George Will had a
column in yesterday's Washington Post about why NYC Mayor
Michael Bloomberg won't run for the presidency. That shouldn't come
as much as a surprise.
But one part of the article warrants mentioning for its sheer
absurdity:
Bloomberg credits his crusade against
smoking with the decline in heart attacks that has helped make the
life expectancy of city residents higher than that of the rest of
the nation.
For the sake of argument, let's grant
Bloomberg that second-hand smoke inhalation can lead to heart
attacks (even though the evidence is suspect) and let's further
grant that his policies of banning smoking in the bars and raising
cigarette taxes encouraged more people to quit smoking. This still
doesn't change the fact that heart disease takes decades to
develop, and any government actions taken three-and-a-half years
ago to reduce smoking-even if they could be effective in the
long-term-would not have an immediate impact on heart attack rates
or life expectancy. I'm surprised that George Will would allow
Bloomberg to advance such a canard without challenging him.
topics:
Taxes
