No Fascist USA

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via Rolling Stone 

Why We Must Legalize Marijuana

The federal prohibition on marijuana has been a disaster. For decades, millions of Americans have been locked up and billions of dollars have been wasted. It’s also deepened racial and economic inequality. 

We must end this nonsensical prohibition.

The facts are staggering. In 2017, more Americans were arrested for marijuana possession than for murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery combined.That’s one marijuana arrest every minute.

The costs associated with enforcing this ban – including arrests, court costs, and incarceration – reach nearly $14 billion a year. 

Prohibition also hurts the economy in terms of lost wages. And Americans with criminal records have a harder time finding a job and getting the education they need.

On the other hand, legalizing, taxing, and regulating is good for the economy and creates jobs. 

By simply levying a tax on marijuana like we do cigarettes and alcohol, state and local governments could raise more than $6 billion a year. This doesn’t even include additional revenue from taxes on the marijuana industry. 

States like Colorado and Washington that tax and regulate marijuana have already generated millions of dollarsfor health care, education,and other public investments.

But this is more than an economic issue. It’s also a matter of racial justice and equality. 

The federal prohibition on marijuana dates back to anti-Mexican sentimentin the 1930s.  In large part, it was nothing more than another way to criminalize communities of color. 

Today, black and brown Americans are still much more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white Americans, despite using marijuana at similar rates.

Given the racist legacy of these laws, it’s particularly important that the economic gains of legalization extend to communities that have been most harmed by the war on drugs.

Support for marijuana legalization has surged in recent years, with two-thirds of Americans now in favor of it. Even a majority of Republicans are in support, and more states are taking action to reform their laws and move toward legalization.

Yet Donald Trump and his administration are trying to turn back the clock. They’ve even formed a task force to weaken public support for legalization and help spread misinformation about so-called“marijuana threats.”

Just as with the prohibition on alcohol in the 1920s, the federal prohibition of marijuana has been unnecessarily cruel – wasting billions of dollars, unjustly harming millions of lives, and furthering racist policies. 

The Trump administration is considering changing the way the government measures poverty, which has anti-poverty groups worried that many low-income individuals will be pushed off assistance programs such as food stamps, Medicaid and Head Start.

The possible change would involve adjusting the poverty line annually using a different inflation measure, one that would result in a slower increase over time.

Arloc Sherman of the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says this change would mean that millions of people eventually could see their benefits either reduced or eliminated because they would no longer be considered poor.

“They have a goal, and the goal is to cut people of low or moderate income off of government assistance,” Sherman said of the administration. He noted that the idea is being floated at the same time that the White House is proposing work requirements and steep budget cuts for safety net programs.

The administration raised the possibility of changing the poverty calculation in a notice published this week in the Federal Register. It seeks public comment on which measure of inflation should be used but does not state a preference.

A black woman will lead the third largest city in America, elected by voters who said they wanted change and the symbolism of a new era of politics in segregated Chicago.

Lori Lightfoot has never held office but won all 50 of the city’s wards in a crushing landslide on Tuesday.

Lightfoot’s win breaks race and gender barriers, and she’s openly gay with a wife and daughter. On the campaign trail, she leaned into her blue-collar roots growing up in a deeply segregated Ohio steel town. In her acceptance speech, Lightfoot invoked the legendary Harold Washington, the city’s first black mayor and others.

“I stand on the shoulders of so many. The shoulders of strong, black women, like Ida B. Wells, Gwendolyn Brooks and Annie Ruth Lowery. The shoulders of LGBTQ+ trailblazers, like Dr. Ron Sable, Vernita Gray and Art Johnston,” Lightfoot said.

She’s the former president of the Chicago police board, and also a former corporate attorney and federal prosecutor. Her message of “bring in the light” resonated with voters who raged against the local Democratic Party machine, notorious in Chicago for dynastic politics, patronage hiring and corruption.

“People felt like this is a moment where we can try something new. We can possibly go in a different direction, and we can represent to the world that we need something fresh,” said Cathy J. Cohen, a political scientist at the University of Chicago.

Lightfoot’s election is the latest in a record number of black women elected mayor in the nation’s 100 largest cities. Lightfoot will become the eighth such woman to lead one of those cities, Chicago being the largest, when she takes office in May.

The movement has been swift. Just five years ago, there was only one black woman leading any of the nation’s top 100 cities.

A Record Number Of Black Women Are Becoming Mayor Of Major Cities

Stacey Abrams: ‘Together, We Are Coming For America, For A Better America’

In the official Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, former Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams delivered a passionate speech about the need for economic and social justice in America and said even though she disagrees with Trump on virtually everything, she still wants him to succeed.

“My reason for running for governor was simple: I love our country and its promise of opportunity for all,” Abrams said, beaming against the blurred backdrop of a group of men and women of different races. “I stand here tonight because I hold fast to my father’s credo: Together, we are coming for America, for a better America.”

BREAKING: A federal grand jury has indicted Roger Stone on seven counts, including obstruction of a proceeding, false statements, and witness tampering.