The Obama Administration continues to insist, all Congressional evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, that Uncle Sam has no interest in running the U.S. auto industry. About the tobacco industry there is no such Washington scruple on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

President Obama is poised to sign a bill passed by Congress this week that authorizes the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products for the first time. The legislation would allow the FDA to reduce tar and nicotine in cigarettes, ban certain...