The U.S. House of Representatives voted (326-102) to give the FDA regulatory control over tobacco. Now get this… Philip Morris USA, which thinks regulation by the Food and Drug Administration will help shore up its position as the leading cigarette manufacturer, endorsed this big government move to further nationalize the tobacco industry.

The bill specifically states that the F.D.A.’s new powers would stop short of the ability to order the elimination of nicotine from tobacco products or place an outright ban on all tobacco products. But the agency could reduce nicotine to nonaddictive levels. The F.D.A. could also require changes in tobacco products, like the reduction or elimination of other ingredients it chooses, such as a ban on flavored cigarettes that appeal to young people.

The bill was opposed by many Republicans who said they objected to expansion of the federal bureaucracy, and complained in particular that the F.D.A. was already unable to fulfill its work overseeing pharmaceuticals and food. Consider the FDA's recent wanton destruction of the tomato industry following the salmonella outbreak that sickened some 1,300 people in the U.S. and Canada.

"This is truly an historic day in the fight against tobacco," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who co-sponsored the measure with Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.). "Regulating tobacco is the single most important thing that we can do right now to protect the public health of all Americans, especially our children."

There's that "for the children" argument again that Socialists in government love to use.

Representative John D. Dingell, said that it was hard to believe that the nanny state had not yet regulated the tobacco industry.

Proponents such as John R. Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, hailed the approval as a historic and crucial step in the effort to control the private activities of American citizens. These anti-tobacco propagandists have thrived on slick marketing tactics and misleading the public about the harms of its products.

Enough is never enough for these globalists who want to control every aspect of our lives and drive our Constitutional Republic further into the annals of history.