Their new product heats tobacco to a temperature to produce vapor, rather than nic juice... It isn't an e-cig as we know it, but rather a tobacco vaporizer.
If one really believes money had bought politicians, why bother? It is over. If I really thought the government were bought and paid for by nefarious corporations , I'd leave, because I could never live in a country like that.
Who says public service has to be a sacrifice? Georgia legislators love to gripe about their crappy salaries, but Balfour in 2011 knocked down at least $101,422 in publicly disclosed compensation, lobbyists’ gifts and other perks for his government service. Those benefits included:
$17,341 annual salary
$ 8,650 per diem for 50 legislative days
$21,279 per diem for 123 additional committee days
$ 4,680 mileage reimbursements for commuting from Snellville
$13,646 lobbyist gifts
$29,346 campaign payments to lease an Atlanta condo
$ 6,480 additional pension benefit (based on cumulative payout over 15 years)
Balfour’s campaign spent nearly $30,000 to have the Atlanta condo available year-round. After the Legislature adjourned in April 2011, though, he requested state mileage reimbursements indicating he had driven home to Snellville on every day when he conducted public business.
In August 2012, Balfour settled a complaint filed with the Senate Ethics Committee by agreeing to pay a $5,000 fine for incorrectly claiming per diem or mileage reimbursements on 17 days in 2011 and one in 2009. A Fulton County grand jury indicted him in September 2013 for making false expense claims, and Gov. Nathan Deal suspended him from office in November 2013. A month later, he was found not guilty at trial.
Since 2003, Balfour’s campaign has reimbursed him for $17,030 of expenses without disclosing the end recipient of the money and, frequently, without listing the nature of the expense. State law requires disclosure of those details so regulators and the public can assess whether the expenditures were legitimate.
Balfour’s relationship with Marcia Rubensohn, a lobbyist for the Georgia Municipal Association, was the subject of a broadcast report by WGCL-TV/CBS 46 in 2010. The station reported that Rubensohn had bought the senator lunch 20 times over several years and that the two had traveled together on a 2009 trip to Israel.
Balfour’s financial disclosures failed to mention his involvement with the National Christian Scholarship Foundation. Registration papers filed with the Georgia secretary of state list Balfour as the foundation’s CEO and CFO in 2007 and 2008. The IRS revoked the organization’s tax-exempt status in 2011 for failing to file returns for three consecutive years.
The American Legislative Exchange Council awarded “scholarships” totaling $4,792 to Balfour from 2005 to 2009, records show. Corporate donors — including petroleum, pharmaceutical, utility, tobacco and health-care interests — funded the scholarships, which were meant to cover the costs of airfare and lodging to attend ALEC functions. The donations generally are not disclosed as lobbyist gifts, since ALEC has no registered lobbyist in Georgia.
Political career
First elected in 1992, Balfour is now the longest-serving Republican in the Senate. (A few Democrats who later switched parties were elected earlier than Balfour.) He’s drawn virtually no opposition in 20 years of elections but handily defeated Democratic challengers three times since 2004 and two Republican primary opponents in 2010. Balfour briefly entered the 7th District race for Congress in March 2010, then changed his mind and announced he was retiring from the Georgia Senate. A month later, he changed his mind again and sought re-election to his Senate seat. Before running for office, Balfour served as treasurer of Waffle House’s political action committee, WAFFLEPAC, which was dissolved by the Federal Election Commission in 1993.
https://www.opensecrets.org/
This happens all the time in government. From local to federal.
