Here's what act of bipartisanship to look forward to this year:
http://www.vocativ.com/...
The staffs for Sens. Rand Paul and Cory Booker officially confirmed to Vocativ on Friday that they are planning to work together on new legislation to reform drug laws. Murmurings of a partnership began on New Year’s Day, when the Star-Ledger reported on a cheery Twitter exchange between the two senators.
It’s not the first time Paul has tackled drug laws. Last March, he and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced the Justice Safety Valve Act. It would allow judges to use their own discretion when sentencing certain federal crimes, like drug offenses, rather than complying with mandatory minimums, which tend to be disproportionately harsh and lead to overcrowding in prisons.
Booker and Paul share the view that the 1970s-era War on Drugs is a failed policy that has mainly functioned as a black hole for taxpayer money. What shape their new bill will take is unclear, but it could involve reducing criminal penalties for drug possession or, in the case of marijuana, eliminating jail time as a punishment. - Vocativ, 1/3/14
Here's the back story:
http://www.nj.com/...
The two Washington lawmakers connected last week via Twitter and agreed they wanted to tackle changes to federal drug laws stemming from the 1970s "War on Drugs," which has since been widely panned as a failure, including by Gov. Chris Christie.
The spark of bipartisanship began as Paul aired his grievances for Festivus — the fake holiday made popular by the television sitcom Seinfeld — and complained that Booker, a Twitter maven, does not re-tweet him enough.
The message garnered a quick response from the New Jersey senator, who joking challenged Paul, "U, me & "feats of strength:" Senate floor, name the time."
But the conversation took a more serious turn when Paul suggested reforming federal laws that require mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses. - The Star-Ledger, 1/2/14
Here's the Twitter conversation between Booker and Paul:
Now I'm not crazy about either Senators for various reasons but I do agree with the both of them on this issue and this is encouraging to hear a Democrat and a Republican work together for a good cause. Paul might be a Tea Party nut but he's always been sincere on his stance towards drugs and the war on drugs just like his father. Booker stated on the campaign trail last year that the drug war is a failure and came out for medical marijuana:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
On Sunday, Newark Mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker (D) took to Twitter to condemn the war on drugs, characterizing the federal government's approach as a "tremendous failure" and criticizing the Obama administration for not honoring state drug laws.
Booker has previously been a vocal critic of the war on drugs. In a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" discussion last year, he said current policy "represents big overgrown government at its worst."
"The so called War on Drugs has not succeeded in making significant reductions in drug use, drug arrests or violence," Booker wrote. "We are pouring huge amounts of our public resources into this current effort that are bleeding our public treasury and unnecessarily undermining human potential."
And during an appearance on HuffPost Live last December, he voiced his support for medical marijuana in New Jersey, and said he hoped to "go beyond that" by reforming federal drug policy.
"I want to be one of the people hopefully trying to lead the national conversation away from this insanity that we have right now," he said. - Huffington Post, 8/18/13
i look forward to seeing what Booker and Paul come up with this year.