Tobacco Farmers Need Help From Congress

Source from:  Greensboro News Record  08/13/2004

I am writing to express my concern that our members of Congress might miss the chance to lend a hand to a group facing tough times - North Carolina's tobacco farmers. Congress is considering a tobacco buyout bill that would give assistance to farmers who are getting less for the crop they grow and witnessing more tobacco being imported from overseas. At the same time, Congress is considering another provision that would grant the Food and Drug Administration oversight of tobacco products. The agency would not meddle with tobacco growing but rather regulate the products that have been proven to cause heart disease, stroke and a host of other diseases. Tobacco kills more than 12,000 North Carolinians each year while the state incurs $1.92 billion in annual health-care costs related to tobacco use. Tobacco growers and public health groups like the American Heart Association are united in supporting both of these provisions. It's a win-win situation: Our tobacco farmers and our health both come out ahead. Please contact Congressman Howard Coble and urge him to support the health of our citizens and our economy. Betsy Vetter Julian History repeated A friend of mine from Georgia wrote recently that at the time of the Revolutionary War, 3 million people inhabited what became the former British colonies. But John Adams estimated that only one- third of these actually supported the Revolution, one-third opposed it and another third were neutral, according to whose army was closest at the time. Of this one-third that supported it, assuming an equal distribution of males and females, 500,000 were males. And if we say 50 percent of these were of age to fight, that gives us 250,000 people who were of age to fight during the Revolutionary War. Yet only 40,000 actually served the American cause during that war and of these 4,000 were killed in action. In other words, five out six men did not even bother to put their money where their mouth was. In all of this, I do not think things have changed one bit since the Revolutionary War because those folks who demand the most personal liberties are generally the ones who are willing to sacrifice the least to preserve them. Robert Daniel Greensboro Americans deserve universal health care Beginning with Harry Truman, every Democratic president has attempted to install some form of universal health care only to be stopped by a Congress too timid to act in the face of corporations lobbying against it. We not only need to elect more Democrats to Congress if we want better health-care insurance, but we need John Kerry to lead the way. It is obvious by now that the Republican Party is not going to act on this vital legislation. We deserve medical insurance as good as Congress receives. Svea Sauer Greensboro Democrats promote true Christian choice Allen Bullard says that, "...I, too, hope this election will 'restore American values,' the values of the founders - not promoting abortion, destruction of marriage and anti-moral, anti- Christian agendas...." No one "promotes" abortion. The Democrats merely recognize that a woman is a full human being and, as such, entitled to decide on a continuing basis whether another human being may inhabit and use her body. The Republicans believe that on conception, a blastula becomes a full human being, with rights - and its mother ceases to be one. And the only people I've heard advocating the destruction of marriages are Republicans. It is Republicans who want to make it illegal for some Americans to marry and have legally recognized families. It is Republicans who devalue heterosexual marriage by suggesting that the institution will be worthless unless it gets special privileges from government - as if marriage's real worth depended on government's blessing rather than on mutual love and commitment. It is immoral and anti- Christian to do unto others, women and gay people included, what you would not have done unto you. Unless you want to be reduced to a life-support machine for others, without concern for your wishes or for potential consequences to your life and health - unless you want to be treated as a legal stranger to your spouse and children because someone else needs reassurance that Big Government likes their "lifestyle" better than yours - then the moral and Christian choice is the Democrats. Catherine Birzer Burke, Va. Amend constitution to protect marriage On Aug. 5, the state of Missouri voted overwhelmingly (71 percent) for a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. On this same day, a Seattle, Wash., judge ruled that same-sex couples cannot be deprived of the right to legally marry in Washington state. On July 21, a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts filed suit against the federal government to have their union legally recognized in all 50 states. This is the first such lawsuit since gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts. There will be many more to follow. Here is the reason why: The ACLU and gay-rights organizations believe anti-gay marriage laws violate the "Full Faith and Credit" clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states: "Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records and judicial proceeding of every other State." The idea behind this clause was to assure that in our nation where people move from state to state, each state would respect each other's laws. The ACLU believes anti-gay marriage state laws violate this equal protection clause, and want to take this fight to the Supreme Court. The Senate rejected a constitutional amendment stipulating marriage as between one man and one woman. Sixty votes were needed, and all but three Democrats voted against this amendment. Although Congress passed overwhelmingly the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 (86 yes, 14 no votes in the Senate with John Kerry being one of the no votes), the Supreme Court could find this unconstitutional because of the "Full Faith and Credit" clause. A constitutional amendment is the only effective defense of marriage. Enditem