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WASHINGTON (AP) - As a Senate committee prepared to approve an additional $35 billion for children's health insurance, the Bush administration spelled out its objections to how the increase would be paid for — a 61-cent increase on the excise tax for a pack of cigarettes.
"Ironically, the proposed legislation would increase taxes on low-income taxpayers as a way to fund health coverage for low-income individuals," Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said Tuesday in a letter to Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
Baucus replied with his own letter to Leavitt. "When given the choice between standing with big tobacco companies and standing with kids, I stand with America's children," said the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
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