Dolores Tremewan ('Dee') Martin - The Corporate Corruption of Science website

Professor Delores Martin was one of the foundation members of the Tobacco Institute's cash-for-comments network. She was one of the core group of Public Choice economists who advised the Tobacco Institute to set up the network, and was a key member of its first incarnation as the faux-Committee on Taxation and Economic Growth

Tobacco lobbyist James Savarese and Professor Robert Tollison of George Mason University collaborated in the 1980s to provide the tobacco industry, through the Tobacco Institute, with networks of academics in various disciplines who would be willing to write and sprout propaganda material ... always provided the payments for these services were not directly tracealble back to the Institute or to any of the cigarette companies.

The idea was simply that these 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 of the acolyte academics because the distinction between economics and politics was never clear: so support of the cigarette companies could always be portrayed as support for free-market economics including the rights of individuals to make public choices ... small government ... or even the first Amendment to the Constitution.

The economist working for Savarese, always claim to be 'independent' 'professionals' and ' academics', and they exploited the fact that they came from some credible university. They 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 imprecision) 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 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!

Delores Martin was a member of the Public Choice Society, and learned her economics at Virginia Polytechnic under James Buchanan and Robert Tollison. She was also associate with the heritage Foundation between 1982 and '84.

Network beginnings:

1979 Jan: Academic economists Professor Robert Tollison and Richard Wagner have been recruited by George Berman of Devon Management Resources to provide material supporting the International Committee on Smoking Issues (ICOSI... later INFOTAB)
1980: Tollison and Wagner had been commissioned by ICOSI's Social Acceptability Working Party (SAWP) to write a monograph "Consumer Protection, Public Policy and Cost-Benefit Analysis"
1982: Under Tollison and Public Choice guru James Buchanan, the team of Public Choice economists at Virginia Polytechnic/State University resign en masse and migrate over to the break-away, corporate funded, George Mason University (including their think-tank Center) — thus providing the tobacco industry with a Washington DC pool of unfettered free-market Randian-political economists who are all looking for outside commissions.
1982 Nov: A labor economic lobbyist working for his own company (through via Ogilvy & Mather PR), James Savarese, proposes to the Tobacco Institute that they use academic economists (mainly Kenneth Greene of SUNY and Harold Hochman of CUNY) to prepare papers opposing cigarette tax excise increases in New York State.
1983: The Tobacco Instittue puts the Tollison/Wagner team (which has the resources of the Center for Study of Public Choice, together with Savarese and Ogilvy & Mather PR to prepare a book "Free to Smoke" and later a propaganda booklet Smoking & Society
1984 Jan /E. The Tobacco Institute is now expanding the Savarese-run network of economist to other States — mainly recruiting academic economists to write op-eds for their local newspapers. Tollison is able to provide the recruitment services through his Center for the Study of Public Choice and the Public Choice Society.
1984 April: The Tobacco Institute has again put Tollison together with Savarese and his associates to prepare a pseudo-study which will become their economic defence against proposed smoking bans in New York resturants. The TI's Excise Tax Plan for this month lists 14 Public Choice economists in other States who have been recruited to help in the fight against excise increases.
1984 Jun: The network has now been formalised under the name Committee on Taxation and Economic Growth. with Savarese as administrator. They have about 15 members overall and 10 active op-ed writers.

The foundation document for the network still in the tobacco industry archives is a Draft plan by the Tobacco Institute dated 30 April 1984 "Cigarette Excise Tax Plan" which was aimed at countering the Reagan Administration's "Packwood Tax Plan".

See last page http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/xnu98b00/pdf
Yoram Barazel is the only name on this list who appears to have resisted the Institute's overtures.

Some key documents

• Professor Dolores Martin, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska. She was also a member of the Public Choice Society, and she collaborated with Roger Riefler. An associate, Professor Craig R MacPhee, also worked out of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, for the Tobacco Institute.

• There are at least 65 documents in the tobacco archives which refer to her as "Delores" and 82 which have her name as "Dolores" and quite a few with just "Dee" and even more as "DT Martin" and "D Martin". She also used the Tremewan name intermittently.

1966–71: Assistant Professor, Radford College, Radford, Virginia [Dates as listed in her CV]

1975: Associate Professor Department of Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

1978 Oct: Journal of Law and Economics: She is co-writing with Richard Wagner "The Institutional Framework for Municipal Incorporation: An Economic Analysis of Local Agency Formation Commissions in California,"

1984 June: /E In 1984 Robert D. Tollison [of George Mason University] joined forces with four other economists: Harold M. Hochman [CUNY], Thomas E. Borcherding [Claremont College LA], Fred McChesney [Emory Uni] and Dolores T. Martin [Uni of Nebraska], to start the Committee on Taxation and Economic Growth. This very quickly became

1984 June 6: Patricia Militia from O&M reported to Michael Brozek, regional vice president of the Tobacco Institute that:

1984 June 19: Her remarks on "Fundamental Tax Reform" at the Treasury Hearing. She makes no admission that she is giving the statement on behalf of the tobacco industry, or that she is being paid by the Tobacco Institute... in fact, she implies the opposite, saying spontaneously: "My remarks are my own." In summing up, she comes to the conclusion that:

1984 June 20: Patricia Milita of Ogilvy & Mather PR writes to Michael Kerrigan at the Tobacco Institute.

1984 June 20: Maureen Delanty of Ogilvy & Mather PR has written to Peter Sparber at the Tobacco Institute.
[This memo is quite separate from the one immediately below.].

She is informing Sparber (the top Issues Manager at the TI) of their success with having tobacco industry witnesses appear at a Treasury Hearing on excise taxes in Minneapolis.

1984 July: The Tobacco Institute's Cigarette Excise Tax Plan.

The plan augments our basic lobbying efforts by relying on groups outside the industry — some not regularly associated with the industry — to argue against excise taxes for us.

It is an ambitious program, based on the notion that many of the most effective protests against tobacco taxes will come from groups philosophically distant from The Institute. Many such groups agree with us on the excise issue, even though they disagree with us on other matters.

At the federal level, supporting Congressional members from the tobacco states is essential to our lobbyists. The tobacco members consistently vote as a unified group — something that is rarely seen in Congress today. They are our lobbyists' most important resource.

The program recommends that economic and other consultants assist us in developing, "packaging," and presenting our anti-excise arguments in legislative testimony or meetings with coalition members.

Resources:
Economic consultants with different areas of expertise will conduct research and act as spokespersons for The Institute and organizations supported by The Institute. Specific activities with economists are discussed throughout the tactics.

Tactics:
Stimulate reputable public finance economists at key state universities to determine the validity of state revenue forecasts, perhaps on behalf of state business organizations and present arguments against excise taxes in various forums; e.g., meetings with potential coalition members or budget officials.
Encourage economists to make the case against regressive taxation in meetings with potential coalition members and legislators.
Retain public finance economists affiliated with non-profit organizations to research the subject and use their findings in forums such as:

Private meetings with state legislators or staff ;
formal testimony before government bodies ;
targeted media appearances;
speeches before business, civic, labor, and other groups ;
tax symposia in key states where the proceedings could be published for use in other states ; and
articles which raise the visibility of key arguments in the business, academic, and popular press.

Strategies:

Presenting specific members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees with arguments prepared by economists with whom they share some common interest; e.g college affiliation, service on the same commission.
Gaining the support of Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), the most influential labor/liberal tax reform group in the country, in opposition to excise taxes.
Relying on the AFL-CIO — via The Bakery, Confectionery, and Tobacco Workers Union — to ensure that the labor/liberal tax package that emerges in the next session of Congress does not include tobacco.

Appendix: A list of economists in key states who may be willing to act as industry and third-party spokespersons on the tax issue.
Following is a list of economists in key states who might assist us as experts receiving honoraria. We have begun contacting them to ensure their willingness and expertise. We are asking each about past experience; work with similar issues; previous work with the industry; published articles or research; and availability.

Our intent is to have a group of individuals whom we can call upon as needed to testify, conduct special research and discuss their research projects and/or views on excise taxes with budget officials, potential coalition members, legislators and the media.

1984 July 16: A summary report of the Tobacco Institute notes that they had managed to plant economist witnesses at six of the eight Treasury Department regional hearings.

1984 Oct 26: A document "Federal Excise Program" of the Tobacco Institute [has handnotes]

1984 Dec 13: Bill Kloepfer reporting at the Tobacco Institute's Annual Meeting about the success of this early economists network.

1985: In late 1984 or early 1985 Delores Martin's C/V was sent to the Tobacco Institute.

1985 Jan 31: Hurst Marshall has distributed this Tobacco Institute list of economists from the cash-for-comments network. It has been organise by State, and includes the names of Congressmen they wish to influence.

1985 Feb 21: Roger Mozingo of the Tobacco Institute is sending his state directors a list of resources available to fight against excise taxes in their states. Delores Martin heads their state list of available economic witnesses for Nebraska.

1985 June 20: The Tobacco Institute got a second run out of Dolores Martin's Treasury Hearing statement by using it at a Congressional Hearing of the Ways and Means Committee on Cigarette Excise Taxes

There is no sign that they paid her twice for this recirculated opinion. It also credited her with the use of "ban excise taxes" as a primary slogan on some brochures.

1986 Jan: The Tobacco Institute's Public Relations Resource Catalogue for their Regional Directors, lists documents, booklets, article, posters and people who can help them fight local public smoking ordinances and threats to raise the excise taxes on cigarettes.

It provides a long list of economists who are willing to speak at hearings, write letters to the editor, or create op-eds for the newspapers to counter any threat to public smoking or possible increase in excise taxes.

The Tobacco Institute offered their Regional Directors the C/Vs of all of these economists, and said

1986 Mar 11: Bill Kloepfer (Head of PR) reports to Sam Chilcote the president of the Tobacco Institute on a meeting he has had with "Consulting Economists" over "Tax Issue Advice"

1986 Apr 3: James Savarese writes to his stable of economists on the subject of "New Research Opportunities." [A sure-fire come-on with academics]

1986 Apr 3: This appears to be the approved copy of the letter on "New Research Proposals" that Jim Savarese sent to his long list of network economists. This letter leaves no doubt that these academic economist knew that they were being paid to protect the interests of the tobacco industry.

The economist were also being given outline "rebuttals" developed by Tollison and Wagner to help them in writing their counter-attacks to an an Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) anti-smoking report.

1986 May: A bundle of 72 pages of information is being circulated by the Tobacco Institute to its Regional Directors. The data is predominantly on the tobacco-industry beat-up known as Sick Building Syndrome and on the general problems of Indoor Air Quality [all down-playing the effects of smoking in confined spaces]

Section 1 is headed

1986 Oct 3: A Tobacco Institute report on the economists network, lists the Congressmen they are expected to influence,and the economist's various academic specialities.

This early list is probably the most detailed of all. A later section of this 43 page document also runs through the 28 main states giving the names and details of witnesses willing to speak to legislators on Taxes (almost exclusively economists), and those available as witnesses for the tobacco industry on Public Smoking issues (economists and a range of others)

A major effort had also been made recently to enlist fire officers and brigades to counter demands for a 'fire-safe' cigarette which had low ignition propensity.

1986 Oct 3: The State Directors for the Tobacco Institute have been reviewing all economics network witnesses in their territories, and culling those who are not actively participating. The Washington DC office is now circulating to its State Directors a list of the economists available who...

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.

1990: "Behind the Veil: The Political Economy of Constitutional Change" by William Shughart Gary Anderson, Delores Martin, and Robert Tollison.

In W. Mark Crain and Robert D. Tollison, eds., Predicting Politics: Essays in Empirical Public Choice. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1990,

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

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

1991 Nov 14: Martin is now the "Senior Minority Economist, Joint Economic Committee, US Congress" and is participating in a National Chamber Foundation conference designed to attack the Clinton Health Plan.
[The NCF is the lobbying arm of the US Chamber of Commerce — and is available for a fee, for any corporation or trade group with enough cash to pay them generously.]

The NCF and a coalition of well-funded think-tanks is running a conference "Origins of the Crisis: Health Care Costs and American Business" Notable participants include

1992 Nov 7: "Derailing the Small Business Job Expess" report prepared for Dick Armey 9R-TX) [Immediately after the first Clinton/Gore win]. It gives credit to three cash-for-comments economists:

1992 Nov 7: She is now working for Dick Armey (R-TX) contributing to the preparation of outright political material for the Republicans as a Senior Economist Joint Economic Committee: "Derailing the Small Business Job Express." She has taken to using her full name, Delores Tremewan Martin.

On the JEC Republican staff are also two other cash-for-comments economists from the network, Lowell Gallaway and Gary Anderson. They are all working under the notorious lobbyist Ed Gillespie.

The problem, according to these economists, is that the burden of regulations is stopping the growth of employment. They say:

1993 May 10: Walter Woodson, the Vice president of State Activities at the Tobacco Institute, has written a formal letter to Dee Martin (obviously written for the files):

2001 Mar 1: Dean of the Eastern Washington University College of Business and Public Administration.

Dolores Tremewan ('Dee') Martin [Prof ]

(aka Delores (often) and Delores Tremewan Martin)

— One of the first economists to be recruited by Robert Tollison for the economists network of cash-for-comments academics. She was from the University of Nebraska and became a major tobacco tout. —

Some key documents