Legalizing Marijuana, Higher Ed Admissions, and Haley v. 'Grumpy Old Men', and Biden v. Math.
Place your bets! Viva Las Vegas - Elvis and Casablanca
Virginia General Assembly
Richmond Times Dispatch: FILMS FINANCING IN FOCUS Va. lawmakers considering $46.5 million in tax breaks for filmmakers Legislation seeks to boost Virginia film industry
Analysis - Pay attention to this debate. Economic development proponents facing questions on Return on Investment (ROI). There is a way to accommodate both sides of this one. If you want more incentives, expect commensurate oversight. Seems fair, right? #WinWin. Good early test for what has been a fairly pragmatic and orderly session. But it’s going to start getting chippy soon…
Virginia Mercury: Bills banning legacy admissions clear both Virginia chambers
Analysis - Clearing the chambers is one thing, being passed out unanimously is a statement: higher education is in the cross hairs of both parties. More so from the GOP, but Virginia’s higher ed system has avoided the national fury because it has long equated degrees with ROI and job creation.
Wall St. Journal Ed Board - Oregon Rethinks Drug Decriminalization - Democrats seek to reinstate criminal penalties as addiction, overdose deaths and homelessness soar.
American federalism has many virtues, not least the ability to learn from bad state policy experiments. A case in point is Oregon’s current rethinking of its drug decriminalization policy that has led to a surge in addiction, overdoses and homelessness.
Richmond Times Dispatch: Dems advance bill for marijuana sales, but Youngkin opposes it
All this work faces a strong headwind. Though Democrats control the House and the Senate, Youngkin can veto legislation that reaches his desk, and he has indicated he would veto marijuana bills.
Analysis - No is almost always the easier vote politically. One can usually find something objectionable is just about any bill. Being FOR this legislation comes with a whole host of downstream problems.
Personal Note - We have had an extended family member live with us off and on for over 15 years who continues to fight the ravages of addiction. Recently, Michele spoke with yet another recovery center and explained that our relative is now snorting heroin. The center’s director said that there was no heroin on the streets right now - it’s all fentanyl. I realize marijuana is neither heroin nor fentanyl, but a scattershot public policy approach in the name of “business” and “economic development” is short sighted. And lethal.
Former Delegate Dawn Adams (D) and Michelle Peace of VCU offer this oped in the RTD today: Legalize cannabis retail sales, but take a conservative approach
We should walk a prudent path with cannabis. Most Virginians want access to legal cannabis products. The current General Assembly needs to balance public health and safety issues with what their constituents want. Retail sales of topicals, edibles with reasonably defined doses, and inhalants with less than 25% total THC is a reasonable compromise. These parameters for adult-use retail legislation permits a wide variety of products to be available to consumers, potentially reduces the black and gray markets which lead to cannabis associated crimes, and mitigates some concerns of increased dependence, addiction, side effects and other unknown negative outcomes.
Commentary - agree on the call for prudence, but Virginia leaders might want to also call on Portugal Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
2024 Election
New York Post Trump leads Haley by a more than 2-to-1 margin in South Carolina: poll
Trump, 77, leads Nikki Haley by a more 2-to-1 margin in the Palmetto State, where the 52-year-old White House hopeful was born and raised and served as governor for six years, according to a poll released by Fabrizio, Lee and Associates on Tuesday.
Analysis - It’s an uphill climb for Haley. Many are questioning - why is she doing this if she can’t win? Well, why not? I think Trump is making a mistake in attacking her. He should focus on Biden.
New York Times Nikki Haley Goes After Trump and Biden in ‘Grumpy Old Men’ Campaign
Ms. Haley has recently shifted her strategy, casting Donald Trump, 77, and President Biden, 81, as part of the same bygone era of politician.
Analysis - Smart move to make this more generational than personal, but Haley should introduce more humor into this phase of her campaign.
The Associated Press ‘Traitor': After bitter primary, DeSantis may struggle to win over Trump supporters if he runs again
But after a scorched-earth primary in which Trump pounded DeSantis viciously for the better part of a year, interviews with voters across early-voting states suggest the Florida governor may have an uphill battle if he chooses to run for president again in 2028. Many Trump supporters not only dislike DeSantis, but echo Trump's assertions that DeSantis betrayed him and say they would never consider him again.
Analysis - One of my many #1 lessons from politics is that it’s not so much what you do but the manner in which you do it that matters. DeSantis (and the thirteen other Republican candidates who announced AFTER Trump did) was always caught between going after Trump and trying to be The Next One Up waiting for the big fall. That’s not leading. That’s waiting. And it’s weak. There was a moment the GOP base was open to someone to fight for them. DeSantis waited too long and never went after The King. Oh well…
Public's Zaid Jilani and Leighton Woodhouse: How Democrats Sold Out The Working Class The Democratic Party is being gentrified into oblivion
Labor’s decline left a political vacuum in the Democratic Party. The ideological professionals of the New Left rushed to fill it.
The combination of a countercultural social agenda and a neoliberal economic one proved a losing combination. By the 1990s, Democrats were in free fall.
The Washington Post Michigan's Arabs and Muslims push to defeat Biden in critical state
Some Michigan Arabs and Muslims have launched an 'Abandon Biden' campaign — part of a broader national movement still getting off the ground — to ensure that their community shows up to cast their votes, but not for Biden.
The campaign's organizers, who also oppose Donald Trump, have not yet coalesced around a strategy for the general election. They are still debating whether to encourage voters to support a third-party candidate or to skip the presidential contest altogether while still voting for other offices.
The Associated Press Republicans see an opportunity with Black voters, prompting mobilization in Biden campaign
'Have you seen our poll numbers with African Americans and with Hispanic Americans? But I'm not that surprised because I see it, I feel it,' Trump declared during a rally in Atkinson, New Hampshire, days before the state's primary.
There's little evidence that Trump is making significant inroads with Black voters, who polls show remain overwhelmingly supportive of President Joe Biden.
Analysis - President Biden has REAL math problems in figuring out a math fix to get to 270 Electoral College votes. This is BEFORE No Labels pops out their ticket on all 50 state ballots:
Les jeux sont faits!