Abby Blunt Shifts Her Focus From Cancer Sticks To Cookies

Abby Blunt is in the news again, this time in a Chicago Tribune story headlined, "Craving the Cookie."   (Note:  That's the headline they put on the story, not me.)

Abby, wife of Rep. Roy Blunt (R-K Street), and a lobbyist for Altria, has shifted her lobbying focus from cigarettes to cookies.  Altria is the parent company for cigarette maker Phillip Morris.

In the last year, Kraft also has beefed up its efforts in Washington, assigning one of Altria's top tobacco lobbyists--Abigail Blunt, wife of House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)--to focus on food issues.

She was one of five Altria tobacco lobbyists who lobbied Congress last year on the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act, according to federal disclosure records. Better known as the cheeseburger bill, the legislation would shield food companies from lawsuits brought by people who blamed corporations for their obesity.

Abby and Roy were previously embroiled in controversy when just after attaining his leadership post (scroll down), Roy slipped a special provision into the Homeland Security bill that directly benefitted Phillip Morris.  Abby and Roy were personally involved at the time, but not yet married.

The outcry was so severe, even from Republicans, that the provision benefitting PM was later removed.