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.
Team USA .. played and out scored the Canuks in a win for Team USA 5-3, it was obvious Miller, the goaly was truly the msvp of the evening, blocking over 40 shots from Canada. It’s well known that Team USA has quite a few young players and was not expect to win tonight. In the last 4minutes Canada managed to score but it just wasn’t enough for the night game. The rink was very quiet as Team USA celebrated on the ice. This is just one more game toward the gold, woo hoo Team USA.
Washington State News …For years, federal law at National Parks allowed people to bring in unloaded weapons as long as they were stowed away. But starting Monday, that will change. Now anyone with a legal permit can bring in a loaded gun, concealed or otherwise, as long as it concurs with state laws.For years, federal law at National Parks allowed people to bring in unloaded weapons as long as they were stowed away. But starting Monday, that will change. Now anyone with a legal permit can bring in a loaded gun, concealed or otherwise, as long as it concurs with state laws.For years, federal law at National Parks allowed people to bring in unloaded weapons as long as they were stowed away. But starting Monday, that will change. Now anyone with a legal permit can bring in a loaded gun, concealed or otherwise, as long as it concurs with state laws/by ROBERTA ROMERO / KING 5 News.
Point/Pounterpoint: This news is very disappointing; only time will tell what impact this decision will have on the people using our Great Parks here in Washington State …
Bills would make it easier to force mentally ill into care.
Washington State … complete article on seattletimes.nwsource.com
Legislation before a state Senate committee would make it easier to commit and treat potentially dangerous mentally ill people under the controversial Involuntary Treatment Act.
news of Republican Senator Mitch McConnell still …trying to deny that Republicans are engaging in the art of obstructionist behavior on the Foxnews Sunday interview; i’d say he is well seasoned at what he does and practices obstructing quite often
…and
Terry Moran of ABC news interviewed Governor Schwarzenegger of California, who calls out the GOP for stating the stimulus money didn’t create jobs; as stated by our President and some reporters the GOP not only spent the money given to them; they went to ribbon cuttings, handed out some giant checks, took credit for it and some even went back for more. I find it disturbing that so many people are so willing to condemn the so-called back room deals Democrats did for Jobs and HCR when the Political Party of NO 110 of them have kept THEIR STIMULUS Money SPENDING a SECRET ; where is the outrage? It’s even more of an outrage to me that mainstream tv stations and cable news have conveniently avoided reporting the Republican Hypocrisy until people like Rachel Maddow and Keith Oberlmann actually showed pictures of various Republicans in action, such as: Gov Bobby Jindal, Eric Cantor, Kit Bond, mike Castle, Mark Kirk, John Boehner
Apparently, Gov Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania stated that President Obama botched the Stimulus Sales Job; Appearing on ABC’s This Week; Huffington Post reports that the Pennsylvania Democrat said it was ironic that “the best communicator in the history of political campaigning turned out in his first year in office to not communicate very well.” He was referring, specifically, to what went wrong when it came to selling the president’s stimulus package … read more on Huffingtonpost.com
Some online reporters say they have low expectations on whatever will come out of the health-care summit; though the summit has yet to meet; everyone has a right to their opinion but it seems a bit cynical to be a naysayer before the fact, though it probably will likely get them more viewers; especially if they do a lot of cable and get paid; people need the facts not a whole lot of speculation and last, the tea party movement is discussed and analyzed further by R rep Tom Price.
Sec. of Education addresses Governors at Winter Meeting
Sec. of Education Arne Duncan will address education policy in the Obama Administration at the afternoon session of the Governors Conference. This year’s meeting is also focusing on health care issues facing the states and the morning plenary session will discuss health care and the economy.
Health care and tea party movement focus of Newsmakers
This week on Newsmakers, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) will discuss the upcoming health care summit and the his party’s perspective on health reform. He is a former orthopedic doctor. Rep. Price will also address the influence that the tea party movement has had on the GOP.
listening to various Media whine, cry and complain about not getting access to Tiger, well, they need him more than he needs them. The only news you can find this early Friday morning seems to be Tiger Woods, the Media keeps throwing stones, badgering his family, follow his wife around, call him names, judge him and still say he owes the people and the Media even after the Press conference. I say BS, the only people who truly care is in fact the Media, contrary to what the Media states, the general public have lives to live and would like to be informed about more important issues in the news. The Media wants him to speak again, stating Tiger’s choice of no questions was phony, scripted and continue to verbally abuse him, it’s damned if you do damned if you don’t. So, it’s the Media vs. Tiger, is it just me or is the Media just flying off the edge of verbal insanity? MSNBC did an interview with Buzz from VanityFair, first of all. He and his magazine have questionable behavior when it comes to people of colour. I just recently decided to boycott this mag, hearing him say Tiger deceived us; come on, it’s magazines like his and the Media who put Tiger on a pedestal, unfortunately people believed mags like VanityFair, shame on him and others in the Media who have put such an importance on Tiger, it’s pretty obvious that it has probably cost his magazine money as maybe a couple of stocks associated with Tiger, get over it; not once did he talk of Tiger’s family, the kids and how that was the most important thing, even the jerk on Cnn, waiting for Tiger’s statement sounded like he had stones ready to throw …still? The Media needs to stop pushing their personal ideals on the public. Tiger gave his speech though many are still bashing him and will continue to do so. I am glad he controlled what the Media got and hopefully Tiger, his cubs and wife will bounce back. So, my advice to the Media? It’s over done…move on. It would be nice to see more on Haiti, that Public Option is still alive and why it will help all Americans… facts over fiction or gossip from the Media would be nice.
and while Tiger is on every single station …
The President is stumping for Senator Reid as well as providing great information on what needs to be done to get America back on track; gotta say this guy, Reid has been a tough character, has devoted his entire life to politics and with all of his controversy he seems like someone we need in the Senate; the town hall mtg should give people a better view of Senator Reid and make the right choice, we need democrats to correct what the house of Bush did …
So, does Iran have nukes? Reports say there was some knowledge of something going on in 2007, maybe even before that, ok, so why didn’t the house of Bush do something about it then? Why did the Bush admin let it slide? here we are, it’s 2010 and the deception by Iran about how close they are to nuke power seems like such a surprise now, really? … or did the last admin just ignore the warnings? just one of many issues left by the last admin for President Obama to clean up and with possible sanctions coming to Iran, which, btw includes other countries cooperating with each other; definitely a big difference from the last admin… cooperation… novel idea right?
and other stuff in the news …
**Olympia Washington’s Mayor Pro Tem Joe Hyer has decided to take a leave of absence amid allegations of drug trafficking. But local Republicans insist he should resign.
**Tim Pawleny said at CPAC “let’s get the 9iron, like TWood’s wife and smash the windows of gov’t, i kind of wonder if there was more to his comment than meets the eye, just askin
**CPAC … We all need to see and hear what these people are up to-watch for yourself the 2/18/2010 and 2/19/2010 sessions below
Senator Michael Bennet just announced a letter to Senator Harry Reid, asking him to pass the public option through reconciliation, which only needs 51 votes in the Senate. Senators Sherrod Brown, Jeff Merkley, and Kirsten Gillibrand have already co-signed it — and over 100 House Democrats and 300,000 Americans have signed on in support of this strategy.
Boom! In one day — after 10,000 phone calls to Congress — we doubled the number of senators who signed the letter calling on Harry Reid to pass the public option through “reconciliation.”
Al Franken (MN), Patrick Leahy (VT), John Kerry (MA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) all stepped up.
P.S. CNN described the impact of this campaign:
The fight over health care reform burst back into public view Tuesday as four Democratic senators asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to hold a vote on a government-run public insurance option.
Politico added:
[Sen. Mike] Bennet took the lead in the Senate to round up co-signers for the letter, which was spearheaded by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America and Credo Action. A similar effort in the House netted 119 signers to a letter.
Call your Senator today and ask them to co-sign Senator Bennet’s letter asking Harry Reid to pass the public option through reconciliation—
The vital public services — and AFSCME jobs — that make America happen are on the chopping block as state and local governments face unprecedented budget shortfalls — right when these very services and jobs are needed most.
Our communities simply can’t afford to lose these jobs and crucial services that we provide Please join me and thousands of other AFSCME members: tell Congress to pass a jobs bill now and protect America’s workers.
TAKE ACTION: Tell your legislators and governor to
The Hill: Low expectations on health summit 
NGA, Starting Shortly on C-SPAN
NGA website
Be a Seed for Change 
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