About Us

StatesOnTheTake.com highlights these state government big business “Stealth Cartels” through a number of methods both through this website and beyond, including:

• An active and ongoing media contact campaign including timely press releases to better inform you – and update the media on the current state of the ongoing struggle of free-market consumers and independent business people against the conspiracy of the state government/MSA stealth cartel;

• An active and ongoing media contact campaign by States on the Take founder, S. George Alfonso, including on-air and press interviews;

• Extensive networking with like-minded individuals, companies and think tanks;

• Publishing of the following:
• Op/Ed pieces regarding the ongoing MSA litigation across the country,
• Legal analysis and reviews of the ongoing MSA litigation across the country;

"Exhibit A of the Stealth Cartel Partnerships"

"The Big Tobacco Settlement"

Big Tobacco has gone beyond wining and dining your elected officials,
Now they’re in bed together - -
and guess who’s getting screwed?!

The Stealth Cartel that Defeats the Free Market: Your state government is working hand-in-hand with Big Tobacco, through the conspiracy of the stealth partnership cleverly misnamed as the Master Settlement Agreement (“MSA”).

The Attempted Justification for the Creation of the MSA: Big Tobacco negotiated the MSA with the Attorneys’ General of the 46 states, in an attempt to stop the numerous cases of tobacco litigation which were being filed in the 1990s in states across the country, against Big Tobacco, seeking damages for Big Tobacco’s prior knowledge, acts and omissions regarding the danger of cigarette smoking.  Under the Big Tobacco Settlement (MSA), in exchange for a prohibition on smoking-related lawsuits, each participating state would receive annually, a direct payment from Big Tobacco representing a percent of their sales for the previous year.

The Reality of the MSA: What Big Tobacco and the Attorneys General actually created was not a “settlement” at all, but a conspiracy to establish an ongoing partnership between each of the 46 state governments and Big Tobacco, in that as Big Tobacco sales go – so goes the amount of the checks paid to each participating state governments.

The Collective Goal of this Stealth Cartel: This state government-Big Tobacco partnership is in reality, a Quiet Cartel, designed to create a de-facto monopoly for Big Tobacco to insure ever-spiraling sales (and ever-increasing rewards in the payments to the states each year) by destroying any and all independent competition or Citizen Consumer choice across the country and in your state.

How Big Tobacco Competes in the Free Market – by Destroying It: Immediately after signing the MSA, and in order to recoup all of the money which it projected would be paid to the states under the MSA (and then some) Big Tobacco raised their prices across the board.  These price increases caused an unforeseen chain reaction in that, rather than pay the inflated prices of Big Tobacco, Citizen Consumers decided to purchase less expensive, independent/smaller company cigarettes.

The direct result of this decrease in Big Tobacco sales (and related increase in independent/small company sales), were substantial reductions in the amounts paid to the MSA states – as noted in the Confidential Memo (linked on our home page).  Rather than accept the challenge of the free market and lower their prices in order to compete against these independent/small manufacturers/distributors, Big Tobacco and your elected officials chose to commence a conspiracy of silence by instituting a stealth campaign that is offensive and contrary to free-enterprise, the American Dream and the very foundation of our country’s government “By the People, for the People and of the People.”

Government – By the Elite Corporations, for the Elite Corporations and of the Elite Corporations:
The 46 Governors and Attorneys General, co-conspirators in the MSA with Big Tobacco, now seek to redo the deal, as well as change the laws of their states, in order to further tilt the market to benefit your state government’s partner, Big Tobacco, and further disadvantage the numerous independent small business, wholesale and retail tobacco companies, as well as any and all Citizen Consumers, by further limiting your options in what was once, the free market. These independent small business wholesalers and retailers, known as “Non-Participating Members” (“NPMs”), while required to abide by the terms of the MSA, were completely excluded from the negotiations between Big Tobacco and your state government, and the drafting of the MSA.

The National Association of Attorneys’ General (“NAAG”): The Guiding Hand of Enforcement for your State Government and Big Tobacco Interests: The National Association of Attorneys General (“NAAG”) is the organization that seeks to coordinate the MSA conspiracy between your state government and their Big Tobacco partners, in order to secure the illegitimate desired outcome of this sponsored State Government-Big Tobacco partnership; that being a de-facto monopoly that the free market would not otherwise support.

Just as with each of the 46 state partners under the MSA conspiracy, NAAG itself stands to benefit monetarily by a huge measure, should this covert attempt to sabotage the free-market economy and establish a Big Tobacco de-facto monopoly actual occur. ((Insert MSA clause here))

The “Confidential” National Association of Attorneys’ General Memo: The “Memo” link on our home page to the complete NAAG “Confidential” Memo from September 12th, 2003, which was intended only for the Attorneys General of MSA states. This “Confidential” Memo makes readily apparent the recommended course of interference and harassment of the independent small business NPMs, as outlined below:

[The increase in NPMs market share] underscore the urgency of all States taking steps to deal with the proliferation of NPM sales, including enactment of complimentary legislation and allocable share legislation and consideration of other measures designed to serve the interests of the States in avoiding reductions in tobacco settlement payments.

This “Confidential” NAAG Memo specifically cites the states’ loss of projected income as a result of the independent small business NPM increase of market share (read - - decline in Big Tobacco) as the reason by which the States’ Attorneys’ General should act. The Memo’s euphemistic language of “complimentary legislation and allocable share legislation,” as well as the “consideration of other measures designed to serve the interest of the States (read the interests of the states and their stealth partners - Big Tobacco and NAAG) is a thinly veiled description of the planned harassing legislation and collusion which NAAG now deems necessary in order to alter and pervert the free market.

This “Confidential” memo, establishes that NAAG, on behalf of the states of the state governments, is working hand-in-hand with Big Tobacco, with the goal to harness the states’ sovereign authority in order to create an environment of economic pressure and hostility towards the independent small businesses and Citizen Consumers.

The goal for the MSA conspiracy and this stealth cartel in particular, is clear - to drastically reduce and ultimately extinguish the legitimate market share which has, over the past two years, been secured by the small – independent NPM/NPM distributor due to the Citizen Consumer’s demand for reasonably priced products; a demand which was directly due to the substantial price hikes undertaken by Big Tobacco, immediately after the implementation of the MSA conspiracy.

The program to strengthen the MSA conspiracy is evidenced by intimidation, harassment, interference and obstruction of the free market by your state government on behalf of their comrades in collusion, including such actions as legislation and specific tax policies intended to interfere with and degrade the independent business’s ability to compete and the Citizen Consumer their right of choice.