My first reaction was $32 million? Only $32 million? Haven't these people gotten the memo that only really big numbers escape public scrutiny? Then I did the math and sixty cents a pack is more like one billion dollars a year. Still chump change by modern congressional standards but at $10 per household a year at least worth mentioning.

Oh, and as the article points out it would expand the SCHIP "poverty" healthcare program to include households that make three times the poverty level*. With that kind of scope creep the program might require a full billion after all.

(hat tip to bobsalive)

* The poverty level is defined as $10k/year for an individual and $20k for a family. A McJob pays $20k/year and a secretary makes over $30k with benefits (I oughta know - in a much younger incarnation I was one).