Can You Say Oxymoron?

The House is expected to vote today on an expansion of the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). My colleague, Michael Cannon, has frequently written on the problems of this poorly targeted program that moves six children from private to public coverage for every four uninsured children that it covers. However, it is interesting to note that the $33 billion expansion is supposedly paid for primarily through a 61‐​cent‐​per‐​pack increase in the federal cigarette tax. Yet, at the same time, President‐​elect Obama announced that his choice for Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services is William Corr, an anti‐​tobacco lobbyist and executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco‐​Free Kids. So we can shortly expect the Obama administration to step up efforts to stop people from smoking, thereby reducing the taxes they are counting on to pay for their SCHIP expansion. One hardly knows whether to wish them success.