Bernie Introduces Marijuana Legislation:
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders filed a Senate bill Wednesday that would allow states to decide whether to legalize recreational use of marijuana and decriminalize the drug at the federal level. It's a sign the Democratic presidential candidate is willing to stake out a clear contrast on the issue with front-runner Hillary Clinton.
While some states have legalized pot, it remains illegal on the federal level.
"It's a state and a federal issue. The federal issue is that we should remove marijuana from the Controlled Substance Act. That's a federal decision," Sanders told CNN. "The state decision is that we live in a federal system of government where issues like tobacco and alcohol are significantly regulated by the states. And I think that is a province of the states."
The bill is a long-shot in the Senate and Sanders declined to say whether he had any co-sponsors for the measure. But Sanders and others say it would allow growers and dispensers in states where marijuana is already legal to use the banks.
A Milestone For Marijuana Advocates:
pro-legalization groups are marking Sanders’s legislation as a milestone: the first time such a bill has been introduced in the chamber.
“Senator Sanders really grabbed the nation’s attention when he became the first major-party presidential candidate to speak out in support of ending marijuana prohibition,” said Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which has given Sanders an “A” grade for his stance on the issue. “His actions today speak even louder than his words last month. Hopefully, this legislation will get his colleagues in Congress talking about the need for comprehensive marijuana policy reform.”
A recent Gallup poll found that 58% of Americans support legalizing marijuana, though only a handful of lawmakers in Congress currently support legalization or leaving the matter to states.
Marijuana Majority pointed to the bill as a sign that the movement has not lost its momentum since Ohio voters rejected a ballot initiative to legalize the substance.
“A growing majority of Americans want states to be able to enact their own marijuana laws without harassment from the DEA, and lawmakers should listen,” said Tom Angell, the president of Marijuana Majority, which does not endorse political candidates. “The introduction of this bill proves that the defeat of the Ohio marijuana monopoly measure that wasn’t widely supported in our movement isn’t doing anything to slow down our national momentum.”
Drawing Sharper Distinctions Between The Candidates:
Mr. Sanders said he has long-held positions on issues that weren’t always popular. Asked about Mrs. Clinton’s recent announcement that she opposed a Pacific trade deal she had once backed, among other changes in position, he said that consistency on such issues “does speak to the character of a person.”
He also said that in 2002 he voted against authorizing the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a measure that Mrs. Clinton supported as a New York senator.
“It is important to see which candidates have the courage to cast tough votes, to take on very, very powerful interests,” he said.
When voters assess whether he or Mrs. Clinton would be tougher on Wall Street financial firms, Mr. Sanders said the choice is clear. Mrs. Clinton has laid out a plan that would levy a risk fee on large banks and says that regulators should use their authority to break up banks that have grown too large. She is against reinstating Glass-Steagall, a Depression-era law that separated commercial and investment banking. That measure was repealed in President Bill Clinton’s administration.
Mr. Sanders supports the re-imposition of Glass-Steagall and has called for breaking up the largest banks.
“I have been walking the walk, not just talking the talk,” he said.
The Keep It In The Ground Act:
Bernie Sanders launched a new climate campaign on Wednesday, aimed at fighting global warming by banning new coal, oil and gas mining on public land.
The Keep it in the Ground Act co-sponsored by the senator and Democratic presidential candidate aims at plugging one of the big gaps in Barack Obama’s climate change plan: his administration’s continued sanction of fossil fuel extraction on the government’s lands and waters.
The Guardian view on climate change: keep it in the ground
Editorial: Gates and Wellcome do splendid work for the health of the world. They can no longer allow their unhealthy fossil fuel investments to undo it
Read more
The bill, authored by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and supported by Democratic senators Barbara Boxer of California, Bill Cardin of Maryland, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in addition to Sanders, says that the US could avoid the vast majority of fossil fuel emissions by stopping any new mining projects.
The bill seeks to ban new drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans as well as on government lands in the West.
Who woulda thought?:
Marco Rubio says socialism is distinct from the communism his parents fled in Cuba and he doesn't fault Bernie Sanders for promoting it -- but that doesn't mean he agrees with his Senate colleague.
The Florida Republican corrected a questioner at a "Life of the Party" event in New Hampshire Wednesday who compared Sanders' brand of socialism with what Rubio's family fled when they left Cuba.
"In fairness, they fled communism," Rubio interjected. "There is social democracy, right, like you see in Europe, where government provides for every aspect of your life, but there's consequence to that. They fled communism, which is beyond socialism, obviously where government controls society, but also government controls politics, life, the banning of religion, people were being executed."
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The questioner took his point, but asked him if he ever wants to tell Sanders that he's going too far.
Rubio disagreed, saying that while he's not a supporter of socialism, he praises Sanders for speaking his mind.
"What I appreciate about Bernie is he's not trying to shirk from it," Rubio said. "It's what he believes in. He's honest about it."
I cannot avoid this story any longer:
Now you can feel the Bern — in your pants.
Introducing Bernie's Briefs, which is here for all your Bernie Sanders-inspired screen-printed underwear needs. The idea was the brainchild of Alexandra MacLean, Nick Sherman and Todd Bailey of KSE Partners, a lobbying firm in Montpelier, Vermont.
The undies are available in men's briefs and women's bikini styles, and sports the catchphrase of Sanders supporters nationwide — "Feel the Bern" — on the front and back. Each pair is $15 plus shipping and handling — but per the Saturday Night Live sketch that apparently inspired the business, you really only need one pair.
The business wasn't created to make fun of Sanders, according to its website, but rather as an homage to his dedication.
"Bernie’s message is brief: we need to address income inequality, support our middle class and get big money out of politics. So let’s all be brief. There is one candidate to support and one pair of underwear to buy in this election," the site reads.
The Yellow Ribbon Fund will receive 10% of all profits, donated in Sanders' name, according to BerniesBriefs.org — "in recognition of Bernie’s lifelong dedication to helping our veterans."
Sanders Wants Obama To Reject The Keystone Pipeline:
President Barack Obama should reject Keystone XL before international climate negotiations in Paris, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and influential environmentalists said Wednesday.
Under that timeline, rejecting the proposed TransCanada Corp. pipeline could send an important signal to world leaders about the U.S. commitment to combating climate change, possibly emboldening negotiators and driving a stronger deal.
“I would hope very much that President Obama would stand up as soon as possible and say the Keystone pipeline is a no-brainer, you do not extract and transport some of the dirtiest fuel on earth,” Sanders said at a Capitol Hill rally on anti-drilling legislation.
The State Department on Wednesday said it was denying TransCanada’s request to suspend its long-running review of the project while a Nebraska commission evaluates the proposed route through that state. And White House press secretary Josh Earnest reiterated Tuesday that Obama still hopes to issue his verdict on Keystone XL before he leaves office.
Bernie & Act Blue:
In an office here with the trappings of a Silicon Valley tech firm, a band of politically engaged twentysomethings has built a formidable Democratic fund-raising machine that is fueling the insurgent presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders against Hillary Rodham Clinton and leaving even Republican rivals envious.
The success of the Boston-area outfit, a nonprofit called ActBlue, can be seen most starkly in the latest fund-raising report filed by Mr. Sanders, its most prominent political client at the moment. A whopping 74 percent of the $26 million that Mr. Sanders raised came through ActBlue, an online platform that lets people donate a few dollars at a time to Democrats — and Democrats only — with just a few clicks. Eighty-eight percent of contributions to Mr. Sanders came from donations of $200 or less.
“They’ve obviously found a successful formula that works with their base,” Benjamin Ginsberg, a prominent Republican campaign lawyer in Washington, said. “We don’t have something like ActBlue. We wish we did.”
The speed and sophistication of the 11-year-old operation have given Mr. Sanders a huge edge in the race to gather support from smaller donors, an important test of how well candidates connect with grass-roots voters.