Hysterical Headlines (Funny or Absurd) for April 18th – The tangled weed we've woven
Bottom Line: These are the daily doses of nonsense in the media and my hot takes on them...
Excerpt: It didn’t get much notice because it happened the same day Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced his retirement, but former House Speaker John Boehner has announced that he’s joining the board of Acreage Holdings, an investment company concentrating on the marijuana industry. In doing so, he added that his own position on legal marijuana had changed as public opinion had come around on the subject.
And Boehner is far from the only previously anti-pot politician to turn into an advocate.
In the nine states where recreational marijuana is legal, the announcement by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the Justice Department would crack down on the practice came with a lot of hand-wringing. But President Donald Trump said last week that the Justice Department shouldn’t concentrate on legal use, easing those fears.
In states where recreational marijuana has been legalized, conservative Republicans that previously were against legalization have stood up for their state’s decision, citing it as an example of states’ rights in our federal system of government, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner being among the most notable examples.
Hot Take: Ok, once again here's the issue. There's a right and a wrong way to go about doing things. In this case a legal and an illegal way. The legal way would be for the federal government to legalize marijuana making the product legal in all 50 states without a shadow black market money running operation involved. The illegal way is how we've done it in Florida along with all other states that've taken action on the issue. Marijuana isn't legal anywhere in the US, in any form currently, which is why the banking system can't be used by those involved in the state-sanctioned law breaking activity that's currently taking place.
Why is it too much to ask those who represent us federally to address the issue if that's our collective desire rather than these illegal games at the state and local level? All of the focus and emphasis is on what our view of it is and if it's evolved rather than on the rule of law and what's appropriate to legalize the product. Most construe this to mean I'm opposed to legalization, I'm not. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that legally prescribed drugs available right now are potentially worse for people than marijuana. But if we simply pick and choose the laws we like and ignore the rest we end up with a banana republic. This premise is what's at the root of illegal sanctuary policies by states and cities and the growing effort on gun control as well. We're either a country of laws or we're not. If we keep heading down this path we're not.
Americans Don't Pay Enough Taxes Paul Waldman, The Week
Hot Take: Which ones? certainty not the top 1% of income earners who account for 29% of all federal taxes paid right? Or the top 20% that account for 69% of all taxes paid?
Only You and I Can Stop Trump Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
Hot Take: Ahh shucks Washington Post. But I don't wanna. I like a great economy.
Until tomorrow...