All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

If lawmakers want to tax sugary beverages to help curb the nation's obesity problem, they could be well served by studying anti-tobacco campaigns, a group of researchers is suggesting.

Taxes should be combined with other aggressive policy interventions, as well as community outreach programs, to bring down obesity rates by changing what people eat, according to a new report from the Urban Institute and the University of Virginia. Just as the popularity of smoking declined dramatically over decades, the researchers say, using policy to bring down obesity rates could be effective but would take a generation of work.

Policies suggested in the report "Reducing Obesity: Policy Strategies from the Tobacco Wars" include:

-- Imposing excise or sales taxes on fattening food of little nutritional value.

-- Putting graphic, simple labels on the front of packaged foods showing their nutritional value in a form that consumers can easily understand and use

-- Requiring restaurant chains to put simple nutritional information on the menu next to each listed item

-- Banning advertising and limiting the marketing of fattening food

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Health experts at the Pentagon want a ban on the sale and use of tobacco in the military, USA Today reports.

A study commissioned by the Pentagon and Veteran Affairs recommends banning the product in phases over the next several years. Additionally, it suggests that “achieving a tobacco-free military begins by closing the pipeline of new tobacco users entering the military and by promoting cessation programs to ensure abstinence” – which means requiring all enlisting members to be tobacco-free, Army.com reports.

As the head of the Pentagon’s office of clinical and program policy, Jack Smith told USA Today that he will be urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to adopt the proposals set forth by the study. It finds that tobacco use costs the Pentagon nearly $846 million each year. $6 billion is spent by the Department of Veteran Affairs on treating tobacco-related illnesses as well.

The Pentagon requested the study in 2007, according to Army.com. It found one in three service members currently use tobacco products, and that the heaviest smokers are in the Army and Marines. The study also found that tobacco use has risen since the start of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, suggesting a direct correlation between combat and tobacco use.

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At his press conference this afternoon, President Obama, who calls himself a "former smoker," acknowledged that he still occasionally falls "off the wagon."

The president said that he does not smoke in front of his kids or the rest of his family, and compared his situation to that of a recovering alcoholic.

"I've said before that as a former smoker I constantly struggle with it," the president said. "Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No."

"I would say that I am 95 percent cured, but there are times where, there are times where I mess up," he added.

Mr. Obama invoked Alcoholics Anonymous in discussing grappling with his craving for cigarettes.

"I don't know what to tell you, other than the fact that, you know, like folks who go to A.A., you know, once you've gone down this path, then, you know, it's something you continually struggle with, which is precisely why the legislation we signed was so important, because what we don't want is kids going down that path in the first place," he said.

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In a move hailed by anti-smoking advocates as a major victory in the fight to reduce tobacco-related fatalities, President Obama on Monday signed into law legislation giving the U.S. government broad powers to regulate tobacco products.

"Each day, 1,000 young people under the age of 18 become new regular, daily smokers, and almost 90 percent of all smokers began at or before their 18th birthday," Mr. Obama said before signing the legislation. "I know; I was one of these teenagers. And so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it's been with you for a long time."

The bill puts tobacco under the authority of the Food And Drug Administration, which will now regulate tobacco as a drug. A new entity within the FDA – the Center for Tobacco Products – will oversee the regulation, and it will have the power to mandate lower nicotine levels in tobacco products.

The legislation also bans candy-flavored cigarettes by October 2009, requires the full disclosure to the FDA of all ingredients and additives in cigarettes by January 2010, bans youth-focused marketing of cigarettes (including sponsorship of sporting events and clothing and cigarette giveaways), prohibits the use of misleading terms like "light" and "mild" on tobacco products by July 2010, and mandates new and stronger warning labels on tobacco products by July 2011.

"Kids today don't just start smoking for no reason," the president said Monday. "They're aggressively targeted as customers by the tobacco industry. They're exposed to a constant and insidious barrage of advertising where they live, where they learn, and where they play. Most insidiously, they are offered products with flavorings that mask the taste of tobacco and make it even more tempting."

"Today, thanks to the work of Democrats and Republicans, health care and consumer advocates, the decades-long effort to protect our children from the harmful effects of tobacco has emerged victorious," he added. "Today, change has come to Washington."

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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**Republicans ramp up criticism of President Obama's Iran response...

**AARP endorses pharmaceutical makers' plan to help lower health care costs...

**Latest on the economy; outlook bleak...

**President to sign tobacco legislation today...

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND IRAN: In an exclusive interview taped Friday with CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith, Mr. Obama responded to critics claiming he hasn't spoken out forcefully enough in favor of those who've taken to the streets to protest the result of the recent presidential election in Iran.

"The last thing that I want to do," the president said, "is to have the United States be a foil for -- those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States. That's what they do. That's what we've already seen. We shouldn't be playing into that. There should be no distractions from the fact that the -- Iranian people are seeking to -- let their voices be heard.

"Now, what we can do is bear witness and say -- to the world that the, you know, incredible demonstrations that we've seen is a testimony to -- I think what Dr. King called the -- the arc of the moral universe. It's long but it bends towards justice."

Mr. Obama also delivered a message to the regime in Tehran, noting to Smith that, "The world is watching. And how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to -- be heard -- will I think -- send a pretty clear signal to the international community about -- about -- what -- Iran is and -- and is not.

" ... This is not an issue of the United States or the West versus Iran. This is an issue of the Iranian people. The fact that they are on the -- the streets under pretty severe duress -- at great risk to themselves -- is a sign that -- there's something -- in that society that wants to open up."

In the wide-ranging interview, the president had some tough talk for North Korea, sharp words for former Vice President Cheney, and defended giving the Fed new, broad powers to oversee the financial industry. Click here for more from the interview.

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President Obama today hailed landmark tobacco legislation that will give the government broad power to regulate cigarettes. The bill has now passed Congress and Mr. Obama plans to sign it into law.

"This bill has obviously been a long time coming," the president said of the legislation, which has been in the works since the 1990s. "We've known for years, even decades about the harmful, addiction and often deadly effect of tobacco products."

The president said "after a decade of opposition, all of us are finally about to achieve the victory with this bill, a bill that truly defines change in Washington."

He went on to suggest that the bill represents the latest piece of evidence that he is building bipartisan consensus.

"Along with legislation to protect credit card owners from unfair rate hikes, homeowners from mortgage fraud and abuse, and taxpayers from wasteful defense spending, this kids tobacco bill would be the fourth piece of bipartisan legislation that I've signed into law over the last month that protects the American consumer and changes the way Washington works and who Washington works for," he said.

The president's full remarks, as provided by the White House, are below.

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Two of Congress' most high-profile agenda items of late demonstrate that the influence of money is alive and well in Washington -- or that lobbyists are still hoping it is.

The largest medical insurers and drug companies are stepping up their lobbying efforts as Congress deliberates the details of a significant overhaul of the nation's health care system. The companies spent 41 percent more on lobbying this year than last year, reports USA Today.

Twenty of the largest insurance and drug companies and their trade groups spent close to $35 million in the first quarter of this year, an increase of more than $10 million from the same period last year, the newspaper said. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which supports some of Congress' proposed changes but opposes the formation of a government-sponsored plan, has spent $6.9 million in 2009 -- an increase of 91 percent from 2008. Pfizer has more than doubled its efforts, bringing its 2009 lobbying expenditures to $6.1 million.

Meanwhile, as an anti-smoking bill passed in Congress moves to the president's desk, McClatchy Newspapers points out that some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry were among the few Senators who voted against the bill, which passed 79 to 17 on Thursday.

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The Senate on Thursday passed long-in-the-works legislation that will give the Food And Drug Administration power to regulate the sale, manufacture and marketing of tobacco products.

The bill, which the president plans to sign into law, will mean that regulators can do the following: limit the nicotine and tar levels in cigarettes; ban certain sorts of flavored tobacco that appeal to young people; force more prominent warning labels; ban words like "light" or "mild" in cigarette packaging; and give states the power to dictate how and where cigarettes are sold.

The legislation has been heralded by anti-smoking advocates, who say it will reduce smoking-related deaths and health care costs. Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, told the Associated Press it "represents the strongest action Congress has ever taken to reduce tobacco use."

Although there appears to be widespread support for the bill – 79 senators voted for it, and even Philip Morris backs it (though perhaps for less than altruistic reasons) – there are also those who object to the government taking a stronger regulatory role. Among them is Patrick Basham, an adjunct scholar at the Libertarian-leaning CATO Institute, who tells Hotsheet that aggressive regulation and high taxes on products like alcohol and tobacco (so called "sin taxes") puts "the government in the position of imposing values on people's purchases of legal products."

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