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Tobacco use and obesity cost Oregonians neary $3 billion every in medical costs and lost productivity.  Tobacco alone causes 22 percent of all deaths in Oregon -- more than alcohol, car crashes, illegal drug use, combined! In fact, if all these costs were added up to each pack of cigarettes, smokers would have to pay more than $11 per pack. 

These are relatively easy steps the legislature can take to begin addressing these problems:  let people know how many calories they are eating, and encourage them to quit smoking by raising the tobacco tax (it is well know that for every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes, consumption drops by abour 4-5 percent.  Calorie labeling is based on the idea that people need information to make "responsible personal choices."  And by raising tobacco taxes, people will have a real choice: pay the true cost of tobacco or quit. 

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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So, is this what we'll tell the rest of the nation, a nation that doesn't quite think in such tolerant terms and is less willing to submit itself to new experiences -- diversity being a new experience for much of the country (see Kentucky, West Virginia.) (I know you're probably saying: "those are the states Hillary won." Yeah, sure. Among Democrats. What about the really conservative segments of the population there?) Are we going to tell foreign leaders that we have a new way to conduct diplomacy because we're no longer following the "unspoken white male interaction rules." Please, let's be realistic here. This is big time politics, not your local Portland city race. What you suggest makes absolutely no sense.

On the other hand, I am amazed that suddenly we should give Hillary a pass because she's expressing herself outside the "rules" you mention. She spent the last 5 months attacking Obama like any other regular white male politician.

posted 4 years, 11 months ago
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I think the division, anger and resentment in the Clinton campaign and among its supporters is the greatest threat to the Democrats. Time is of the essence here because the longer Hillary waits to concede and campaign for Obama the harder it will be to address the disappointment and resentment to quell before the elections. Hillary must also placate the call to take the fight to Denver, lest the divisions on the street fracture the party in Denver.

Here's a brief open letter to Sen. Clinton I posted on her website this mornign.

Sen. Clinton,

Please stop running now. You tried to change the rules in the middle of the game and that didn't work. You tried negative ads and other Republican tactics and that didn't work. You fudge the popular vote to claim you had the most votes, and that didn't work. You have lost this primary. It's over. And the lack of graciousness with which you left all Democrats hanging last night made it all the more obvious that you are in it for yourself, not for the country. Please, give this up and get on the campaign trail for Obama. We need to win this. A McCain win will really break our hearts -- if your supporters think their hearts hurt now, imagine the pain we will all feel if McCain wins.

posted 4 years, 11 months ago
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