Lance Armstrong Endorses Oregon’s Ballot Measure 50
Live well, and live strong
MY VIEW • Saturday’s challenge aims at saving 1,500 lives daily
By Lance Armstrong
Boys and Girls Aid Society
… Oregon is one state leading the way, with its ballot measure to increase cigarette taxes in support of the Healthy Kids initiative that would help Oregon children gain access to doctors, medicine and much-needed prevention and treatment services.
The plan also will encourage current smokers to quit, while discouraging potential smokers – most often young people – from ever starting the deadly habit.
Policymakers and policies are only as effective as the citizens they govern; it is up to us to stand up and support laws and regulations that we know will benefit us and our communities. More…
Posted on September 28, 2007
Cigarette makers issue a blank check to their hired guns in a big-bucks effort to defeat Oregon’s Healthy Kids Plan
Hold your noses, Oregonians.
Big Tobacco’s campaign against uninsured children in Oregon is turning from merely smelly to downright malodorous.
Two weeks ago the industry launched a $4.5 million TV and radio blitz trying to confuse voters about Measure 50, the cigarette tax increase that would help provide health care to more than 100,000 Oregon children. But the highly misleading ad campaign may be only the beginning of a much bigger onslaught, on the heels of a welcome court ruling.
Tobacco makers, using every weapon at their disposal, had bankrolled a lawsuit seeking to throw Measure 50 off the ballot. However, Marion County Judge Paul Lipscomb sensibly rejected every argument in the suit. More…
Posted on September 26, 2007
(SALEM, OR) — Big Tobacco’s deceitful campaign against Measure 50 continues. A mass-mailed letter supposedly sent from a Salem teacher named Ben Matthews continues to be received by Oregon voters around the state. However, not only does the letter’s envelope use Tobacco lobbyist Mark Nelson’s office as the return address, but each letter is signed with a suspiciously different signature. More…
Posted on September 26, 2007
Big Tobacco’s Suit Seeking to Throw Measure 50 off November Ballot Found by Marion County Judge to be Without Merit.
(Salem, OR) – A Marion County Judge denied the motion seeking to remove Measure 50 from the November ballot.
Judge Paul Lipscomb found that “the challenge fails as to each of the specific substantive issues it raises.”
Tobacco giant Philip Morris paid the legal fees for the suit. Measure 50 is a constitutional amendment that would raise taxes on tobacco to boost children’s health insurance coverage. Tobacco companies have filed more than 35 suits in five other states since 2001 to block tobacco-related measures. To date none of those attempts had been successful. More…
Posted on September 25, 2007
PBA joins the long list of Oregon organizations supporting the Healthy Kids Initiative (PORTLAND, OR) — The Portland Business Alliance has announced their endorsement of Ballot Measure 50, the Healthy Kids Initiative.
“Each year, the rising cost of healthcare is one of the top concerns for Portland Business Alliance members, which is one of the reasons why the Alliance is supporting Ballot Measure 50,” said Sam Brooks, Chair of the Alliance.
“Ballot Measure 50 will address the impacts of tobacco-related healthcare costs through education and prevention as well as costs from uninsured Oregonians, and most importantly, this measure will help Oregon children, our future generation of workers, get access to the healthcare they need.” More…
Posted on September 20, 2007
David Sarasohn, The Oregonian
Sunday, September 16, 2007
So far, the nice folks at Reynolds American -- Joe Camel & Co. -- have agreed to make one change in their TV ad against Measure 50, which would increase cigarette taxes to finance medical coverage for Oregon kids.
The line at the very end -- "Paid for by Oregonians Against the Blank Check and Reynolds American Inc." -- is being changed to make it clear that every dime paying for the ads arrives in an envelope postmarked North Carolina. More...
Oregon smokers would shoulder the bill if Measure 50 passes
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Depending on whom you ask, smokers are a picked-on minority -- or their habit is the biggest preventable cause of death, disability and rising medical bills.
Probably both.
But as debate swirls around Oregon's proposed tobacco tax increase and where the money would go, there's no doubt about where it would come from first: smokers.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Jack Bog's Blog on Measure 50 mail pieces.
The Oregonian, By Janie Har
Under pressure from several television stations, Reynolds American has changed two on-air ads opposing a cigarette tax increase to make it more explicit to voters that the tobacco company is paying for the campaign.
Under federal rules, all political advertising must include a tag line that says who paid for the ad. The tag line on the commercials originally read: “Paid for by Oregonians Against the Blank Check and Reynolds American Inc.” The revised commercials, which started airing Tuesday, say they were paid for by Reynolds American, the parent company of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and authorized by Oregonians Against the Blank Check, the campaign that’s funded entirely by the cigarette maker. More…
Posted on September 12, 2007
Statesman Journal
And, they’re off. Just days after the tobacco industry released its first statewide television ad bashing the proposed 84.5-cent rise in Oregon’s cigarette tax, proponents of the initiative on the November ballot have struck back with their own big ad buy. The “Yes on Healthy Kids Plan” group is backing the tax, which would pay for health insurance for about 100,000 uninsured children, and other health care programs. More…
Posted on September 12, 2007
You’ve probably seen the ad already–using an anti-tax angle against Measure 50, Big Tobacco has crafted a commercial that is targeted, effective, … and highly misleading. It’s so bad the Eugene Register-Guard reports that some stations have pulled it: More…
Posted on September 12, 2007
Associated Press
A tobacco company has agreed to make it more clear that it is paying for the commercials opposing an increase in Oregon’s cigarette tax.
Under federal rules, all political advertising must include a tag line that says who paid for the spot. The tag line on the commercials opposing Measure 50 originally read: “Paid for by Oregonians Against the Blank Check and Reynolds American Inc.”
Reynolds American is the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Oregonians Against the Blank Check is the campaign that it funds. More…
Posted on September 12, 2007
The Healthy Kids Oregon Campaign launches its first TV spot, “Pack of Lies,” around the state today.
Portland, OR – Healthy Kids Oregon, the Yes on Measure 50 Campaign, launched its first TV spot today on television stations around the state.
The “Pack of Lies” spot follows the Big Tobacco-funded ad launched last week, which was described by The Oregonian as “contemptibly misleading” and “utterly untrue.” for supporting information, please click here: Pack of Lies Supporting Document.
Measure 50, The Healthy Kids Plan, funds quality health care, including coverage for 100,000 uninsured Oregon children. It will also strengthen Oregon’s proven tobacco prevention program and fund other important health programs for Oregonians.
Posted on September 11, 2007
Four TV stations in Oregon have pulled Big Tobacco’s campaign ads for lying to Oregonians.
(PORTLAND and MEDFORD, OR) — Four TV stations in Oregon, KRCW in Portland (WB), KMVU in Medford (FOX), KLSR in Eugene (FOX), and its affiliate KEVU, also in Eugene have pulled Big Tobacco’s TV ads because they intentionally mislead Oregonians by hiding who actually paid for the ad.
Although the ad claims to have been paid for by “Oregonians Against the Blank Check,” all of its funding came from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
“This ad goes too far by lying to Oregonians,” said Cathy Kaufmann, Policy Director of Children First for Oregon and spokeswoman for the campaign. “Big Tobacco tried to hide behind a smokescreen, but the dirty tricks they’ve used before clearly won’t work in Oregon.”
Posted on September 10, 2007
The Oregonian,
Friday, September 07, 2007
The tobacco industry coughed up its first big blast of vile smoke on Oregon’s airwaves this week, trying to cloud a measure to provide health care for uninsured children in the state.
Beginning at 5 a.m., the 30-second spot made its debut on television stations across Oregon.
The very first words set the mendacious tone: “HMOs and health insurers are behind Measure 50,” the narrator intones against a backdrop of sinister-sounding music.
How contemptibly misleading. Yes, insurers support the measure, but they’re not its authors or chief sponsors. Measure 50, which would help more than 100,000 uninsured Oregon kids by raising cigarette taxes, is the result of months of work by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, enlightened legislators, hospitals, medical providers and a host of public health and child welfare advocates throughout Oregon.
Here’s what the ad failed to make clear, except in small type visible for a fraction of a second at the very end: It was paid for by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Oregonians will be exposed to millions of dollars worth of such oily spittle between now and the Nov. 6 election. Last year, the cigarette makers spent a staggering $70 million to beat back tobacco tax increases by narrow margins in California and Missouri, and it’s clear they’re spending big to fight the Oregon plan. More…
Health care: A right or a privilege?
The Oregonian
Government exists for the protection and general welfare of the people. What is more basic to a person’s general welfare than health care? “We the people” have agreed that our government should provide us police and fire protection. Is getting cancer any less imminent of a threat? More…
Posted on September 4, 2007
Ballot - Companies will probably spend millions to defeat Oregon’s proposed cigarette tax increase
JANIE HAR
The Oregonian Staff
This week marks the start of what promises to be one of the most expensive ballot measure campaigns in Oregon history as voters decide in November whether to increase tobacco taxes to provide health care for uninsured children.
Measure 50 on the Nov. 6 ballot would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 85 cents, raising an estimated $153 million this two-year budget period and $233 million the next to provide health insurance to an estimated 117,000 Oregon children. The tax increase would go into the state Constitution. More…
Posted on September 4, 2007
Seeking a fall crop of kids’ insurance
A political battle in D.C. and a ballot fight in Oregon
Even with the new surveys out this week on uninsured children, it’s hard to know exactly how many Oregon children have to get by without medical protection. We know that it’s more than 100,000, that it’s at least one in eight, and that the number isn’t getting smaller.
And that decisions made in the next few months will affect the number, and the prospects of Oregon’s kids, enormously. More…
Posted on August 31, 2007
Philip Morris sues to stop Measure 50
By Janie Har
The Oregonian
Oregon Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, and a group of tobacco users and retailers have sued to stop a cigarette tax increase proposal from appearing on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Measure 50 is a constitutional amendment that would raise taxes on tobacco to boost children’s health insurance coverage. More…
Posted on August 30, 2007
The Oregonian Tobacco interests have gone to court in a bid to block a statewide vote this fall on a cigarette tax increase to pay for children’s health insurance. A lawsuit filed in Marion County Circuit Court this week maintains that Measure 50, which would boost the cigarette tax by 84.5 cents a pack, violates the state constitution in several ways. More… Posted on August 30, 2007 By Steve Law
Statesman Journal Opponents of the proposed cigarette-tax increase on Oregon’s Nov. 6 ballot filed a lawsuit in Marion Circuit Court that seeks to prevent a public vote on the health-care funding measure. More… Posted on August 30, 2007 As expected, Big Tobacco has snuck into Oregon from out-of-state to begin saying and doing anything to protect their profits at the expense of our kids. They have even hired a tobacco lobbyist to run their campaign against making Oregon the healthiest state in the nation. Meanwhile, we’re betting Oregonians will have no trouble deciding for themselves who is telling the truth — cigarette profiteers or Oregon’s leading child and health advocates, doctors, nurses, other health care experts and hospitals, who have united behind Measure 50. More… Posted on August 22, 2007 The American Cancer Society, American Heart and Stroke Association, and American Lung Association of Oregon send out alert to Oregonians, warning of tobacco companies’ dirty campaign tactics in other states. (PORTLAND) – Today, the Healthy Kids Oregon Campaign launched its first web ad in support of Ballot Measure 50, which would provide health coverage to Oregon’s 100,000 uninsured children. The humorous spot, which is available on the Healthy Kids website (www.healthykidsoregeon.org) or on You Tube, depicts Big Tobacco as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” The American Cancer Society, American Heart and Stroke Association, and American Lung Association of Oregon issued their own warning to Oregonians today, telling them to watch out for unscrupulous campaign tactics by the tobacco industry. More… Posted on August 22, 2007 $700,000 will back Measure 50 to raise cigarette tax STEVE LAW
Statesman Journal Get ready for a multimillion-dollar rumble between health care advocates and big tobacco. Backers of a proposed 84-cent-per-pack cigarette tax increase to expand health care coverage have launched their campaign with $700,000 in cash and pledges, mostly from hospitals, health insurers and the lung, heart and cancer associations. More… Posted on August 16, 2007 The campaign to protect the health of our children and the future health of Oregon got off to a great start last week when a diverse coalition of Oregonians in support of Measure 50 on this November’s statewide ballot launched the Healthy Kids Campaign. The goal of providing more than 100,000 uninsured children the health care they need captured the media’s attention. So did Measure 50’s other goals — strengthening proven anti-smoking programs and saving taxpayers millions in reduced insurance rates and fewer medical costs for second-hand smoke-related illnesses. More… Posted on August 14, 2007 The Associated Press With 3-year-old Alyna Garcia perched on his lap, Gov. Ted Kulongoski today signed legislation creating a “Healthy Kids Program” to provide health insurance for some 117,000 Oregon children who lack it. Voters will decide in November on a proposed 84.5-cent-a-pack increase in the state cigarette tax to pay for it. More… Posted on August 9, 2007 Protecting the health of our children and the future health of our state — that’s an idea every Oregonian can support. And it’s why we are proud to join with a groundbreaking and diverse coalition of Oregonians in support of Measure 50 on this November’s statewide ballot. Measure 50 will provide the more than 100,000 uninsured children with the health care they need, strengthen proven anti-smoking programs, and save taxpayers millions in reduced insurance rates and fewer medical costs for second-hand smoke-related illnesses. More… Posted on August 9, 2007 Broad Coalition Supports Measure 50 on November Ballot; Calls on Oregonians to Submit Photos Of Their Children to Show Support For Covering All Kids.
(PORTLAND) – Saying that Oregon should be the nation’s leader in children’s health coverage, a broad coalition of community leaders today launched Healthy Kids Oregon, a statewide campaign with the goal of passing Measure 50 on this November’s ballot. More… Posted on August 9, 2007
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