(Possibly) The Biggest Election This Year.

November promises to bring much excitement for political types, especially those with small-government and conservative leanings. However, the vote that could very well have the biggest and longest lasting impact on American society is a ballot proposal in California: Proposition 19.

Proposition 19 would legalize the possession of marijuana for adult, non-medicinal and recreational use and (…this is the big part) allow localities to regulate and tax marijuana. Cities such as Oakland have already made plans to license facilitates for the creation of everything from marijuana laced brownies to spa products.

If Proposition 19 passes it will force the federal government to adapt accordingly either by A) creatively tweaking their enforcement scheme and interpretation of the existing federal prohibition of marijuana to allow for California's newly legalized activities or B) ramping up enforcement and in doing so effectively negating the voters of California. We can not imagine what serious politician would actually choose option B), especially in this political climate. Neither the Obama throngs of 2008 nor the tea partiers are very likely to have much interest in devoting more resources to a federal war on marijuana.

American Politics At Its Best.

Below we watch Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee fail Geography 101. This goes to show that if you have the "right constituents," truly anyone can make it to Congress:



Seriously though, it is sad that Rep. Bob Etheridge's impolite and boneheaded, but essentially harmless confrontation with a student was considered a scandal (that may even bring down Mr. Etheridge), but there will likely be little or no negative fallout for Ms. Jackson Lee.

The “Other’ Big Races.

With high profile congressional battles topping the headlines this election cycle, there has been relatively little reporting on the long list of races for state executive offices.  Or more specifically, on the massive nationwide gubernatorial power shift that may occur in November. 

 

Currently, there are 24 Republican Governors and 26 Democrats.  According, to the latest numbers from Real Clear Politics, that could easily shift to as high as 36 Republicans and as a few as 13 Democrats this cycle.  Such a shift would dwarf the gains expected to be made by Republicans on Capitol Hill. 

Irony...

...is David Brooks and the New York Times trying to act as if they are objective observers to the matter at hand in this article.

LeBronomics.

Tax competition between the states has often been cited as a decision making factor for high paid professional athletes.  It appears this may be the case once again with LeBron James.  

 

 

No Sanctuary In Arizona.

The United States' lawsuit against the Arizona immigration law is based upon the concept of federal preemption: That certain matters such as immigration or foreign relations are inherently the domain of the federal government and not the states. While it is true that the Constitution grants the federal government certain powers related to immigration, it does not goes as far as to completely ban states from operating in this domain. The best cases-in-point are so called "sanctuary cities." Such cities generally operate under different standards regarding immigration than the federal government. Though the situation varies from city to city, the federal rules are generally not enforced or under-enforced by sanctuary city governments. The Obama Justice Department has done virtually nothing to stop this practice. By contract, the Arizona law now under attack simply bolsters the enforcement of existing federal rules.

Question Of The Day?

If Hillary Clinton had not accepted a post in Obama's Cabinet, would she now be considering a primary challenge given the President's sinking numbers?