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POPSNortheast States Praised for Allergy Policies The Asthma and Allergy Foundation has given top marks to Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey for having policies that support kids with asthma and allergies in school. The group estimates that more than 5 million children in the U.S. have asthma and 2.2 million have a food allergy. States were graded based on their efforts to institute 18 policies, including those that protect students' access to their medications, promote the development of emergency protocols for dealing with asthma and anaphylaxis episodes and ban tobacco use in schools. Those states with the lowest rankings include South Dakota, Georgia, Wyoming and Oklahoma.
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POPSJohn McCain is in New Jersey Today. Half of NJ's National Guard Isn't
When John McCain is in New Jersey today, we urge him to address the thousands of families that have been affected by this deployment and describe the relief he would provide them as President. In addition, VFA had been repeatedly contacted by NJ Guard members and other servicemembers from New Jersey who want to know Senator McCain's position on compensating members of our armed forces who have been stop-lossed. Recently, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey introduced a bill calling for compensation to provided to those who affected by this regrettable policy. VFA calls on Senator McCain to clearly state if he supports Senator Lautenberg's "Stop Loss Compensation Act." Our servicemembers deserve answers, especially after considerable questions were raised regarding Senator McCain's support for our troops' well being when he opposed the successful effort to expand the GI Bill, as called for in a bill that Senator Lautenberg also co-sponsored.
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POPSCigarette Tax Burnout In New York City and State, tobacco taxes have been raised so many times that the retail cost can exceed $9 a pack -- about double the national average. Few budget-savvy smokers in the Big Apple pay that tax. Patrick Fleenor, an expert on tobacco taxes at the Tax Foundation, estimates that there is "now a 75% gap between cigarette sales in the city and cigarette consumption." In other words, three out of four cigarettes are bought elsewhere or are contraband. In New Jersey, about 40% of the Marlboros and Virginia Slims that are lit up escape the $2.57-a-pack tax. In Washington State, evasion was so rampant that the legislature decided in 2005 to lower the 75% tax on cigars and other tobacco products as a way to raise revenue and help state retailers.
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POPSStatement In Defense Of Barack Obama
Barack Obama Called Offshore Drilling A "Scheme." Obama: "Now the latest scheme is well, we're going to drill offshore. Now, I want to be absolutely clear to everybody about this. If I thought that I could provide you some immediate relief on gas prices by drilling off the shores of California and New Jersey, I understand how desperate folks are. I met a guy who couldn't go on a job search that lost his job, couldn't go on a job search because of the high price of gas. Just couldn't fill up his tank. I met a teacher in South Dakota who loved her job as a teacher on an Indian reservation, she had to quit because the drive was too far, it was taking up too much of her paycheck. I know how bad people are hurting. So If I thought that by drilling offshore, we could solve our problem, I'd do it." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Campaign Event, Springfield, MO, 7/30/08) Watch Barack Obama Call Offshore Drilling A "Scheme": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9k9138YBKQ
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POPSThe Best States For Business Forbes Annual Listing In Forbes' annual ranking of the Best States for Business, Virginia finished first for the third straight year. But Georgia is the real story, moving from 15th to fifth place. Georgia finished in the top 10 in four of the six categories we examined (economic climate, growth prospects, labor supply and regulatory environment). Just two other states, Virginia and third-ranked Washington, managed this feat. Our rankings measure states on six main areas of importance: business costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. Business costs are weighted the most, but low costs were not enough to keep Louisiana and West Virginia from being the bottom two in our ranking. We look at a total of 32 data points to compile rankings of the six main categories.
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POPS"Muslim Day at Six Flags" A slightly puffy human-interest story on a recurring event at various Six Flags locations around the country, in which an amphitheater is used as a masjid and halal caterers are brought in.
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POPSGovernor Dobbs? Dobbs, 62, first registered to vote in Sussex County in 1991 as a Republican, then switched to independent in 2006, according to the county Board of Elections.
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POPSThe Ironic Destruction Of Our National Guard Under President "Do Not Volunteer For Overseas Of all the statistics and stories I have read on this issue, many from the work I do with Veterans For America, one sticks out. This fall, half of New Jersey's National Guard will be in Iraq, half. What happens if there is another attack this fall at the end of the election cycle and half of New Jersey's National Guard is gone? What happens if a hurricane strikes the Jersey Shore? What happens if the National Guard is needed and they simply aren't there? Other issues with Iraq get more attention, but the silent destruction of our National Guard and the impact of this administration's policies on the future of the guard are often over-looked. As this administration breaks with long-standing Guard policy, like the fact that the Guard used to give five times as much time at home as deployed, morale and enrollment in the Guard will surely decline.
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POPS4 Senate Dems urge EPA chief to resign I've watched this foot-dragging, Bush's-ass-kissing hack testify on C-SPAN and he is one of the most frustratingly not-so-subtle stonewallers ever to grace a Congressional hearing.
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