughart II of the cash-for-comment economists network. Many of the network members also get to write a chapter[in bold], while the other chapters are all written by their close academic associates at Clemson, Auburn, Florida, and Californian State Univerities.

Independent Institute Book for the Tobacco Instititue
Chapter Authors University Subject
  Intro: Wm Shughart II editor
1. William F Shugart MississippiThe Economies of Excise Taxation
2. Brenda Yelvington Clemson Uni   Excise Taxes in Historical Perspective
3. Adam G Gifford Cal State, Northridge Whisky, Parchment and Margarine
4. Randall G Holcombe Florida State The Politics of Selective Excise Taxation
5. Dwight R Lee Uni of Georgia Overcoming Taxpayer Resistance
6. Thomas J DiLorenzo Loyola College, Excise Taxes to Fund PC Propaganda
7. Gary M Anderson Cal State, Northridge Bureaucratic Incentives/Taxes to Prohibition
8. Mark Thornton Auburn Uni. Prohibition: The Ultimate Tax
9. B.Benson/D. Reamussen Florida State Predatory Public Finance
10. Richard E Wagner George Mason Taxation on Alcohol/Control of Social Costs
11. Robert Ekelund/P. Gant Auburn Uni Excise Taxes the Answer to Healtcare Crisis?
12. Richard K Vedder Ohio University Bordering on Chaos
16. Gordon TullockArizona StateExcise Taxation/Rent-Seeking
Also three professors of law.

[This 626 page document is the last corrected copy of the full manuscript ready for the printer. It has last-minute white-outs and hand-corrections and insertions by a single editor in order to maintain the 'excise tax' theme. It was in the Philip Morris file cabinet to Josh Slavitt.]




2000: Northridge Department of Economics staff have published:

Anderson, Gary M. & Halcoussis, Dennis & Johnston, Linda & Lowenberg, Anton D., 2000. "Regulatory barriers to entry in the healthcare industry: the case of alternative medicine," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(4),


2003: This year's update of the Department of Economics, California State University, Northridge (CSUN) still lists him as Professor.
    [He is included in later listings as a member of the Emeritus Faculty]


Independent Institute
The Independent Institute, which is itself a component of the Atlas Group of ultra-free-market think tanks with links to the Alexis de Tocqueville Institute [all heavily dependent on commissioned corporate funding] appears to have taken over the role of administrator of the Tobacco Institute's cash-for-comments network at the end of the 1990s.Their research director and journal editor, Robert Higgs, was already a member of the network.

    Tobacco funding continued to flow to the Independent Institute which appears to have taken over (from Savarese and Tollison) the role of 'warehousing' these academic supporters to insulate them from discovery. The Institute acquired the bulk of the cabal of cash-for-comments economists who were still operating, and some who had been retired:

Senior Fellows
  • Bruce L Benson, Florida State
  • Robert Higgs, Independent Institute
  • William Shugart, Utah State
  • Richard Vedder, Ohio University
Research Fellows
  • Burton Abrams, Uni of Delaware
  • Gary Anderson, California State at Northridge
  • Dominick Armentano, Uni of Hartford
  • Peter Boettke, George Mason Uni
  • Thomas DiLorenzo, Loyola College, Maryland
  • Robert Ekelund, Auburn Uni
  • Lowell E Gallaway, Ohio Uni
  • Randall Holcombe, Florida State
  • Dwight Lee, Southern Methodist Uni
  • Cotton 'Matt' Lindsay, Clemson Uni
  • Fred McChesney, Northwestern Uni
  • Mark Pauly, Uni of Pennsylvania
  • Richard Stroup, Montana State
  • Mark Thornton, Ludwig von Mises Institute
  • Richard Wagner, George Mason Uni
  • Bruce Yandle, Clemson Uni
Also dozens of other academics and writers who provided independent contract services to the tobacco industry — like Richard Epstein, John Goodman, Peter Huber, Paul Craig Roberts, Paul Rubin, Peter Samuel, S Fred Singer. Russell Sobel, etc.

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