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A Win- Win- Win- for Cash Strapped States


Tobacco Taxes: A Win-Win-Win for Cash-Strapped States

Report Released: February 10, 2010Click to Access Downloadable Report

Jump to download page Link to State Tax Report Press Release Jump to Poll Results Link to Executive Summary Link to Full Report on PDF Jump to download page Link to State Tax Report Press Release Jump to Appendices Jump to Poll Results Link to Executive Summary Link to Full Report on PDF

Tobacco taxes are a win-win-win for states facing budget shortfalls — a BUDGET WIN that will raise billions in revenue and help preserve essential services such as health care and education; a HEALTH WIN that will prevent kids from smoking and save lives; and a POLITICAL WIN that is popular with voters.

This report details the revenue and health benefits to each state of increasing its cigarette tax by $1 per pack, as well as the national benefits if every state took such action.

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Call Senate Democrats to pass the Public Option through reconciliation …


Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Good news! We beat our goal of 100,000 signatures telling Congress to pass a good health care bill — not just a “bipartisan” bill. We’re raising our goal to 150,000 signers by Thursday — can you sign? Click here.

— Stephanie Taylor, PCCC co-founder

Video of Ed Schultz & PCCC

Last night, we broke some news on MSNBC’s Ed Schultz show.

Our letter calling on Congress to pass the public option through “reconciliation” got two big new signers — Sen. Tim Johnson from conservative South Dakota and Sen. Debbie Stabenow from Michigan. This morning, Hawaii’s Daniel Inouye signed —

Unfortunately,  Maria Cantwell has said no

Ed Schultz told us: “Great work. Let’s keep it going — you’ve got the attention of the American people.”

**JohnBoehner has rsvp’d his invite stating he had no other choice but to accept an invite from the President, McConnell stated he will be there,bringing approx 7 others with him

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Bob Marshall – Resign Now! Petition …


To:  Commonwealth of Virginia residents

We, the undersigned, call on Representative Bob Marshall to issue a public apology for his offensive statements calling disabled children “God’s punishment.” We further expect and demand his resignation from public office since his beliefs do not represent the majority of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned <<<<click on the link and sign

~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Monday News and what’s on CSPAN today …


Monday…

The President will be on the air-waves this Monday morning to finally as reporters are probably saying, finally come out with his Plan, the one that should have happened when Obama first took office. I wonder what  cable, radio and other reporters, who probably up early; eagerly waiting to read the plan or already  reading the President’s Plan and ready to write their articles to disapprove of the President’s Plan, having decided to beat it down verbally before seeing it.

The Plan probably will not stray too far away from his original statements in 2009, we need to push our Congress to move any plan through so issues like abortion, education, energy, climate change can be dealt with.  Republicans have managed to waste time and by not getting the Peoples issues dealt with, should be held responsible.  Apparently, people like glennbeck got it; some Conservatives are now walking away from WBush, stating that big spending big govt happened, but if we get back into office we won’t do it again? How? i have been listening to both sides and have heard absolutely nothing different coming out of the mouths of Republicans, Conservatives and or the tea party movement that sounds anything different than the Bush Administration. We the People need to call your Senate Democrat and ask; whose side are you on? all Senate Democrats should realize 53% voted this President in and knew exactly what we did… We voted for change we can believe in, stop holding up our President’s ability to govern, stop being the obstructionists that are Republicans; the Democratic Political Party needs to come together… negotiate, support and pass the issues our President campaigned on Senate Democrats.

We pay Congress to create, make and pass laws; is it just me or are Senate Democrats at odds where the Presidents stands on possibly all the issues; maybe we would be further down the line  getting our economy fixed. My opinion is that the push toward letting the President use Executive Order to get things done is not in our best interest to have a President making laws that can simply be repealed if, and i say if he is not re-elected. I also feel that having Congress do what we all pay them for is just plain ole common-sense, tho if you take Even Bayh seriously, the job is just too damn hard and quitting seems more constructive. I hope this man does not plan to serve as a public servant again, he, like sarah palin is a quitter, if the issue or a problem cannot be solved easily,you fight, stand tall, you dont run, why chose to abandon the People who put you into office; had they known Senator Bayh was a quitter, they would not have voted for you…

Other Monday news …

** New Rules for Credit Cards start today …2/22/2010 check your statements closely from now on.

**Avandia, a drug used to combat diabetes has been found to have caused at least 80thou heart attacks, they hid the heart risks , Stop your family friends and loved ones from using this drug.

**The President’s Plan flips the Nelson pork by eliminating his get, giving the benefit to all States..

**Msnbc reports that PM Brown has been called out as a bully and now the authorities are getting involved, the charge first came from a reporter who has a book coming out.  He stands by his reports of  interviews from people who remain anonymous, the timing of these charges are now under investigation ,  as Elections are coming up.

**Zazi the key suspect in the NYC plane bomb plot will be pleading and getting a deal

and … What’s on CSPAN today …

Congressional Calendar for
Monday, February 22

The JOBS BILL

watch White House Press Briefing

**A vote on Cloture will occur…A vote to limit the debate and move forward on the Jobs Bill&Proposed Amendments was taken A2847, as changed by Senator Harry Reid, at least 2Republicans are needed to move forward,the bill includes highway funds,gov’t bonds, smaill biz tax incentives; in a vote of 62yeas and 30nays the motion was passed and agreed to.

57Senate Democrats and 5Senate Republicans voted yes to move forward

**HR4425, HR4238, HR526 debates for a vote to designate postal services buildings, wear Red day,Langston Golf course as historic landmarks, Eleanor Holmes gave a great schooling on why.

U.S. House:
  • Adjourned
U.S. Senate

Post Recession Economy topic of Governor Conference

On the last day of the 2010 National Governors Association (NGA) Winter Meeting, members discuss solutions to help states in the post recession economy. Alan Mulally, President & CEO of Ford Motor Company and Mark Zandi, Chief Economist and Co-Founder, Moody’s Economy.com handle the discussion.

watch On C-SPAN3 at 2:30pm ET
visit NGA website

Commission Examines Stabilization in Iraq and Afghanistan
Commission Examines Stabilization in Iraq and Afghanistan

The Commission on Wartime Contracting is meeting with policy experts to discuss reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The hearing is examining how contractors are cooperating with the Iraqi & Afghan governments while assessing the sustainability of potential projects.

President Preparing for Bipartisan Summit on Health care

This Thursday, President Obama will hold a bipartisan summit on health care at the White House. Today, the White House is expected to release its proposal for healthcare reform. This morning, the President will meet with Governors’ to discuss health care legislation.
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the President’s Plan … 2010


THE PRESIDENT’s PROPOSAL  puts AMERICANS FAMILIES and Small Business owners in control of their own HEALTH CARE

Over the past year the House and the Senate have been working on an effort to provide health insurance reform that lowers costs, guarantees choices, and enhances quality health care for all Americans. Building on that year-long effort, the President has now put forth a proposal that incorporates the work the House and the Senate have done and adds additional ideas from Republican members of Congress. The President has long said he is open to any good ideas for reforming our health care system, and he looks forward to discussing ideas for further improvements from Republicans and Democrats at an open, bipartisan meeting on Thursday.

The proposal will make health care more affordable, make health insurers more accountable, expand health coverage to all Americans, and make the health system sustainable, stabilizing family budgets, the Federal budget, and the economy:

  • It makes insurance more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today.  This helps over 31 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today – and makes coverage more affordable for many more.
  • It sets up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress will have.
  • It brings greater accountability to health care by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.
  • It will end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.
  • It puts our budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by $100 billion over the next ten years – and about $1 trillion over the second decade – by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.

Key Provisions in the President’s Proposal:

The President’s Proposal builds off of the legislation that passed the Senate and improves on it by bridging key differences between the House and the Senate as well as by incorporating Republican provisions that strengthen the proposal.

One key improvement, for example, is eliminating the Nebraska FMAP provision and providing significant additional Federal financing to all States for the expansion of Medicaid.  For America’s seniors, the proposal completely closes the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” coverage gap.  It strengthens the Senate bill’s provisions that make insurance affordable for individuals and families, while also strengthening the provisions to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid to save taxpayer dollars.  The threshold for the excise tax on the most expensive health plans will be raised from $23,000 for a family plan to $27,500 and will start in 2018 for all such plans.  And another important idea included is improving insurance protections for consumers and creating a new Health Insurance Rate Authority to review and rein in unreasonable rate increases and other unfair practices of insurance plans.

Summaries of Key Elements of the President’s Proposal: