Spark it! In a 228-to-164 split, the House of Representatives has voted to decriminalize marijuana. While it is unlikely to pass the Senate, the vote was one step closer to acknowledging the writing on the wall: That pot is not nearly as harmful as plenty of legal vices, that it has medicinal benefits, and that it’s pretty fucking great, actually. Plus, it can bring in a shit-ton of tax revenue that can be used for vital state and local programs.
Naturally, the vote was largely partisan, with a majority of Democrats supporting the measure and all but five Republicans opposing it. However, as the Washington Post notes, Republican politicians may want to tread carefully when it comes to the marijuana debate. Americans from red and blue states alike are down for not just decriminalizing marijuana, but legalizing it entirely.
From the Washington Post:
On Election Day in South Dakota, for instance, 54 percent of voters opted to legalize marijuana, while only 36 percent of voters chose the Democratic presidential ticket. In Montana, the 57 percent who voted to legalize marijuana nearly matched the number who voted to reelect Trump. And Mississippi became the first state in the Deep South to legalize medical marijuana use, with 62 percent of voters approving a ballot measure in a state where Trump won 58 percent of the vote.
Fifteen states have now authorized some form of recreational cannabis legalization, while 36 states have approved medical marijuana programs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
[…]
Public opinion appears to back up the state electoral trend. In October, Gallup found that 68 percent of Americans said the use of marijuana should be legal, the highest support for marijuana legalization since the polling organization first asked in 1969.
While overwhelming proportions of Democrats and independents supported legalization, Republicans were split: 52 percent said it should not be legal and 48 percent said it should be legal — a figure that is slightly down from recent years.
Still, Congressional Republicans are content to cling to the vestiges of the racist failure that is the War on Drugs. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell even made a “puff, puff, pass” joke in a tired attempt to demean the bill.
Whatever, man.
If you’re hoping for another cute little stimulus check from Uncle Sam, you might just get your wish if President-elect Biden has his way. On Friday, Biden said that the $908 billion stimulus package currently being debated in Congress would be a whole lot better if it included another $1,200 check. Wow, agreed.
From Business Insider:
“I think it would be better if it had the $1200, I understand that may still be in play,” Biden said.
He continued: “The whole purpose of this is we’ve got to make sure people aren’t thrown out of their apartments, lose their homes, are able to have unemployment insurance they can continue to feed their families on as we grow back the economy.”
Biden said a CNN interview that aired Thursday evening he supported the package, while stressing he would seek to pass more federal aid after being sworn into office.
It has long looked as though the idea of another wave of covid-19 relief checks were a pipe dream, but maybe Biden’s influence—as well as the influence of progressives in Congress like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders who have been helpfully bitching about this nonstop—may have an impact.
We’ll just have to wait and see but, please! I would love to pay off a credit card or two!
- Speaking of stimulus… this is nice and all, but people can’t pay their rent with science, Nancy Pelosi!
- A judge is ordering President Trump to restore DACA:
- Unfortunately, Corey Lewandowski is back. [CNN]
- Also relevant: The fact that the White House just fired a bunch of Pentagon advisory board members and installed Trump sycophants, including… Lewandowski! [Politico]
- The new jobs numbers for November are in, and they’re shit, lads. [NBC News]
- Thank you, Rep. Ilhan Omar.
- Great use of money: The Republican National Committee paid more than $300,000 to a publishing company owned by Donald Trump Jr to buy his shitty, self-published book Liberal Privilege. [Daily Beast]
- Sen. Marjorie Taylor Greene insists she’s done with that Qanon shit, but there’s one little problem…
- Tag yourself I’m Rep. Matt Gaetz’s creepy smile and even creepier thumbs up!
- But here’s a palate cleanser: Incoming Rep. Cori Bush and her very good mask: