Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech business and politics.

I'm Dan Pramak. On today's show, the infrastructure deal is still dead and what the end of Game of Thrones means for streaming TV services.

But first, the war on vaping. So earlier this week, Senators Mitch McConnell and Tim Cain introduced new legislation to

raise the tobacco purchasing age from 18 to 21. It's something that's already the law in many

states, but this would be a federal rule and is notable for several reasons. First, these guys

don't agree on much of anything else. McConnell is the Republican Senate majority leader. Kane

was Hillary Clinton's running mate. Second, both senators are from states, Kentucky and Virginia, that grow a lot of tobacco.

And for example, in Kentucky, the stuff is grown in 119 of the state's 120 counties.

But McConnell and Kane introduced the bill anyway, in part because of their concerns about the

increase in vaping by teenagers, many of whom don't

realize that certain popular vaping pods contain more nicotine than do typical cigarettes.

Moreover, research has shown that non-smoker teens who vape are more likely to eventually

take up traditional smoking than are non-smoking teens who don't vape. Yep, it's a gateway

smoke. Now, all of this comes

after a year in which federal regulators have put in new rules on vaping companies, including

restrictions on retail sales of fruit-flavored products that were most popular among teenagers.

It was also a year in which the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, a company called Altria,

paid over $12 billion for an ownership stake in Jewel,

thus making the bond between e-cigarette and traditional cigarettes even stronger.

The bottom line, vaping has created some very strange bedfellows, both in politics and in business.

And for Americans, their health and liberty hangs in the balance.

In 15 seconds, we'll go deeper with former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. But first, this. There is more news out there than ever before,

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