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Libertarian Review Archives Online
One of Reason's high-quality competitors from the 1970s-80s has a semi-complete archives now available online. It's a fabulous compendium of Carter-ish era libertarian historical fun. David Boaz explains the mag and what it accomplished, focusing on its amazing editor the late Roy Childs.
The Obama Age of No Federal DEA Raids on State Medical Marijuana Clinics Leads to More Federal Raids on Medical Marijuana Clinics in Las Vegas
And why? The records are sealed, so, who knows, though the Feds have given themselves the loophole of being able to step in when medical marijuana distributors are also violating state law (though why the Feds should be so goddamn concerned with such state law violations in this age of limited resources is another question). As the below explains, being "state legal" can be a very complicated question and leaves way too much room for DEA mischief.
From an Americans for Safe Access press release:
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted raids earlier today on at least five medical marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas, Nevada, and reportedly seized patient and financial records, but made no arrests. According to the Associated Press, Natalie Collins, spokeswoman for the local U.S. Attorney's office said that the federal search warrants and "supporting affidavits stemming from what she called 'an ongoing law enforcement operation' were sealed by federal court order." The dispensaries raided today by federal agents and local police included: Happiness Consultant, Salvation Haven, Nature's Way, Organic Releaf, & Holistic Solutions.
The federal raids come nearly a year after an October 2009 Justice Department directive issued to U.S. Attorneys in medical marijuana states, deprioritizing enforcement against medical marijuana patients and providers. The Las Vegas raids occurred less than two months after another spate of federal raids in July against state-compliant patients in California and Michigan....
In July, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman stated publicly on local television that allowing dispensaries was "a very legitimate goal," and that, "If doctors say that it does a patient some good and gives relief to somebody that has a dire need for it, I'm all for it." Nevada failed to consider the issue of distribution at the time of adopting its medical marijuana law in 2000. Although the state allows "Designated Primary Caregivers" to supply medical marijuana to patients, the qualifications are stringent and require "significant responsibility for managing the well-being of a person diagnosed with a chronic or debilitating medical condition."
Nevada's effort to address the need of sick patients to access local distribution of medical marijuana mirrors the efforts in other states like California, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon and Washington. Both Maine and Rhode Island have amended their laws to include state-licensed distribution similar to the medical marijuana laws of New Mexico. The trend to ensure safe access to medical marijuana by establishing licensed distribution facilities has even extended to states currently deliberating new medical marijuana laws, such as Iowa, Kansas, Maryland and Wisconsin.
The Stimulus That Lets People Keep Some Money: Sales Tax Holiday
...yet still involves the Federal government spending more money that they don't have. The Atlantic gets it right that sales tax cuts are good to get people spending more and eventually hiring more; they get it wrong (except maybe politically) that the Federal government should be reimbursing the states for their "lost" revenue, in an age when they have way less money to spare than even cash-strapped states.
From Daniel Indiviglio:
The holiday will be a very significant boost for consumers. On taxed goods, they will generally save somewhere between 3% and 8.25% on most discretionary purchases depending on their state, though a couple states have no sales tax. This is essentially like increasing consumers' disposable income by that amount.
The other really nice feature of a sales tax holiday is that it's one of the most progressive measures out there. Yet unlike most progressive tax schemes, the holiday doesn't stick it to the rich. Everyone benefits, but the low- and middle-classes will feel the holiday more, since they spend a larger amount of their income than wealthier Americans. But wealthier Americans will still benefit, and also still likely spend more.
Among possible stimulus measures, a sales tax holiday should be a standout. Yet the possibility hasn't been discussed at all. As additional proposals are being considered, an idea like this with so little potential downside and so much potential upside should have a prominent place in the debate.
The good results for business of Massachusetts weekend sales tax holiday on purchases under $2,500 last month. Steve Chapman at Reason Online attacks the idea of temporary targeted sales tax holidays as merely shifting spending rather than growing the economy and, minus any attempt to cut spending, fiscally irresponsible. Me, I just like the idea that people get to make purchases, even briefly, without the state forcing themselves into a cut. The key, of course, is permanent sales tax holiday.
Federal Judge Rules Against Don't Ask Don't Tell
A federal judge in California has ruled that the
armed services' Don't Ask Don't Tell policy violates the
constitutional rights of gay and lesbian service members.
From Politico:
District Court Judge Virginia Phillips -- a Clinton appointee -- also wrote that the policy has had a "deleterious effect" on the military and issued an injunction restraining the military from enforcing the policy, though the government may appeal.
The Log Cabin Republicans filed the lawsuit against Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Phillips cited in her ruling the Obama administration's desultory defense.
L.A. Domino Effect Rolls Straight Into Compton
Never doubt that a man with a lavender tie
and matching pocket hanky can change the world. Indeed, local
activist William Kemp and a group of disgruntled citizens have
launched a recall against the mayor and other officials in the L.A.
County town of Compton.
Compton residents have served notices of intent to circulate a recall petition against Mayor Eric J. Perrodin, Councilwoman Lillie Dobson, City Attorney Craig J. Cornwell and City Clerk Alita Godwin. Details from the L.A. Times:
The notice of intent to recall charges that Perrodin misappropriated public funds by allocating bond money to cover anticipated startup costs for the return of the Compton Police Department — a move many residents oppose. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department provides law enforcement services to the city.
The recall proponents also charge that Perrodin used public funds to pay back companies and organizations that contributed to his 2009 election campaign. Perrodin awarded no-bid contracts to friends and family; misled residents about major revisions to the city's Charter; and violated residents' civil rights by using intimidation and manipulation to quiet dissent, the recall notice alleges.
The allegations in the recall petitions against Godwin and Cornwell include election process violations, and in Goodwin's case, failing to work full time while being paid in full. Her annual salary is about $110,750, according to the city.
The recall proponents are upset with Dobson for voting to bring back the Compton Police Department, and for approving water rate increases.
Although the situation in Compton is not directly related to the citizen revolts in Bell, Vernon and Maywood (Compton lays about 10 miles south-southwest of that cluster of towns), there is a pattern developing in the towns of southern L.A. County, in which local residents take stock of how much they're paying the government and how little they're getting in return.
It's also interesting that police services -- usually an untouchable in any discussion of government cuts -- are an issue in so many of these places. L.A. County's odd but seemingly effective Sheriff Lee Baca has managed to absorb police services in an increasing number of towns. (The L.A. Sheriff's Department does contract law enforcement for 40 of the county's 88 cities.) Compton's police force -- made world famous by NWA in the 1980s -- was disbanded in 2000, amid dueling corruption charges between the department and the impeccably named then-mayor Omar Bradley. The current city government's desire to bring back the department seems odd right now, given that crime rates in Compton have been moving in the right direction since the middle of the last decade and the town is struggling to maintain services.
Springtime for Potheads: Notes From Day 1 of NORML's Annual Conference
The National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is
holding its 39th annual
conference in beautiful downtown Portland, Oregon from today
through Saturday. I'm haunting the freedom-smelling
halls of the Governor Hotel, and thought I'd share a few notes:
* Tipping Point Watch: If a room full of gray ponytails can be said to have a spring in their collective step, September 2010 is that moment for drug policy activists. As NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre put it, we are "at the observable tipping point between medical cannabis and legalization." Many references to more progress being made over the past cupla years than in the three decades preceding them. Polls inching toward and even beyond the magical 50% level for the first time in history. Nouns like "opportunity," and "momentum"; multiple chants of "Just Say Now!" California's legalize-it Prop. 19 has been portrayed by nearly every speaker as the single most important bit of potential lawmaking since the Golden State's groundbreaking Proposition 215 in 1996. "We are never going away; prohibition is!" and etc.
* Prop. 19
Update: According to Michael Whitney, of FireDogLake's
impressively
splashy new Just
Say Now campaign, a full 49 of California's 53 Congresstards
oppose Prop. 19, as do future governortards Jerry Brown and Meg
Whitman, plus Senatortards Boxer and Feinstein. In fact,
DiFi is heading up the opposition! Which suggests what I think
would be an unbeatable ad campaign:
Every single member of California's political class is against Prop. 19. Any questions?
* Arnold Agonistes:
An important piece of decriminalization legislation is
sitting on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's lame-duck desk.
SB 1449 would reclassify simple pot possession as a ticketable
infraction, rather than a misdemeanor. Supporters say that would
eliminate some 60,000 totally pointless exercises in paperwork,
while keeping people's criminal records appropriately clean. MR.
GOVERNATOR, SIGN THAT BILL!
* The Revolution Is Outpacing the Revolutionaries: Multiple panelists have remarked that Prop. 19 and other ballot-box insurrections this year are happening not because of, but maybe even in spite of the three most famous Daddy Warbucksi of the legalization movement: George Sorors, Peter Lewis, and John Sperling. Since no one here in the largely Republican-unfriendly crowd will probably say it, I certainly will: Isn't it interesting that these were among George W. Bush's biggest haters and Barack Obama's biggest donors? The financial crisis and the public surge toward decriminalization has created a moment more revolutionary than certainly professional Democrats are going to do a damned thing about. Which is another reason to appreciate the pressure being applied by progressives like FireDogLake. Though there's also some worry that the pro-pot youth vote will be too depressed this November to turn out. To which I say: Blame Obama!
* Sobering Moment: Someone asked for a show of hands on who had tangled with the criminal justice system over pot. About half went up.
* Keeping it Real: I am sure it's an ancient joke, and no longer intended for laffs, but "Wanna medicate?" is really one of the greatest questions in the English language. Also, all afternoon sessions are scheduled to end at 4:20, and there's a dessert bar!
You can watch events unfold live at the NORML site. I'll be speaking tomorrow on a panel about California at 2:30 left coast time, and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson will be giving a lunchtime keynote.
Stupid Pastor Finished With Stupid Publicity Stunt
Too many column inches have already been devoted to the inarticulate pastor in a cheap suit—the Lemmy Kilmister of Florida fundamentalism, Terry Jones—so I guess, making my modest contribution, I’m required to repeat what should be obvious to any reasonable news consumer: “Pastor” Jones is a knuckle-dragging lunatic who deserves only the attention of those dumb enough to have joined his church. And no, he isn’t “skilled” at playing the media; any rube with a freakazoid flock can gin up coverage by promising a Koran bonfire on the anniversary of 9/11. Here is Michael Calderone, Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas, and Howard Kurtz on the media scrum.
But the Mohammad cartoon business, once seen as a fleeting moment of media cowardice, has had something of a lasting effect, establishing a disturbing set of media rules by which one deals with critics, both rational and irrational, of Islam. In Sweden, the government forced a private hosting company to pull the plug on a website hosting the offending cartoons. It’s a different situation, one without the deeply sinister threat of government intervention, but the web hosting company Rackspace, which hosts this website, yanked Jones’s site today, establishing an editorial policy, it seems, on what its customers can say about religion. That is, of course, their right.
After MSNBC flooded the zone today with coverage of Jones, one of its producers tweeted that if Koranopalloza goes forward the network "shall then determine what images, if any, are to be broadcast or posted." Look, if you are going to cover this non-story (BREAKING: Insane, Superstitious Florida Man Hates Islam!), then cover it all the way. Fox News says that it wouldn’t broadcast the Koran burning, but primarily because it doesn’t think it rates as a news story. It churns the stomach to think that this dope’s contribution to religious debate is setting the Koran alight—or burning the books of Erich Maria Remarque and Thomas Mann—but I think we are all adult enough to see such images, if the story is considered newsworthy by the networks.
It doesn’t take much imagination to understand why Muslims would by offended by the burning of their holy book (or Christians, for that matter), but perhaps some of the focus should be removed from Terry Jones and on to those tender souls that, in response to stupid provocation, threaten violence. If a minor league pastor in Florida can cause masses of people to hit the streets in Pakistan, perhaps the problem lies more in Pakistan than in Florida.
Oh, and just while I was posting this, Jones said he was calling off his publicity stunt, having gotten all the publicity he needed, I suppose.
“We hold that tattooing is purely expressive activity fully protected by the First Amendment”
So writes Judge Jay S. Bybee for a unanimous
three-judge panel of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today
in the case of Anderson v. City of Hermosa Beach, striking
down the California city’s complete ban on all tattoo parlors. Take
it away Judge Bybee:
In sum, we hold that the tattoo itself, the process of tattooing, and the business of tattooing are forms of pure expression fully protected by the First Amendment. We further hold that the City’s total ban on tattoo parlors in Hermosa Beach is not a reasonable “time, place, or manner” restriction because it is substantially broader than necessary to achieve the City’s significant health and safety interests and because it entirely forecloses a unique and important method of expression.
Read the full decision here. Reason talks tattoos here and here. Pictures of some liberty-themed tattoos right here.
North Carolina Sheriffs Want To Know Who Is Taking Painkillers
Wow, is this ever a terrible idea.
Sheriffs in North Carolina want access to state computer records identifying anyone with prescriptions for powerful painkillers and other controlled substances.
The state sheriff's association pushed the idea Tuesday, saying the move would help them make drug arrests and curb a growing problem of prescription drug abuse...
Sheriffs made their pitch Tuesday to a legislative health care committee looking for ways to confront prescription drug abuse. Local sheriffs said that more people in their counties die of accidental overdoses than from homicides.
For years, sheriffs have been trying to convince legislators that the state's prescription records should be open to them.
"We can better go after those who are abusing the system," said Lee County Sheriff Tracy L. Carter.
In addition to the obvious privacy, doctor-patient privilege, and Fourth Amendment concerns, a policy like this is likely to exacerbate the undertreatment of pain. The sheriffs argue that giving them access to the database will help them catch doctors who over-prescribe and patients who shop from doctor to doctor when they're denied access to painkillers. I'm sure there are examples of both misbehaving doctors and patients. But in the past, law enforcement officials' definition of over-prescribing has sharply diverged from that of pain professionals. High-dose opiate therapy, a promising new treatment for chronic pain, has basically been cut off at the knees because of high-profile cases in which DEA officials, U.S. attorneys, and state and local law enforcement with no medical training have taken it upon themselves to decide what is and isn't appropriate treatment.
And the problem is self-perpetuating. As more doctors leave pain management out of fear, those left feel pressure to take on more patients. And the fewer doctors willing to prescribe pain patients the meds they need, the more doctors legitimate patients need to see to get proper treatment. Both are consequences of bad policy. And both are then considered by law enforcement to be signs of abuse.
Letting cops go fishing in patient databases for these "red flags" is only going to make it all worse. Sure, they may well find a few unscrupulous doctors, and perhaps some people who are using doctors to feed an addiction. But one thing that's almost certain to happen is that doctors are going to become even more fearful that every script is going to be scrutinized. Which means fewer of them will be willing to write them. Which means more pain patients are going to suffer, despite the fact that there are drugs available to help them.
Jacob Sullum's great 1997 feature on opiophobia here.
ObamaCare: "Springtime in Complexity Land"
Jonathan Bush (cousin of the last president), who founded Athenanet, a company that electronically processes health care payments for medical providers, talks to The New York Times about medical entrepreneurship under the new health care law.
Q. What’s the prognosis for bill collecting under health care reform?
A. Well, there’s going to be new connectors and a whole series of new insurance products that will be managed by the states’ health insurance commissioners. And the law provides for every state to do all of these its own way, so they will have their own rules and regulations, and each state will do it differently. That sounds like springtime in Complexity Land.Q. What do you think will happen to the total cost of health care under reform?
A. Oh, it’s going to go through the roof! It’s widely accepted that this is not a cost-reform bill — it’s an access bill. It’s in fact a cost-expansion bill.Q. Last year, Dr. Atul Gawande made a pretty cogent case, writing in The New Yorker, not just that the small pilot projects in the reform would control costs but that they are the only way to control costs in an industry as sprawling as health care.
A. I e-mail a lot with Atul and he’s a product of the Borg, at some big institution, and thinks in terms of papers and grants from Washington. I totally agree that demonstration projects are what changes a market, but outside of the Borg, we call those businesses. I suppose Washington trying to be an innovator also is fine, but at some point the demonstration project is going to have to be consumers using their judgment about which things they want. [bold added]
Right. On the one hand, the new law is probably going to create a lot of business opportunities for lawyers and document processors and various other minders who make sure that health care firms and insurance companies have all the proper paperwork is filled out and that all their day-to-day activity is regulation-friendly. But like tax compliance costs, that’s something that policymakers ought to be working to reduce, not expand. The more time and effort that get spent working on ways to automate the regulatory compliance process, the fewer resources end up getting spent looking for ways to actually make medical care more efficient. The government’s attempting to pick up some of the slack by playing innovator with its array of maybe-this'll-work pilot programs, but at the same time, it’s also making it tougher for private innovators with provisions like the one that immediately bans expansion for doctor-owned hospitals.
New at Reason: Tim Cavanaugh on Community Redevelopment in Los Angeles
The Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles
is a 62-year-old agency that controls billions of dollars worth of
L.A. property. Yet as Senior Editor Tim Cavanaugh explains, the CRA
is currently doing its best to turn the City of the Angels back
into a desert.
Even Castro Gets The Blues
Via Perez Hilton, a longtime Castro hater, on El Jefe's latest revelation:
Way to be a downer to ALL OF CUBA, Castro!
Here's what the former President of Cuba had to say about his country's economic model:
"…The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."
TMI, Castro. If you're having issues with your country's policies, there ARE slightly more strategic ways to address them. Now it's gonna be awkward between U and Cuba.
Good luck with that!
In December 2008, Reason.tv looked at the killer cult around Castro's BFF (for a while), Che Guevara:
Nationwide Health Spending to Rise Slightly Under ObamaCare
Another day, another government report showing that the new health care law will increase total U.S. health spending over the next decade. This one, a mid-year update to the February report released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, found that the rise will probably only be, as 50 Cent might say, just a lil’ bit—about 0.2 percent compared with the projected increase if the law had not passed. The White House seems fairly pleased with the report, saying that it shows that the health care overhaul will expand insurance coverage and reduce the average cost of insurance per insured individual. Well, sure. If you increase spending somewhat but spread it across a larger population, then the average goes down. But averages don’t tell you which parts of that population are likely to shoulder the bulk of the cost burden, and there’s no indication of what the actual distribution will look like.
And, it’s worth noting, the 0.2 percent spike estimate is rather hopeful. That projection relies on at least one rather dubious assumption—that Congress will actually allow a schedule 23 percent reduction in Medicare doctor payments this December. But there’s virtually no reason to believe those cuts will occur; the law calling for those cuts has been in place for over a decade, and every year since 2003, Congress has overridden the law—and frequently in favor of payment hikes.
Reason.tv: The Road to CanadaCare? Sally Pipes on The Truth About ObamaCare
Now that they've passed ObamaCare, can we see what's in it?
Sally Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and author of The Truth About ObamaCare sits down with Ted Balaker to discuss what's really on the way courtesy of the recent health care overhaul: higher costs, decreased access to care, and the looming spectre of a single-payer system in America.
Pipes, who hails from Canada, worries that ObamaCare has set the U.S. on a path toward a Canadian-style system. She weighs in on if and how ObamaCare could be repealed and what should replace it.
Approximately six minutes.
Interview by Ted Balaker. Shot by Alex Manning and Paul Detrick. Edited by Austin Bragg.
Go to reason.tv for HD, iPod, and audio versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.
Submit to Subprime
Most grownups now have some grasp of the way government and de facto government agencies created the subprime lending bust. But few, other than regular readers of Reason, understand that the feds are working harder to debase lending standards now than they were during the boom.
Ed Pinto, last
seen in these parts exposing the hidden subprime gems in Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac's portfolios,
shows how the GSEs, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the
Federal Housing Administration are still committed to putting
suckers into houses they can't afford:
Let’s start with the latest pieces of evidence. The Dodd-Frank Bill, signed in July 2010 by the president, omitted both an adequate down payment and a good credit history from the list of criteria indicating a lower risk of default as regulators sought to define a qualified residential mortgage...
This was no oversight. Republican Senator Robert Corker and others proposed an amendment that would have added both a minimum down-payment requirement and consideration of credit history along with the establishment by regulators of a “prudent underwriting” standard. This amendment was defeated.
In early September 2010, Fannie and Freddie’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, following requirements set out in 2008 by Congress, finalized affordable housing mandates that are likely to prove more risky than those that led to Fannie and Freddie’s taxpayer bailout. As required by Congress, these new goals almost exclusively relate to very low- and low- income borrowers. Meeting these goals will necessitate a return to dangerous minimal down-payment lending, along with other imprudent lending standards.
Of course, FHFA Director Edward DeMarco notes that Fannie and Freddie aren’t to undertake risky lending to meet these goals. As has already been noted, Congress doesn’t consider low down payments and poor credit as indicative of risky lending. How convenient.
Return to Subprime
The Federal Housing Administration, in its actuarial study released late last year, projected that it will return to an average FICO credit score of 635 by 2013. This signals the FHA’s intention to return to subprime lending. Once again, Dodd-Frank supports this policy change.
The FHA, the Veterans Affairs Department and the Agriculture Department’s grip on the home-purchase market increases month by month. They now guarantee more than half of all home-purchase loans. However, skin in the game isn’t a requirement. For example, the FHA’s average down payment is just 4 percent. Even this meager amount disappears after adjusting for seller concessions and financed insurance premiums.
Seeking Alpha's Reggie Middleton charts what is increasingly looking like a jumbo-single-dip recession. In all the discussion of L-shapes, W-shaped, U-shaped, V-shaped, double-dip, or dipsy-doodle price behavior, one scenario you rarely hear about is the big bubble followed by a smaller bubble. Since government programs seem to be better at propping up asking prices than increasing actual sales, we could very easily end up with a bounce back to 75 percent or 80 percent of 2006 house prices, then find that even that level can't be sustained.
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