We all know the system is rotten. Rotten to the core, in fact. As kids, we learned about the American political system, and how Congress passes bills and the President signs them into law, and the cartoons or examples provided to us showed concerned citizens speaking to their representatives in government in order to get a law passed. Representative democracy.

But the truth is far different. No one told us about lobbyists, the people who meet with government officials in order to get laws passed favorable to their corporate clients. No one told us about campaign contributions, which serve as legalized bribes when large donors spend a fortune to get certain politicians elected. And no one told us that the government sometimes passes laws that place profits over people.

The New York Times today provides a glimpse into this rotten process. Congress is regulating the tobacco industry.According to the paper, "The legislation, which would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to oversee tobacco products, would try to reduce smoking’s allure to young people by banning most flavored cigarettes, including clove and cinnamon."

But there is a catch. Not all flavored cigarettes will be regulated under this law. Menthol cigarettes fit inside that loophole. According to the Times, "Menthol masks the harsh taste of cigarettes for beginners and may make it harder for the addicted to kick the smoking habit. For years, public health authorities have worried that menthol might be a factor in high cancer rates in African-Americans."

So what's the point in exempting menthol cigarettes from the new regulations? They are too profitable to regulate them. Get this:

The reason menthol is seen as politically off limits, despite those concerns, is that mentholated brands are so crucial to the American cigarette industry. They make up more than one-fourth of the $70 billion American cigarette market and are becoming increasingly important to the industry leader, Philip Morris USA, without whose lobbying support the legislation might have no chance of passage.

“I would have been in favor of banning menthol,” said Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, who supports the bill. “But as a practical matter that simply wasn’t doable.”

In other words, profit over people. If menthol makes the cigarettes taste better and it therefore induces more people to take up and continue smoking, it would be an easy target for government regulation. But its too profitable for the tobacco industry to regulate. So menthol stays.