It was an unvarnished attempt to influence their votes on one of the biggest issues of the 2007 Legislature, and sure enough, it worked. Recipients of all that largesse blocked every attempt to pass a cigarette tax that would have helped buy health insurance for needy children. Now the cash-strapped Oregon Republican Party has been rewarded for its loyalty. Tobacco giant Reynolds America recently gave $100,000 to Promote Oregon, the House Republicans political action committee, plus thousands More to GOP candidates in tough election contests. It's cash that rewards past performance while helping Big Tobacco ensure continued fealty in the 2009 Legislature when new calls for cigarette taxes are sure to be heard. This latest example of the pernicious influence of money in Salem is no shocking revelation. Sadly, it's just the way things work in the Legislature, and Democrats are just as guilty of accepting big handouts from labor unions and others whose agendas then miraculously receive the utmost attention. On both sides of the political aisle the same is true for the massive amounts of money pumped into campaign chests by business and industry groups, timber interests, beverage distributors, farmers, builders, developers and others. The big infusion of tobacco money, however, is different. These contributions are entirely legal, and they seek to protect products that are legal as well, but neither fact makes the acceptance of this money either honorable or wise. Memo to Oregon Republicans: Tobacco kills. And raising taxes on it is good public policy because it helps keep young people from getting addicted. Oregon physicians and nurses know this. So do the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and every children's advocacy group. All of these enlightened allies joined in support of legislative attempts to fund children's health care through a cigarette tax increase in 2007, but the Republican House minority, beholden to the tobacco industry, blocked those efforts at every turn. Finally, the Democratic majority referred it as a ballot measure, which had broad public support until the makers of Camels and Marlboros flooded the TV airwaves with $12 million in misleading negative ads. The Oregon Republican Party hit the financial skids early this year, facing More than a quarter-million dollars in debt and an IRS lien for failing to pay payroll taxes. The party dug its way out of that deep hole but still was barely solvent when the $100,000 infusion of tobacco money arrived Oct. 15. Perhaps there's no connection between the party's shaky fortunes and its willingness to dance to the tune of an unsavory piper like Big Tobacco. It's a possibility, however, that GOP leaders might want to consider.