The Washington Post’s Rob Stein at first appears to be writing an unassuming piece about how the House overwhelmingly voted to let the Food and Drug Administration regulate tobacco products. But in the last few paragraphs, there’s a turn: this is another piece about why the FDA needs more money!

The Bush administration has promised to veto a bill giving the FDA these significant new regulatory powers. Why? Because "it will be too much of a burden for the already overstretched FDA" (the White House makes the equally dubious claim that regulating tobacco will jeopardize trade agreements. With North Carolina?)

Well, it’s not like the Bush administration can do anything about the FDA’s current burden. They surely can’t use their bully pulpit and say they’re totally for the bipartisan consensus in Congress to give the agency more money.

Meanwhile– unless the Senate passes the bill with a veto-proof majority– tobacco will likely go unpoliced until 2009.-MB

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