i hope ms pettigrew changes her public position on 'no new taxes.' when questioned on the 'tax exchange' (elimination of the food tax in exchange for an increase in cigarette tax) she stated that she was opposed to any new taxes.

not a very progressive position, imo.

and i don't see any issues discussed in detail on the pettigrew website. can't we expect more from our democratic candidates? where's the platform? how about some substance beyond use of the V (Vision) word?

i googled cigarette tax and found this. i'm sure arguments to the contrary have been made, but this makes interesting reading nonetheless:

A hefty cigarette tax could save up to 114 million lives over the next 50 years that would be lost to smoking, health experts said Wednesday. Smoking and tobacco use already kills an estimated 5 million people annually and could claim up to 1 billion lives this century, most of it in low-income nations, said Prabhat Jha, research chair of health and development at the University of Toronto at an international health conference in Beijing.

However, governments have the power to significantly curb usage by simply taxing tobacco products, he said. "Taxation is the most cost-effective intervention, but unfortunately, most underused" anti-smoking measure, he said. A 70 percent increase globally in cigarette prices could potentially avert between 46 million to 114 million smoking-related deaths, according to research by the Disease Control Priorities Project, an international partnership that organized the conference.

Even a more modest 33 percent increase could prevent some 66 million tobacco deaths over the next five decades, the DCPP study said. "Governments have to take tobacco seriously," Jha said. "The key message is that it is possible to avoid up to 3 million deaths a year." Studies have shown that even a 10 percent rise in the cost of cigarettes has a marked effect in reducing smoking in men and young people.

Henry's sarcasm is spot on.  Let me spell this out for everyone:

-- The Rep is an embarrassment.  I thought Burchett's roadkill bill was the zenith of Knox County political idiocy, but Campfield has managed to eclipse it, and that took some doing.  If ET Dems accomplish nothing else this election cycle, we must remove Campfield.

-- Whatever Pettigrew's position on "new taxes" is or might be, can you realistically imagine that it would be less considered or thoughtful than Campfield's, or any other Republican's?  She at least might be persuaded to accept the cigarette/food tax proposal, but any creative ideas like that will be DOA at Campfield's door.  The state GOP will never address our regressive taxes until a crisis compels them to do so.

-- I'd agree with the suggestion that Pettigrew study this issue and, yes, update her website.  If you're going to offer vision and problem solving, you need to back it up.  But unless she lights herself on fire and runs down Gay Street at noontime, I plan to vote for her -- and I might be persuaded even then.

The choice in this race will not be between Stacey Campfield and Schree.  Too bad, cause Schree would kick his ass.

Gary Drinnen is going to win the Republican primary, for the precise reason that all the people who voted for Campfield last time would be embarrassed to admit it.  And Gary, who was volunteer coordinator for the Haslam campaign and a nice guy to boot, is going to be very hard to beat.

I suppose we shall have the answer to that question in just 3 short weeks.

Tonight's event was an overwhelming success! Thanks to the 60+ people who came to Calhoun's to eat BBQ w/ Schree!

The next larger event will be August 10th at Rothchilds. Tennessee House Majority Leader Rep. Kim McMillan is expected to headline the event. More details soon!