http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/elections.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.clintonherald.com/local/local_story_185203135.html http://tobacco.org/news/268304.html The Clinton Organized Bar and Restaurant Association and the Iowa Bar Owners Coalition have filed a lawsuit in an effort to get the statewide smoking ban overturned. The lawsuit includes a petition for an immediate injunction, asking the court to put a halt on the smoking ban until a ruling can be made on the law's constitutionality. "It's been our belief from the get-go that this law is unconstitutional," said Jon Van Roekel, president of COBRA. "It's blatant discrimination against smokers and it's a property rights issue." The petition was filed Tuesday evening in Polk County District Court in Des Moines. . . . Van Roekel said COBRA and IBOC leaders are in the process of hiring a public relations firm out of Washington, D.C., to coordinate the release of information relating to court proceedings. He said the firm also will be responsible for contacting organizations to join in the lawsuit and injunction request as they too will be affected by the court's decision. . . . "From the start, it's just been a complete debacle. They needed to be clear, explain what the rules are, how to enforce them, how to handle complaints, who to contact. First, the Iowa Department of Public Health was to enforce this. Then the local police, then it was self-enforcement. Clinton Herald Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/bill-barack-smo.html http://tobacco.org/news/268252.html Looking at old transcripts of debate in the Illinois state senate, a colleague turns up this nugget in the midst of a speech by state senator Barack Obama -- a speech where Obama said he “probably would not have supported the federal [welfare] legislation” signed by President Clinton. “I was outside late at night. I confess I was smoking a cigar; my wife doesn’t let smoke inside,” Obama said. Obama has quit his cigarette habit. But might stogies be on the menu when 42 and the would-be 44 break bread? ABC News Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obit-Helms.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=tobacco&st=nyt&oref=slogin http://tobacco.org/news/268251.html Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July. . . . Helms served as chairman of the Agriculture Committee and Foreign Relations Committees over the years at times when the GOP held the Senate majority, using his posts to protect his state's tobacco growers and other farmers and place his stamp on foreign policy. AP Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/OPINION01/807020303/1014/OPINION http://tobacco.org/news/268245.html Let's preface this column with one clear-as-glass observation: Gov. Haley Barbour's die-in-the-ditch opposition to a cigarette tax increase as part of an overall Medicaid funding solution is one that is irrational both from public policy and political standpoints. Barbour's unwavering protection of Big Tobacco from fair taxation throughout his tenure as governor - and the decision of Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and other Republicans in the Legislature to stand dutifully by and let him do it - will likely cost the GOP in the future. But that said, House Democrats hung their hats on two pegs in the ongoing Medicaid fight and neither of them are currently viable options to fund Medicaid in either the short or long term. . . . The criticism Barbour is receiving is justified criticism of his own making. But until the Legislature can kick their "one-time money" addiction for Medicaid funding, Barbour still holds the fiscal high ground on this issue - even while continuing to shield Big Tobacco. Hattiesburg American Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=206858&section=Opinion&freebie_check&CFID=53364279&CFTOKEN=33530409&jsessionid=8830844571737c2c3a34 http://tobacco.org/news/268224.html Here we go again. The anti-smoking cartel is 100 percent publicly funded, according to Archie Anderson (letter, June 27). Excuse me, but it was the public that loudly stated in their vote, “no smoking.” . . . How many times do we have to say it? No smoking. Fargo In-Forum Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080630/EDIT01/806300325 http://tobacco.org/news/268018.html An effort to clear the air, or to suck the air out of Ohio's smoking ban? That's the question that surrounds a bill proposed by area lawmakers to lighten up Ohio's smoke-free law. Worried about its effect on bars, private clubs and other businesses, Sen. Bob Schuler has introduced legislation he says will spell out exemptions . . . There has been no mass outcry by voters that their intent was misinterpreted or that the ban has gone beyond their intentions. And while Seitz refers to the original legislation as "draconian," many Ohio residents consider it responsible and forward-thinking. Clearing up some of the exemption language in the ban is not a bad idea. But doing it with legislation that undercuts the heart of Ohioans' intentions is over-reaching and duplicitous. Cincinnati Enquirer letters@enquirer.com Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.madison.com/tct/news//294161 http://tobacco.org/news/267959.html The Tavern League and its allies won a major battle this spring when a statewide smoking ban was kept from coming to a vote in the state Legislature. But even that victory appears to be temporary, as smoking ban proponents are expected to bring the issue back following the November elections. In the meantime, municipalities from around the state have taken up the battle. Encouraged by polls that show widespread support for public smoking bans -- 69 percent statewide and a whopping 85 percent in the Madison area -- local bans are in the works around the state. A smoking ban went into effect Tuesday in Eau Claire. Closer to home, Monona is set to go smoke-free in June 2009, and Middleton is debating whether to initiate a ban in September or hold off until later. Dane County also is considering a measure to ban smoking in the county's towns. Such bans would join those already in place in Madison and Fitchburg. It's a piecemeal approach to an emotionally charged issue. The patchwork bans are not favored by anyone on either side, but it is the only alternative in the wake of legislative inactivity. Capital Times dpunzel@madison.com (Dennis Punzel -- 7/02/2008 5:33 am ) Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ddtonline.com/articles/2008/06/30/news/editorials/edit2.txt http://tobacco.org/news/267889.html Barbour denied House Speaker Billy McCoy's request to consider funding the $90 million Medicaid shortfall with a higher cigarette tax. Barbour warned that if the House does not approve his plan in a special session that begins today, which would fill the deficit by taxing hospitals, he will have to make more than $300 million in cuts to the program. The governor's plan will cost the Mississippi Delta hundreds of jobs and millions in lost revenue. But it still raises the question of why Barbour seems to ignore most, if not all, of the needs of the Delta while paying special attention to the rest of the state. One thought is that Barbour is planning a run for president in 2012 and if he can show that Mississippi is on the rise economically, then he is conservative enough to beat Barack Obama. Delta Democrat Times ddtnews@ddtonline.com Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://newsok.com/cigarette-exposure-kills-700-oklahomans-every-year-officials-say./article/3262830 http://tobacco.org/news/267843.html While Oklahomans are now smoking 49.3 million fewer packs of cigarettes than four years ago, the secondhand smoke from those cigarettes causes numerous health hazards and kills about 700 Oklahomans a year, health authorities said Thursday. "We need to make Oklahoma 100 percent smoke-free,” Wes Glinsmann, spokesman for the American Heart Association, said at a state Capitol news conference. Officials there urged state leaders to close loopholes and exemptions on smoking in places such as restaurants, hotels, bars and bingo halls. Nonsmokers outnumber smokers in Oklahoma about 2 million to 650,000, or 3 to 1, according to state Health Department data. The Oklahoman Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.freedom2choose.info/news1.php?id=726 http://tobacco.org/news/267742.html Freedom2Choose applauds you for your principled stand on the issue of 'Big Brother Britain'. In forcing the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, you have given a voice to the millions of ordinary people who share your concerns about detention without charge, security cameras, ID cards, data protection, prying councils, intrusive, petty legislation and all the other tools of an increasingly authoritarian and dictatorial state. Your position in favour of the smoking ban was demonstrated by your decision to go against the Conservative party line by voting for it. We at Freedom2Choose would like to present you with the following ten reasons why you might like to reconsider that position. 1. We instinctively ally ourselves with other libertarian organisations and, in fact, co-founded The International Coalition Against Prohibition (TICAP) in May 2008. This was established in response to global concerns about the damage to national interests caused by prohibitive legislation. . . . "The history of the struggle against tyrants has been frequently inseparable from that of the struggle on behalf of the freedom to smoke." http://www.reason.com/news/show/29471.html Smoking bans are the point at which the Nanny State becomes the Police State. Freedom2choose.co.uk UK Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-23-2008/0004837221&EDATE= http://tobacco.org/news/267694.html The following open letter to Senator Barack Obama was published in Sunday's Chicago Tribune. . . . Dear Sen. Obama, I viewed with great interest your recent comments about your struggle to quit smoking. As a professor of medicine with a long-term research program focused on tobacco use and its consequences, I strongly believe that your discomfort is entirely unnecessary; your dependency on cigarettes can readily be resolved. . . . Statistically, smokeless users have about the same risk of dying from mouth cancer as automobile users have of dying in a car wreck. In fact, switching from cigarettes to smokeless provides almost all of the health benefits of complete tobacco abstinence. Substituting satisfying and vastly safer sources of nicotine for cigarettes is called "tobacco harm reduction." . . . Senator, your genuine desire to quit tobacco altogether is commendable. But if you find this goal unachievable, like millions of inveterate smokers, I urge you to switch to smokeless tobacco for your physical and emotional well-being. In doing so, you can provide inspiration for American smokers, and you can effect a profound positive change in the nation's public health. Yes, you can. PR Newswire Brad.Rodu@louisville.edu (SOURCE Dr. Brad Rodu) Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cigar25-2008jun25,0,4096689.story?track=rss http://tobacco.org/news/267680.html Boris Johnson, a former journalist, gives police the item, which had belonged to Iraqi official Tarik Aziz. Johnson blames political opponents for launching an "idiotic" probe. Los Angeles Times kim.murphy@latimes.com (Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer) UK Iraq Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/dennert/archives/2008/06/a-letter-from-t.html http://tobacco.org/news/267584.html I don't know the full background and the reasons that Bob Larkin doesn't support the Ventura County Republican Central Committee ( VCRCC ) leadership but I do remember it was motivating enough for him to run against Audra Strickland in a primary even though she was a Republican incumbent. . . . Here is his full letter: Tobacco exacts high toll Re: your June 8 article, "Tobacco firm funds county GOP": As a 30-year member and past chairman of the Ventura County Republican Party, I was disappointed to hear that after two decades of Ventura being a Republican county, Democrats now outnumber Republicans in registered voters . . . Just when I thought I couldn't hear worse news, I learned that 88 percent of the funds the Ventura County Republican Party has on hand came from one tobacco company, primarily to support Tony Strickland for the California Senate. Local Republicans should not accept money from the manufacturer of a product that kills upwards of a half million people in the United States every year and hundreds of millions worldwide. I have six personal reasons why the very idea disgusts me: Ventura County Star blogs briandennert@yahoo.com ( Brian Dennert here) Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/nyregion/25bruno.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=tobacco&st=nyt&oref=slogin http://tobacco.org/news/267582.html Like any good showman, Joseph L. Bruno knows how to leave his audience wanting more. . .. Mr. Bruno also had a sentimental streak that occasionally inflected his political stances, including on health issues. In the late 1990s, for example, Mr. Bruno helped write legislation that used a portion of the state's settlement from a national tobacco lawsuit to offer more health care to the uninsured. At the time, Mr. Bruno said he was motivated in part by his mother's death after a botched operation. New York Times Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://rawstory.com/news/2008/How_Bush_US_attorney_riddled_with_0401.html http://tobacco.org/news/267556.html In neighboring Mississippi, meanwhile, the tobacco suit had produced several extremely wealthy trial lawyers, who became major funders of the local Democratic Party. In 2003, a Bush-appointed US Attorney, Dunnica Lampton (above right), brought federal charges against one of those lawyers, plaintiff’s attorney Paul Minor, alleging that he had bribed a Mississippi Supreme Court Justice, Judge Oliver E. Diaz, Jr. Just as in the case of Governor Don Siegelman in Alabama, when the first trial of Diaz failed to produce the desired result of removing him from his elected seat in 2005, fresh charges were brought almost immediately. . . . Paul Minor was a prominent Mississippi trial lawyer whose firm made more than $70 million in the late 1990's from the state's tobacco lawsuit settlement. He was also a generous donor to Democratic candidates, contributing more than $500,000 between 1996 and 2003. It was partly because of the 1997 tobacco settlement that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent over a million dollars in 2000 to help elect pro-business judges to the Mississippi Supreme Court, in an attempt to follow the pattern set by the Republican takeover of the Alabama Supreme court led by Karl Rove and William Canary in the 1990’s. Raw Story larisa@rawstory.com (Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane) Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT