Anti-Smoking Groups Had Been Targeting Howell
Some Republicans are questioning whether House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) was worried about his own reelection chances when he decided to craft a deal with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) to ban smoking in most bars and restaurants.
According to GOP delegates, Howell stressed during a closed-door House Republican caucus meeting Wednesday that the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and American Lung Association had dispatched a paid organizer to his district. Officials close to the organizations confirm that an organizer had been working in Howell's district to "educate" the public about his previous opposition to an indoor smoking ban.
Howell's district, which includes parts of Fredericksburg and Stafford County, has traditionally voted Republican. But in the November election, President Obama received 50 percent of the vote while Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) carried it with 62 percent of the vote.
Other Republicans caution that Howell's decision to back the ban had little to do with his own campaign this year.
They say Howell brought up the organizer to warn other GOP delegates that they could also be targeted in the fall elections.
"Of course he is worried about his own race, but I don't think that is why he did the smoking thing," said one GOP official. "If you look at his district it is no longer that good of district, but to say he is worried is a little overblown."
But the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and American Lung Association are opposed to the proposal put forward by Kaine and Howell, saying it does not go far enough.
By
Tim Craig
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February 6, 2009; 4:12 PM ET
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Tim Craig
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Posted by: ArlingtonGay | February 6, 2009 10:04 PM | Report abuse
"They say Howell brought up health groups' political efforts so other GOP delegates realized they may also be targeted by them in the fall elections."
The ACS/ALA/AHA will lose their tax-exempt status as soon as they endorse a candidate, so their threats against Howell are idle. BTW, for you Dems who hate smoking - why don't you tell Obama to give up his Marlboros before you come wagging your finger at me?
Posted by: gouZgounis | February 6, 2009 11:02 PM | Report abuse
The real issue is ANTI-SMOKER SCIENTIFIC FRAUD, not "freedom versus health." More than 50 studies show that human papillomaviruses cause over ten times more lung cancers than they pretend are caused by secondhand smoke. Passive smokers are more likely to have been exposed to this virus, so the anti-smokers' studies, which are all based on nothing but lifestyle questionnaires, have been cynically DESIGNED to falsely blame passive smoking for all those extra lung cancers that are really caused by HPV.
http://www.smokershistory.com/hpvlungc.htm
The anti-smokers have committed the same type of fraud with every disease they blame on smoking and passive smoking, as well as ignoring other types of evidence that proves they are lying, such as the fact that the death rates from asthma have more than doubled since their movement began.
http://www.smokershistory.com/newviews.htm
The anti-smokers lied that smoking bans supposedly cause "immediate, dramatic" declines in the number of heart attack admissions in the Pueblo study. What they didn’t tell you is that the death rates from acute myocardial infarction actually increased in the year after the ban, the same time they were boasting that the number of admissions declined! That suggests to any intelligent person that people were dying because they weren’t admitted to hospitals when they should have been! And in the Indiana study, they exploited an anomalous spike in acute MIs during the "before" section of the study, to make the "after" part look better!
http://www.smokershistory.com/etsheart.html
The government has no right to restrict peoples' liberty without a compelling justification. The anti-smokers have no such justification, so THEY COMMITTED SCIENTIFIC FRAUD TO DECEIVE THE PUBLIC.
Posted by: CarolT1 | February 7, 2009 6:48 AM | Report abuse
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"Other Republicans caution that Howell's decision to back the ban had little to do with his own campaign this year."
OH, that's a total riot. He's obviously running scared. With any luck, this is the GOP's last chance in a LONG time to be in charge of anything in Virginia.