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The Tobacco Buyout and the 2004 NC Senate Election
Ward Long
Overview
On October 11, Congress passed a $136 billion corporate tax bill that included a $10 billion buyout of a Depression-era tobacco quota system. Many expect President Bush to sign the bill into law at a campaign stop in a battleground state in the run up to the November election (Nowell). Both candidates in North Carolina’s hotly contested Senate race wholeheartedly supported the measure, and both scrambled to take credit for the historic legislation.
Earlier in the campaign, Burr downplayed his involvement with the ongoing buyout negotiations, saying he “didn’t want to boast about a bill that has yet to become law” (Savodnik). Now Burr notes on his website that he “co-sponsored the bill and voted for it this summer and for final passage.” This summer, Bowles slammed Burr for the bill’s slow progress. After the House passed a version of the tobacco buyout, Bowles personally lobbied 24 Senators to ensure that bill’s success in the Senate.
Type of Representation
Burr and Bowles are battling to show who best represents the interests of North Carolina’s 76,000 tobacco farmers (Robertson). The buyout will bring $3.9 billion into North Carolina over the next decade, delivering a valuable economic stimulus. Andy Taylor, a professor at North Carolina State University argues that since, “there’s still this notion that tobacco… is a the heart of North Carolina interests,” other voters will pay attention to the buyout issue (qtd. in Robertson). Additionally, the bill represents the interests of North Carolina’s taxpayers, since higher fees on tobacco companies will finance the buyout and not public funds. Despite the higher taxes, tobacco companies also benefit from the bill. The elimination of the quota system will increase domestic production, thereby decreasing the price of tobacco and costs to tobacco companies.
Another version of the bill would have brought $790 million more to North Carolina and tied the bill to FDA regulation of tobacco. Burr rejected this measure in conference committee, saying the measure would have killed the bill. Bowles charges that Burr turned his back on farmers, bowing into pressure from his supporters in the tobacco business. A Wilson County farmer said, “the public was sold out for the best interests of R.J. Reynolds and Richard Burr” (Nowell).
Quality of Representation
Both Senate candidates worked hard to ensure passage of the buyout. Along with other representatives, Richard Burr lobbied hard to attach the tobacco buyout program to the popular corporate tax bill, and to defeat any FDA regulation that might have killed the bill in the House. While not a member of Congress, Erskine Bowles convinced many senators of the bill's importance, and prevented several threatened filibusters.
Honor Pledge: This assignment represents my original work and follows the guidelines of the Davidson College Honor Code.
October 16, 2004.