Foot-Fish and Phillip Morris

As Charlie 'splained this morning, it's very dangerous to get between a protected class and its money.

The fish at Mayfair Mall were continuing to chew on toes Wednesday, but that may end soon, a state official said.

"The position of the department is that fish pedicures are not legal," said David Carlson, communications officer for the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing.

Carlson said the inspector would determine whether the Doctor Fish shop at Mayfair was in violation of the department's rules for pedicures, or violating any other health standards. Sanitation is the concern, he said.

Practitioners who are licensed to offer manicures and pedicures are required to sanitize equipment for each customer, among other things

"Licensed" pedicurists, having invested long years in training and millions in equipment (/sarcasm) are not about to let some entrepreneur go fishing in THEIR pond. Nosirreee!!

Same game, different players (and a helluvalot more money):

As Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., push bills this spring to heighten federal regulation of tobacco, expect newspapers to present “both sides” of the story by quoting cigarette giant RJ Reynolds opposite a group like Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids — painting the kind of industry-versus-do-gooder picture that characterizes coverage of most regulatory battles.

But, as usual, that picture is false. The most important ally of the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” is Philip Morris, the largest cigarette maker in the world

...Philip Morris stands to benefit from this regulation in many ways. First, all regulation adds to overhead, and thus falls more heavily on smaller firms. Second, restrictions on advertising help Philip Morris’ Marlboro, a brand everyone already knows, by keeping lesser-known brands in the shadows

Finally, if the bill passes and the FDA gets added control over the industry, Philip Morris, more than any of its competitors, will have access to those bureaucrats and agency heads making the decisions.

Phillip Morris/Altria is posing for holy pictures while making certain that THEIR cashflow does not suffer interruption from entrepreneurs.

How much money? Calculate this, sucka:

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids ramped up its lobbying last year, spending $719,000. That’s about as much as Altria spent on lobbying every three weeks last year

A LOT of money.