Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reminisced about his time in Congress on Tuesday and predicted GOP success in November.
Asked whether he missed the chamber where he was ousted as speaker in October, the Bakersfield resident responded, “Some days, yes. Some people, no.”
“I loved every minute of every time I was in office. Good days, bad days,” McCarthy said during an interview with Wall Street Journal Editor-at-Large Gerard Baker at the Milken Institute’s annual conference in Beverly Hills. “The sad part is it’s much more broken now.”
McCarthy continued his feud with Rep. Matt Gaetz, saying the Florida Republican engineered his ouster solely to block a House investigation into his relationship with a teenage girl.
“That’s what he wanted to stop and he’s willing to risk the House for it, and Democrats went along. He was successful,” he said, before adding that a brewing effort to oust his successor, House Speaker Mike Johnson “is different. This won’t be successful.”
There’s no obvious successor, McCarthy said. Republicans don’t want to harm their chances of holding onto control of the House, while Democrats want to avoid a slowdown of government that would reflect on President Biden.
McCarthy predicted that Trump would win the White House in November because of President Biden’s reduced favorability ratings, and named North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders as potential running mates.
“I think Trump’s gonna play this like ‘Apprentice.’ He’s gonna play it out. He’s gonna make you join Truth” Social, the former president’s social media platform, McCarthy said. “He’s gonna make you follow it. And whoever you think’s in the lead, somebody’s gonna come up from behind. It’s gonna make great television. And you’re all gonna pay attention the day he announces.”
A new poll conducted by CNN shows Donald Trump with his biggest lead since they began publishing re-election numbers, topping President Biden currently 49-43%.
Trump now holds a six-point advantage compared to when the survey was published in January.
Screenshot: CNN Twitter
Worse for Team Biden, adding third-party candidates widens the deficit even further. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein create significant problems for the incumbent.
In that scenario, Trump leads Biden 42-33%. Meanwhile, Kennedy earns a surprisingly large sector of the vote at 16%, West at 4% and Stein at 3%.
The new CNN poll continues to deliver bad news for President Biden. It seems despite the constant media spin in his favor, and against the former President, Trump’s time in office is widely viewed as a much greater success.
According to the numbers – a reminder that this is a CNN poll – 55% of Americans view Trump’s presidency as a success compared to just 44% who believe it was a failure.
Let me repeat that – a CNN poll shows Trump’s presidency is viewed as a success by a majority of Americans.
The same question for Biden yields these startling numbers: 61% view his presidency as a failure to just 39% who believe it has been a success.
Screenshot: CNN Twitter
Biden supporters tried their best to put a positive spin on the news. Or even to just soften the blow. CNN themselves reported that the widening lead is Trump simply ‘holding an advantage.’
Left-wing journalist Aaron Rupar also tried to sugarcoat the numbers but to no avail.
“We’re a long way out from November still etc etc but this is not great,” he writes on X.
The rabid anti-Trump group aptly named Republicans Against Trump responded with one word: “Concerning.”
Concerning
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 28, 2024
Biden Sinking The Economy, Dividing Democrats On Israel
There are two main factors for President Biden’s poll numbers continuing to plunge into the abyss, according to CNN.
His approval ratings on the economy, they write, “remain starkly negative” with just a 34% approval on the economy as a whole, and a 29% approval for his handling of inflation.
Turns out people don’t like being unable to afford gas for their cars and groceries for their families.
🚨CNN Poll has President Trump leading Crooked Joe Biden 49-43!🚨
“[M]ost Americans saying that, looking back, Trump’s term as president was a success, while a broad majority says Biden’s has so far been a failure.” https://t.co/H5TwzfqjZ1
In addition, the CNN poll giving Trump a wide margin shows Democrats are deeply disappointed with how the Biden administration has handled the crisis in the Middle East.
Here’s how the network frames their own numbers:
And his worst issue approval rating – for his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza – yields 28% approval to 71% disapproval, including an 81% disapproval mark among those younger than 35 and majority disapproval among Democrats (53%).
CNN
The divide in his own party – mainly the disdain younger Democrat voters hold towards Israel – may sink Biden’s campaign in 2024.
Horror show of a CNN poll for Biden. Trump ahead outside the margin of error, up even bigger w/ expanded field. Majorities see Biden’s presidency as a failure & Trump’s as a success. 60% disapproval for the incumbent. I want to focus on the Israel/war 🇮🇱 data point for a moment.…
Fox News personality Laura Ingraham points to the CNN poll and notes that “things are looking very bad for Biden and very good Trump and for America.”
It’s devastating news all around for the current President. For those who don’t like how the country has been run the past four years, it’s great news.
It means there might be a light at the end of the tunnel.
We might know Kim Kardashian as a social media influencer, reality TV star, and businesswoman, but she has also been using her platform to advocate for the pardon of inmates she thinks were wrongfully convicted. On Thursday, April 25, she met with Vice President Kamala Harris, and some others in the White House to discuss this matter.
The meeting was held between Kardashian, Harris, the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement: Steve Benjamin, and four former inmates whom the Biden Administration granted pardons on Wednesday. The attendees of the roundtable event discussed matters of social justice reform.
What was discussed in the meeting?
Kim Kardashian visited the White House right after President Biden granted pardon to 11 convicts who were arrested for non-violent drug charges and reduced the sentence of five other inmates whom he thought were worthy of the chance at “building a brighter future for themselves beyond prison walls.” everly Holcy, Jason Hernandez, Bobby Darrell Lowery, and Jesse Mosley who were all pardoned by Biden also attended the meeting to raise awareness alongside Kardashian and Harris. This annual event’s goal is to show people that the government and service providers can help “build meaningful second chances for people returning from incarceration,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Kardashian told the four that she was honored to be there and to be able to listen to their stories. She also said that it’s important for them to speak their truth and amplify their stories to the world as it might inspire people who are in similar situations. “I’m just here to help and spread the word,” Kardashian also added. During the meeting, the Vice President confirmed a rule for the Small Business Administration which was announced back in January. This reform will lift some of the eligibility restrictions for loans for people who have criminal records. Harris mentioned that reducing these restrictions will let a lot of people have a better second chance at life and will allow them to excel.
This was not Kardashian’s first time at the White House
The social media star has been to the White House before in 2020 during the Trump Administration. She was there to thank the former President after he reduced the prison sentence of three women and also discuss some changes she thought were necessary in the US Justice system. During her recent visit, she said that she attended her very first clemency meeting years ago in the White House. She mentioned that “I didn’t know a whole lot, and I was inspired to go to law school and really further my education to see what I can do to help.”
According to the White House, President Biden has pardoned a total of 20 people who were incarcerated for non-violent drug charges and also reduced the sentence of 122 people. The Biden Administration has been working for marijuana reform, and the President even brought up the issue in his State of the Union Address which happened last month. Even Kamala Harris said, “Many of you had heard me say it. I just don’t think people should have to go to jail for smoking w–d.”
The Biden keeps sort of promising/pushing rescheduling – will be in time to help the industry this year?
The public has turned a corner about marijuana use. Except for a few older members in Congress (Mitch McConnell being one), the majority of the US and Canadians believe cannabis should be legal. The American Medical Association, founded in 1847 and long the platinum standard of medical decision in the US, has declared marijuana has medical benefits. But the older members of the current administration, and most likely Biden himself, are still reluctant to make a move to help patients, people and the industry. The concern is will rescheduling come in time to help the marijuana industry in 2024.
In October of 2022, in order to fulfill a campaign promised to younger voters, the government decided to look at scheduling. Both Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did the research and recommended to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to reschedule it from a dangerous drug to one with health benefits. While the DEA has never not followed their decision, the DEA has been quiet about doing so regarding cannabis. And time has marched on, rumor was it would be declared by the end of 2023, then 4/20, now maybe the end of summer.
And while customers continue to spend on legal weed, the underpinning of of the industry is crumbling with zero tax benefits, onerous decisions and a business stigma. The Vice President mentioned it should move forward and the President tried to take credit during his State of the Union address, but nothing has happened.
A key benefit is rescheduling would allow the industry typical business tax write offs. Currently, businesses which touch the plant can take zero tax deductions, but have the gift of extra business expenses. Rescheduling with give an industry with 50+% mom and pop businesses a chance. A decision will have to be made by the beginning of October to have any sway with young voters for the election, but will be it be too late to help this year? And how many small businesses will be hurt or be forced to close.
In political circles, it is clear while this isn’t a policy wanted by Biden and his team, it is a necessary one to help attracting increasingly distant younger voters. The DC rumor mill says a decision will be made in the fall if a decision is “need” or if they have regained enough ground with young voters.
Lonnie Rosenwald from Zuber Lawler shared “Whether the timing of rescheduling makes a difference depends on the effective date. For example, if the effective date is January 1, 2025, companies could deduct their ordinary and necessary business expenses on their 2025 federal income tax returns.”
“Rescheduling could be retroactive, in which case companies would need to file amended returns claiming deductions for past years quickly enough to avoid the running of the statute of limitations. Finally, if rescheduling is effective in 2024, it should be retroactive to January 1, 2024, regardless of the specific effective date of rescheduling. Companies that overpaid their 2024 taxes in making quarterly payments prior to the effective date of rescheduling would be able to claim deductions for ordinary business expenses for the entire year, and to receive refunds in 2025 for their overpayments.”
The general feel in the industry is the rescheduling decision needs six months of runway to go into effect before the elections. However, there is the potential to skip the interim process and go right to a final ruling and, in theory, this could happen as late as September.
Washington, D.C. – Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) and the Biden-Harris Administration have announced that Ohio will receive over $312 million in federal funding to create or expand solar energy programs in low-income and disadvantaged communities through the Solar for All grant program.
The State of Ohio and Growth Opportunity Partners, a Cleveland-based non-profit, each received Solar for All grants of $156 million, Brown said in a statement on Tuesday. The program is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.
“The Solar for All grants are game changers for Ohio, these are climate change, and economic, and environmental justice wins,” said Congresswoman Brown, a Warrensville Hts Democrat whose 11th congressional district includes Cleveland, a largely Black city where most residents live below the poverty line. “This is part of why I voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, because all Ohioans deserve a clean energy future. These grants are going to have a tangible impact – helping more everyday Ohioans enjoy the benefits of solar power, including lower costs and cleaner air.”
Solar energy for power is becoming more of a trend, including for powering homes as a substitute for electricity. It is used for various purposes like heating, charging gadgets and appliances, cooling, cooking, and lighting up the environment. It performs virtually all the functions that a regular electricity supply performs.
The State of Ohio Office of Budget and Management State Accounting will receive a Solar for All grant of $156,210,000, Brown said. The state’s program will create opportunities for Ohio’s residential customers in low and moderate-income households and disadvantaged communities to achieve meaningful energy savings, relieve high levels of energy burden, and improve air quality and economic prosperity in traditionally under-served areas of Ohio.
Growth Opportunity Partners, headquartered in Ohio, will also receive a Solar for All grant of $156,210,000. Growth Opportunity Partners, located in Cleveland, will lead a multi-state effort to catalyze a just, clean energy transition in industrial heartland communities, helping low and moderate income-households install rooftop solar and more.
Ohio’s state grant award was among 60 selections announced this week to states, territories, tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits across the country. For a full list of grant recipients, click here.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the 60 Solar for All recipients will enable over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed solar energy.
Robert F. Kennedy will appear on Michigan’s presidential ballot.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a potential spoiler candidate who has spread misinformation about vaccines and COVID-19, will appear on Michigan’s presidential ballot.
Kennedy, 70, gained access to the ballot after the Natural Law Party nominated him to be the party’s candidate.
Michigan is the eighth state where Kennedy, the nephew of slain President John F. Kennedy, secured ballot access.
The Michigan Secretary of State’s office confirmed to Metro Times that Kennedy qualified for the ballot.
“He’s the most qualified candidate in the modern-day history of America,” Natural Law Party Chairman Doug Dern said in a news release. “We welcome Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Shanahan to the party.”
Kennedy is working to win over disgruntled Americans who are tired of the two-party system. He has drawn support from the anti-establishment crowd, and his appeal spans across party lines.
In a swing state like Michigan, where Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 and Joe Biden triumphed in 2020, Kennedy’s spot on the ballot could impact the outcome.
According to the survey, Kennedy had more support among self-described independents than Biden in Michigan. That poll showed Trump got 33%, Kennedy had 22%, and Biden received 21%.
Whether Kennedy will draw more votes from Biden or Trump is the subject of much debate and speculation. Kennedy is known for his famous name and environmental work, and he began his run for president as a Democrat, which could take votes from Biden.
His own family prefers Biden. At a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Thursday, about a dozen Kennedys gathered to support the current president. They included Kennedy’s siblings Joseph, Kerry, Rory, Kathleen, Maxwell, and Christopher.
“He has us thriving again, believing again, behaving like good neighbors again,” Kerry Kennedy said of Biden as five siblings looked on from the stage, The New York Times reports. “Nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden. That’s right, the Kennedy family endorses Joe Biden for president.”
Kennedy will be celebrating his appearance on the Michigan ballot by hosting “A Night of Laughter” comedy show at the Royal Oak Theatre. Other performers include Rob Schneider, Dave Landau, Heather Jay, Mike Binder, Tre Stewart, and Erica Rhodes.
“Kennedy is good for Michigan,” Bill Costantino, western Michigan regional coordinator for the Natural Law Party. “As an environmental champion for more than 40 years, Kennedy will work to restore our Great Lakes region, which holds 20% of the world’s freshwater. He will ensure a thriving fishing economy and ecosystem for commercial fishermen and individual anglers.”
NEW YORK (AP) — A Florida mother was sentenced Tuesday to a month in prison and three months of home confinement for stealing and selling President Joe Biden’s daughter’s diary four years ago to the conservative group Project Veritas.
Aimee Harris was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who called the Palm Beach, Florida, woman’s actions “despicable.”
Harris pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in August 2022, admitting that she received $20,000 of the $40,000 that was paid by Project Veritas for personal items belonging to the president’s daughter, Ashley Biden.
Project Veritas, founded in 2010, identifies itself as a news organization. It is best known for conducting hidden camera stings that have embarrassed news outlets, labor organizations and Democratic politicians.
A tearful Harris apologized for enabling Ashley Biden’s private writings to be sold after she found the diary and other items at a friend’s Delray Beach, Florida, home in 2020, where prosecutors said Ashley Biden believed her items were safely stored after she temporarily stayed there in spring 2020.
“I do not believe I am above the law,” Harris said after a prosecutor urged a prison sentence following her failure to appear at numerous sentencing dates on the grounds that she was consumed with caring for her two children, ages 8 and 6.
“I’m a survivor of long term domestic abuse and sexual trauma,” she told the judge.
With a lawyer for Ashley Biden observing from the courtroom’s spectator section, Harris apologized to the president’s daughter, saying she regrets making her childhood and life public.
In announcing the sentence, Swain noted that Harris and a co-defendant, Robert Kurlander, of nearby Jupiter, Florida, had first tried unsuccessfully to sell Ashley Biden’s belongings to then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign.
The judge said that Harris, besides being motivated by greed, had hoped to impact the nation’s political landscape.
Kurlander, who has not yet been sentenced, and Harris, had each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines.
Defense attorney Anthony Cecutti urged no prison time, citing his client’s traumatic life and her efforts to care for her children while recovering from abuse and violence.
“She carries the shame and stigma of her actions,” he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Sobelman urged a prison sentence, saying Harris had exhibited a “pattern of disrespect for the law and the justice system.”
“Ms. Harris is not the victim in this case,” Sobelman said. “Ms. Biden is the victim in this case.”
He said Harris in the summer of 2020 had stolen Ashley Biden’s diary, a digital storage card, books, clothing, luggage and “everything she could get her hands on” in the hopes she “could make as much money as she could.”
“She wanted to damage Ms. Biden’s father,” he said.
Harris was told to report to prison in July. As she left the courthouse, she declined to speak.
The lawyer for Ashley Biden also declined to comment, though he submitted a letter to the judge on his client’s behalf a day earlier that was not immediately put in the court record.
BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Monday that the United States would not accept new industries being decimated by subsidized Chinese imports in the same way that the U.S. steel sector was crushed a decade ago.
After wrapping up four days of talks with Chinese officials, Yellen told a news conference the exchanges had advanced American interests.
She said she had raised concerns about China’s weak domestic demand and overinvestment in industries such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar products, fueled by “large-scale government support.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Beijing. (Reuters)
She added, “We’ve seen this story before. Over a decade ago, massive PRC government support led to below-cost Chinese steel that flooded the global market and decimated industries across the world and in the United States,” employing the formal name, the People’s Republic of China.
“I’ve made it clear that President Biden and I will not accept that reality again.”
Yellen said that when the global market is flooded with artificially cheap Chinese products, “the viability of American and other foreign firms is put into question.”
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
After dragging their feet for 3 years, the Biden administration seems to be putting some juice to get the DEA to move
Is it opening the door to a new era? It seems the Biden administration has suddenly decided to follow up on their 2020 campaign promises. But does the sense of urgency reflect not only their need to engage younger voters but something else? Is the administration racing to reschedule by 4/20. President Biden brought up federal rescheduling as part of his proclamation declaring April to be “Second Chance Month.” Followed by his mentioning it in the State of the Union, this should be a signal to the Federal Drug Agency (FDA) to move on the recommendation by other agency and act.
Having made the promise, for almost the first 3 years of his tenure, Biden barely acknowledged the cannabis industry. This despite sales in the industry continues to grow and now, over 50% of the country has legal access to products. Those under 40 have an entirely different take on marijuana with Gen Z drifting away from alcohol and moving to weed. Beer sales have mirrored the societal shift. They have been out of step with the public.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Biden is struggling with younger voters. Media like the New York Times has been piling on by highlighting why he is losing and gently making it a much bigger issue. The campaign is concerned and sees to reengage this demographic. Biden is viewed favorably by only 31% of people ages 18 through 29, much worse than he fares with other age groups, according to a recent Economist/YouGov poll.
The White House begrudgingly started the process of rescheduling last year. Currently, cannabis classified as having zero medical benefit is lumped into the same category as heroin and LSD. Neither alcohol or tobacco are boxed into this category despite having zero health benefits and litany of problems the does cause.
Rescheduling would be an immediate benefit to an industry struggling with a host of issues including tough business rules around the classification, chaos in the New York and California market, and a dropping of flower prices. Some older Senators including James Risch (R-ID) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) are making a last ditch effort to stop the process.
While 4/20 has long been a wink wink nod to marijuana use for those in the know, thanks to the legal sales it is another big media day. Like the 4th of July or Drinksgiving/Green Wednesday, it is a time where they could get the most engagement with the public.
The Social Security war is on, as it is during every presidential election. The format is always the same: Democrats say Republicans want to wreck the popular retirement plan for seniors, while Republicans say Democrats want to keep the program going through unsustainable tax increases that will kneecap the entire US economy.
It’s mostly gobbledygook, on both sides. But there’s an important grain of truth in the latest Republican plan to shore up Social Security, which President Biden calls “extreme.” It’s not extreme at all. It’s actually sensible — and inevitable.
The Republican Study Committee (RSC), which represents most Republicans in the House of Representatives, recently published its blueprint for federal spending in 2025. One measure would be “modest adjustments to the retirement age” determining eligibility for Social Security “to account for increases in life expectancy.”
Sound crazy? It shouldn’t, because it has happened before. In 1983, Congress passed legislation gradually raising the retirement age to qualify for full Social Security benefits from 65 to 67, over a span of 30 years. During the same period that the Social Security retirement age rose by two years, US life expectancy rose by more than four.
Biden, however, called the GOP proposal an “extreme budget” that would cut Social Security and healthcare benefits for millions. “I will stop them,” he declared. Other Democrats are piling on. Biden’s close ally, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, lambasted the RSC targets as “cruel” and said they “read like a wish list for Donald Trump and the GOP hard right.” Instead of any changes to benefits or eligibility, Biden and his fellow Democrats want to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy to keep Social Security fully funded.
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) speaks during the Republican Study Committee news conference to unveil their FY2025 budget proposal in the US Capitol on Thursday, March 21, 2024. (Bill Clark via Getty Images)
This, in a microcosm, is why Washington never solves solvable problems until it’s nearly too late. Each side vilifies the other and the mudslinging makes it impossible for ordinary voters to know what’s logical and pragmatic. Incendiary politicians appeal to fear rather than common sense, and a lot of the time it works.
Back to Social Security. Within the next 10 years, the program is likely to run short of the money needed to pay all benefits in full. That’s because it will exhaust the Social Security trust funds, which are basically banked money, leaving only incoming payroll taxes to cover benefits. At the same time, enrollment in the program is swelling, and a declining birth rate is leaving fewer working people to pay for retiree benefits. Without any changes, the program will only be able to pay about 75% of obligated benefits by 2033, according to the latest estimates.
Medicare, the health program for seniors, is in a similar position, for similar reasons. That could actually run short of money a couple of years sooner than Social Security, with 2031 being the latest estimate of D-Year.
There are three ways to address these imminent funding shortfalls: Raise the taxes that pay for Social Security and Medicare, reduce benefits, or redirect money from general tax revenues to retiree programs. The last option would cause other problems, such as leaving far less money for all the other things the government pays for and pushing up the national debt when it’s already uncomfortably large.
That leaves tax hikes and benefit cuts. Whenever Congress gets around to it, bolstering Social Security and Medicare will almost certainly require both. There are many proposals for how to do this. The compromise position is likely to involve gradually increasing the retirement age again, as Republicans want to do, while also raising the payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, as Biden wants to do. The bar for eligibility could go higher, to exclude wealthier Americans who don’t need the money. Tweaking other benefits could help close other budgetary gaps.
Political reality will likely prevent any changes that drastically harm voters. Any tax hikes will start with the wealthy first, such as lifting the ceiling on the Social Security payroll tax, which currently applies only to the first $168,600 in income. In fact, one “progressive” change would be lifting the income ceiling, so the payroll tax applies to all income, while exempting workers below a certain threshold from paying any payroll tax at all.
Any change in the eligibility age will occur gradually, as it did before. Any outright reductions in benefits would likely apply to future generations, not to people currently enrolled in the programs. That’s a time-tested way to ensure nobody loses anything they already have, which tends to upset voters, and especially seniors who vote in the highest numbers. It’s less of a problem if it affects future beneficiaries who may not even be aware of the cutbacks.
Why don’t politicians just come out and say, “This is what it’s going to take to solve our problems”? Because compromise solutions usually involve everybody giving up something, and most politicians are afraid to tell voters the truth. To some extent, that’s rational. Democratic voters don’t want to hear about benefit cuts, and Republican voters don’t want to hear about tax increases. So their elected representatives tell them what they do want to hear.
When crunch time comes, and it’s no longer possible to delay the benefit cuts and tax hikes it will take to fix the nation’s retirement programs, politicians of both parties will tacitly admit the simple fixes they peddled for years were never going to be enough. By that time, however, they will have won another election, or two, or three, and they’ll be telling themselves that fibbing to voters actually works.
Vice President Kamala Harris made the news about her supporting the need for rescheduling. Marijuana stocks jumped while the industry holds its breath. Harris was speaking at a meeting at the White House with people who received pardons from marijuana-related offices from the President. Joseph Cartagena aka the Rapper Fat Joe and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) were among the crowd. But has Kamala Harris changed her stance on Marijuana or is this another campaign promise which will take years to follow through.
As a San Francisco prosecutor, Harris oversaw more than 1,900 cannabis related convictions, higher than her predecessors. When it was a key issue about the state voting for legal marijuana, Harris opted out of the discussion. It wasn’t until 2020 with the presidential campaign she appeared to change her mind and followed Biden’s lead in promising the cannabis industry a friend in power. But it would be 3.5 years before any real action took place.
In 2020, the cannabis economy was just gaining major steam, but now with federal resistance, chaos in New York and California and flower price compression, it is critical something change. Marijuana isa Schedule 1 drug as ruled by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The classification designates the plant as similar to heroin, LSD. It is seen as a dangerous drug with no medicinal uses. Science, the medical community and cannabis advocates have campaigning for the federal government to either reschedule marijuana to a different category or deschedule it entirely since it has proven medical benefits. Alcohol is considered a drug but is not scheduled.
President Joe Biden, running for re-election, has again brought marijuana into the picture, even mentioning it in his State of the Union address. But he said he would work with the industry in 2020, took office in 2021 and finally, tentatively suggested a change in 2023. Harris hasn’t been given a public role in the conversation until the meeting.
The Biden/Harris campaign has sought to appeal to young voters which it needs. But some of whom are dissatisfied with his sluggish policy reforms. Going into election day with more talk and no real action could be a dangerous path for election.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on March 20 and updated with more information on March 21. President Joe Biden paid a visit to the longtime South Phoenix Mexican restaurant El Portal on Tuesday…
Did James Bond make the martini famous? Or did the martini help make Bond cool?
The classic line of “shaken or stirred” has been used by men for decades. Bond instructs the bartender in the phrase “shaken and not stirred” in Diamonds Are Forever and Dr No and it has been in our lexicon ever since. But did Bond make the martini famous – or did the martini help Bond. And what is the perfect James Bond Martini?
The history of the martini is murky, “Professor” Jerry Thomas, a famous and influential 19th century bartender, invented the drink at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, sometime in the late 1850s or early 1860s. As the story goes, a miner, about to set out on a journey to Martinez, California, put a gold nugget on the bar and asked Thomas to mix him up something special. Thomas produced a drink containing Old Tom (sweetened) gin, vermouth, bitters and Maraschino, and dubbed it the “Martinez” in honor of the customer’s destination.
The big question is gin or vodka? Purist insist it be gin for the classic martini, but numbers say vodka is preferred. Vodka sales are about $7.5 billion annually while gin is around $5 billion. If you order a classic martini, you will probably be served gin unless you say vodka. Bond seems fairly fluid in his choice, he orders 19 vodka martinis and 16 gin martinis throughout Fleming’s novels and short stories.
Like Bond’s creator Ian Fleming, James Bond prefers his cocktails shaken and not stirred. A traditional martini is stirred rather than shaken, but Fleming’s biographer Andrew Lycett shared the author preferred martinis shaken since he believe it preserved the flavor.
Internationally known celebrity chef Justin Khanna has his take on the martini.
“The perfect Martini, to me, takes advantage of the “blank canvas” nature of this timeless cocktail. “Many cocktails restrict you to specific garnishes, and even fewer allow the liberty to swap the base spirit.
With the Martini, a vodka base that’s heavy on the olives and light on the vermouth is just as “right” as one made with gin and a twist of lemon, even though they couldn’t be more different once you take your first sip. Accompanied by a bowl of olives, bleu cheese or salty potato chips to snack on, and I’ll savor this iconic cocktail in bliss.
I personally love the body, complexity and herbaceous kick of vermouth, often making it a co-star in my version”
The Khanna Martini
Ingredients
2 1/2 oz vodka
3/4 oz dry vermouth
Ice
Lemon zest twist
Create
Combine vodka and vermouth in a shaker with ice.
Shake for 10-20 seconds.
Strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist, first rubbing it along the rim for a burst of citrus aroma.
Dean Martin, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis’s Margo Channing, FDR, Frank Sinatra, and Jessica Walter’s Lucille Bluth are all noted martini fans. One of the most fun is the great Megan Mullally’s Karen Walker from the show Will & Grace.
The Karen Walker Martini
Ingredients
2.5 oz. High-end vodka
.5 oz. Dry vermouth
.5 oz. Olive brine
Create
Pour all ingredients into shaker with ice cubes.
Shake well
Strain in chilled cocktail glass
The Perfect James Bond Martini
Ingredients
2 ¼ounces dry gin
1ouncedry vermouth
1lemontwist, for garnish
1olive (for garnish)
Create
Combine vermouth and gin in a mixing glass filled with ice
Fill glass with ice and stir rapidly. Continue adding ice and stirring until the additional ice has been submerged within the cocktail
Strain the cocktail into the chilled martini glass
Express the lemon twist over the cocktail
Place expressed lemon twist and the skewered olive on the chilled rim
As famed writer and wit Dorothy Parker shared about martinis:
“I like to have a martini, Two at the very most. After three I’m under the table, after four I’m under my host.”
When President Biden flies into Nevada on Monday and to Arizona the following day, he’s likely to compliment the West’s natural beauty, pay homage to the unmatched political power of the Culinary Workers Union and nod to local Democratic elected officials.
Another truth about his visit to the two Southwestern states may remain unspoken: Though together they are home to only about 3% of the U.S. population, Arizona and Nevada are expected to have an outsize influence on the outcome of the 2024 presidential race.
With Arizona’s 11 electoral votes and Nevada’s six, the states collectively hold more voting power than Georgia, another closely contested state that both Democrats and Republicans believe they can win — as Biden and former President Trump engage in the first rematch of presidential contenders in nearly 70 years.
Having secured enough delegates last week to become their parties’ presumptive nominees, the two oldest major-party candidates in American history are facing off in a presidential rematch that most people saw coming and many hoped to avoid.
The race pits a president languishing in the polls against a challenger facing multiple criminal indictments. It gives citizens asking for change a chance to vote for more of the same, unless they opt for a long-shot third-party candidate.
Many Americans have said they don’t like it. They wish the stress of a country that feels perpetually at odds would just stop.
“Everything is kind of haywire and crazy,” Trevean Rhodes, a security guard at a Las Vegas supermarket, said last week. “Normalcy is a thing of the past.”
Nevada has gone to the Democrats in four straight presidential elections, but by thin margins. Biden won Arizona in 2020, though Republicans prevailed in all but two of the last 12 presidential cycles there.
Recent public polling in both battleground states shows Biden trailing Trump, but both sides have said they expect close contests. And both states have already received substantial attention, especially from the Democrats.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Phoenix recently to talk about abortion, and in late January stopped in Las Vegas, where she called Trump a threat to democracy. Biden’s trip this week will take him to Reno, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
His events in Arizona are expected to focus on Latino voter engagement, sources familiar with his travel told The Times. The trip comes amid a $30-million advertising barrage from Biden’s campaign across all of the battleground states. (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia are the others.)
Former President Trump, in Las Vegas for the Nevada GOP’s caucuses last month, blasted his rival’s handling of migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Trump, stopping in Las Vegas before Nevada’s GOP caucuses in early February, slammed Biden’s handling of the mounting number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and called human trafficking of migrants “a weapon of mass destruction” against the U.S.
Even as the candidates gear up for their marathon to election day with more than seven months to go, interviews with more than two dozen voters, elected officials and political consultants in Arizona and Nevada revealed a collective ennui about Biden vs. Trump 2.0.
“There’s a voter fatigue, I think,” said Arizona House Minority Whip Nancy Gutierrez, a Democrat. “People are just sick of being bombarded, with no bipartisanship and no working together on many of the same issues.”
Democrats say Biden must do more to highlight what they claim as his accomplishments, including job creation tied in part to an infrastructure law that brought public works to Nevada and Arizona, and passage of a bipartisan gun control measure that increases background checks for younger firearm buyers.
They also cite the president’s efforts to protect access to abortion and contraception via executive orders after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe vs. Wade, and his support for a robust U.S. presence internationally, including through aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Republicans plan to rely on what they contend was America’s stronger standing during Trump’s four-year tenure in Washington, citing high levels of employment and lower inflation as hallmarks of his administration.
Trump, working to stay connected to his base in Arizona after his failed efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat, appears at a right-wing gathering in Phoenix in 2021.
(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
Trump also claims credit for building up the wall dividing the U.S. and Mexico to reduce illegal crossings, as well as for pushing through $3.2 trillion in tax cuts, appointing Supreme Court justices who rejected the nationwide right to abortion, pulling the U.S. out of trade agreements he said hurt American workers, and clearing the way for the U.S. to become the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas.
The state of the economy, a perennial centerpiece of presidential electioneering, is cited more than any other issue as the top concern in Nevada, which saw its unemployment rate spike to more than 30% during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unemployment in the state is just over 5% now, still the highest in the country. But even some with jobs express concern that high inflation has made it harder for them to pay their bills.
At a supermarket on the east side of Las Vegas last week, two men demonstrated the breadth of the disagreement about how the economy is doing.
Alberto Cardona said he didn’t care about all of the economists saying inflation had tapered off.
The electrician said they were “lying,” and he saw proof, literally, in the pudding. He said he paid 99 cents for a carton of pudding at the supermarket when Trump was president. Now it costs $1.47. He blamed Biden and other Democrats for the upswing, saying they supercharged inflation by overspending “and printing money that they don’t have.”
“Everything’s terrible right now. I’m living paycheck to paycheck, trying to support my family,” said Cardona, 50. He said he would vote for Trump.
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A few minutes later, Fernando Alcazar pronounced himself ready to vote for Biden.
“Look at what he’s done and where the country is headed,” said the 52-year-old gambling industry consultant. “The economy is good, and we’re going in the right direction.”
Though inflation has climbed much higher in earlier eras, the low inflation of the last two decades or so has made the recent upswing feel disabling, especially to younger people, said Stephen Miller, research director at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
But he said people’s views of the economy could be reshaped in the coming months.
“Between now and early fall, if grocery prices come down and gasoline prices come down, the mood will change,” Miller said. “We’ll see.”
Rep. Steven Horsford, a Democrat who represents Clark County in the U.S. House and chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, said that’s why it’s key for Biden to remain on point.
“You can’t only focus on the accomplishments, of which there are many,” Horsford said. “You’ve also got to talk about what you plan to do going forward.”
Biden smiles for supporters’ selfies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, last week after speaking on improving healthcare and lowering prescription drug prices.
(John Locher / Associated Press)
In both Nevada and Arizona, Democrats say access to abortion should be a winning issue for Biden. They described a wave of anger among their voters that followed the reversal of Roe.
Organizers hope to put measures supporting abortion access on the ballot in both states. Though a Nevada law protects access to abortion there, a political action committee is gathering signatures to qualify a measure that would enshrine abortion access into the state Constitution. The measure would apply for pregnancies of up to 24 weeks. Activists in Arizona are charting a similar course.
Republicans have a ballot measure of their own in Nevada: one that would require voters to present identification when they go to the polls.
The proposal responds to belief among conservatives that elections have seen widespread tainting by ineligible voters casting ballots. Though claims of such voter fraud have seldom been substantiated, they are accepted as a matter of faith, and are therefore highly motivating, to many in the GOP.
Immigration is a major campaign issue again. Here, migrants from Colombia wait at the southern border for U.S. officials to transport them to apply for asylum.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
With migrant crossings from Mexico to the U.S. hitting a high in recent months, even Democrats in cities well north of the border have expressed concern about the burden newcomers put on infrastructure and public services.
Republicans plan to focus intensely on the issue.
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is running for U.S. Senate in Arizona’s Republican primary this summer, said Biden’s policies supporting migrants underscore an inherent unfairness in the minds of voters he’s met. Along with the economy, Lamb said, nothing angers his constituents more than the sense of disorder at ports of entry and in communities where migrants enter the country.
“They’re very angry with the misappropriation of tax funds used to put these people up in hotel rooms, to give them transportation on airplanes and to give them, in some cases, gift cards, while we have American veterans and we have Americans who are homeless and are struggling,” Lamb said.
Democrats like Alcazar, the gambling industry consultant in Vegas, said it’s unfair and inaccurate to blame Biden for the surge of migrants. He noted that the White House had hammered out an immigration overhaul deal with congressional Republicans that included increased border security, only to have the GOP back away when Trump signaled his opposition.
“It was their chance to step up and do something about the issue,” Alcazar said. “But they didn’t follow through. Instead, they wanted Trump politics.”
In a nod to Arizona’s many Republican voters, Biden honored the late Sen. John McCain last fall in remarks on democracy in Tempe, Ariz. The two served across the Senate aisle from each other for over two decades.
(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)
As the oldest president at 81, Biden has faced repeated questions about his mental acuity and fitness to serve.
Robert Bailey, a political independent, said he has voted for candidates of both parties in the past, but wouldn’t consider Biden this time.
“He can’t remember things he needs to remember,” said Bailey, 57, a street performer in Las Vegas. “People just help him stay in office and get his job done.”
Some say Trump, 77, also shows signs of aging.
But more challenging critiques grow out of the dozens of criminal charges he faces — on allegations of illegality related to his attempts to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia and his stashing of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and of obstruction of justice; of having a role in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory; and of falsifying records related to hush money allegedly paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“We understand that Trump wants to take us backwards,” said Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, a Democrat. “You have Donald Trump running a campaign of creating doomsday scenarios and seeking retribution against his political opponents.”
Romero said Biden has a list of accomplishments that her constituents will feel the benefits of for decades. She cited the nearly $100 million that’s flowed to her city from the infrastructure and inflation-reduction measures he’s championed.
In Nevada, meanwhile, the Biden campaign will remind 12,000 residents about the student loan relief they got from the administration, and tell 22,000 seniors not to forget how Democrats capped the price of their insulin prescriptions.
Diane Farajian, 65, said that Trump was slow to respond to the coronavirus surge, and that he makes her uneasy. The retired Las Vegas blackjack dealer plans to vote for Biden, though she said she usually supports Republicans for the White House.
“We need good people in there,” Farajian said. “There was just so much trouble when Trump was in office.”
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump clinched their parties’ presidential nominations Tuesday with decisive victories in a slate of low-profile primaries, setting up a general election rematch that many voters do not want.
The outcome of contests across Georgia, Mississippi and Washington State was never in doubt. Neither Biden, a Democrat, nor Trump, a Republican, faced major opposition. But the magnitude of their wins gave each man the delegate majority he needed to claim his party’s nomination at the summertime national conventions.
Not even halfway through the presidential primary calendar, Tuesday marked a crystalizing moment for a nation uneasy with its choices in 2024.
There is no longer any doubt that the fall election will feature a rematch between two flawed and unpopular presidents. At 81, Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history, while the 77-year-old Trump is facing decades in prison as a defendant in four criminal cases. Their rematch – the first featuring two U.S. presidents since 1912 – will almost certainly deepen the nation’s searing political and cultural divides over the eight-month grind that lies ahead.
In a statement, Biden celebrated the nomination while casting Trump as a serious threat to democracy.
Trump, Biden said, “is running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America.”
He continued, “I am honored that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party – and our country – in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever.”
On the eve of Tuesday’s primaries, Trump acknowledged that Biden would be the Democratic nominee, even as seized on the president’s age.
“I assume he’s going to be the candidate,” Trump said of Biden on CNBC. “I’m his only opponent other than life, life itself.”
Both candidates dominated Tuesday’s primaries in swing-state Georgia, deep-red Mississippi and Democratic-leaning Washington. Voting was taking place later in Hawaii’s Republican caucus.
Despite their tough talk, the road ahead will not be easy for either presumptive nominee.
Trump is facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases involving his handling of classified documents and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, among other alleged crimes. He’s also facing increasingly pointed questions about his policy plans and relationships with some of the world’s most dangerous dictators. Trump met privately on Friday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has rolled back democracy in his country.
Biden, who would be 86 years old at the end of his next term, is working to assure a skeptical electorate that he’s still physically and mentally able to thrive in the world’s most important job. Voters in both parties are unhappy with his handling of immigration and inflation.
And he’s dealing with additional dissension within his party’s progressive base, furious that he hasn’t done more to stop Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Activists and religious leaders in Washington encouraged Democrats to vote “uncommitted” to signal their outrage.
In Seattle, 26-year-old voter Bella Rivera said they hoped their “uncommitted” vote would would serve as a wakeup call for the Democratic party.
“If you really want our votes, if you want to win this election, you’re going to have to show a little bit more either support of Palestinian liberation – that’s something that’s very important to us – and ceasing funds to Israel,” said Rivera, a preschool teacher who uses they/them pronouns.
Almost 3,000 miles away in Georgia, retiree Donna Graham said she would have preferred another Republican nominee over Trump, but she said there’s no way she’d ever vote for Biden in the general election.
“He wasn’t my first choice, but he’s the next best thing,” Graham said of Trump. “It’s sad that it’s the same old matchup as four years ago.”
Acceptance of marijuana has grown with the President talking about it positively in his State of the Union address, Missouri doing over $1 billion in sales and 85+% of the population believing it should be legal in some form. If you are new to cannabis or an old hat though, bongs can make for an excellent experience. Here are the best reason for a good bong.
Some people find bongs inconvenient and apropos to a college dorm room, but bongs are effective in managing dosages and treating your lungs with a little more care than a joint thanks to the water filter. Technology has evolved over the years, with devices now available to help keep your space clean, are more compact and, most importantly, make the most of your high priced stash.
Photo by secret agent mike/Getty Images
Better grasp on your dosage
Consistent doses are difficult to achieve when smoking weed. When rolling a joint or a blunt, these can end up coming out in different sizes, containing different grams of weed. When packing a bong, there’s always the same bowl, which allows for consistency and keeping better track of how much you smoke without having to count the amount of puffs you take.
A cleaner space
The easiest way to consume is a vape or gummies, but a bong has advantages also. Smoking requires something for ashes, a strong smell and generally a bit more mess, a bong can be both attractive in the space and be cleaner.
An easy way to clean a bong is to use rubbing alcohol and sea salt. Soak it for a while and then jostle it around. Rinse really well, let dry and put it away until next time.
Bongs are more efficient when it comes to prolonging your weed. Since you consume so much smoke per hit, they tend to get you high faster, with less puffs than if you were smoking a joint or blunt.
Water used in bongs allows the hits to be smoother and gentler on your lungs, preventing irritation and filtering out some of the ash that occurs with combustion. There’s also no need to add tobacco or paper, both compounds that damage your lungs.
So if you invest in a good bong, you can go old school and have a great journey.
His mentioning marijuana at the State of The Union was historic, but boy did he get some feedback when he tweeted.
The State of the Union address for many years was referred to as “the President’s Annual Message to Congress“. It is believed George Washington started the tradition and the term “State of the Union” first emerged in 1934 when used by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). President Biden mention of marijuana was historic and also showed how the plants reputation has come a long way from the war on drugs. And when he tweeted about it, things got spicy. Biden’s weed tweet got numbers and feedback – and the administration might be wise to pay attention.
The tweet on cannabis reached 14 million and had 12,000 comments and 104,000 likes. The President mentioned his marijuana pardons which drew a significant amount of feedback. According to BDSA, a leading analytics firm covering cannabis, the industry generated $29.5 billion in revue in 2023. When talking about a need to grow the economy and taxes, here is a fresh industry the public wants, but antiquated laws are punishing small businesses.
When you subtract comments not relating to weed, they fall in three categories. The first is the remaining resentment toward Vice President Harris for her historic stance on marijuana. The industry was at first excited when Biden was elected as he indicated he would move opening up legalization for cannabis. His slow pace along with VP Harris’s previous role has frustrated the industry and it shows by the sharp remarks.
Another large batch of comments were just about making a move already! Science, the American Medical Association, and the federal departments of the Healthy and Human Services (HHS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have all said there are benefits. People are clamoring for him to act and act quickly. But, it seems to the public eye, the administration has been very slow in fullfilling this promise from over 2020.
The third big conversation is his perception his pardons did more than they actually did for prisoners. Again, there is hard feelings about it and the online community want him to understand what he did and did not do.
While the industry is expanding, it is still in growth mode and needs basic help in continuing to grow. Rescheduling would allow state cannabis operators to take federal tax deductions they’re currently barred from under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E. This would give immediate benefits to the cannabis industry which is 50+% small businesses.
Marjorie Taylor Greene twice pressured President Biden at the State of the Union speech to say the name of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at the University of Georgia who was tragically murdered allegedly by an illegal immigrant while jogging on campus.
It worked. Sort of. If he only knew her name.
The first incident took place during the time-honored tradition in which the President walks into the chamber and is greeted by members of Congress as he heads off to deliver the State of the Union address.
In a direct face-to-face confrontation, Greene (R-GA) handed Biden a pin with Laken Riley’s name and face on it and demanded: “Laken Riley. Say her name.”
The suspect in Riley’s murder, Jose Ibarra, is an illegal immigrant who had been arrested in 2022 for illegally crossing the border near El Paso, Texas. Details of the case are gruesome.
Republicans suggest that her case is an example of the President’s failed open border policies.
Marjorie Taylor Greene directly confronts Joe Biden: “Laken Riley. Say her name.” pic.twitter.com/fVonGCuCxm
Greene Again Confronts Biden DURING The State Of The Union
Biden gave a rather contentious State of the Union speech, filled with partisan attacks against his political opponents, a noticeable break in decorum for such an event.
Many of his comments prompted shouting from Republican lawmakers who disapproved of his assertions. When the President spoke about the border crisis, Greene shouted again: “Say her name.”
And he did. Well, at least he tried to.
“Lincoln, Lincoln Riley,” Biden said, holding up the pin Greene had handed to him earlier. “An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.”
Biden going off script had to have left his handlers flummoxed. And he promptly made things worse by downplaying Riley’s murder and suggesting more Americans are being killed by “legals.”
President Biden being forced to say the name of a woman murdered by an illegal immigrant during the State of the Union address is a remarkable moment. Especially for a man who has run the single most pro-illegal administration in the history of this nation.
His own Department of Homeland Security warned against using the term “illegal alien” in 2021. And several Democrats were outraged that he used the word at all. More outraged, it would seem, than they were over the killing of Laken Riley itself.
There has been some debate over whether or not President Biden meant to say “illegals” or “legals” regarding his follow-up statement on Riley.
Former Fox News Producer Kyle Becker contends that the comment was terrible whichever way you look at it.
“If Biden meant to say LEGALS, Joe wasn’t just owning himself by showing he didn’t even know the girl’s name, he minimized her death for political points by equating it to a murder by legal migrant,” Becker wrote on X.
“If he meant ILLEGALS, then he is damning his own disastrous border policies.”
Here’s Why Biden’s Now-Infamous “Say Her Name” Response May Be Worse Than People Think
“Lincoln, Lincoln Riley. An innocent woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right. But how many of the thousands of people being killed by LEGALS (?).”
In addressing the murder of Laken Riley, President Biden did as he so often does. He compared her murder to the death of his son Beau.
“To her parents I say my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself, I understand,” he said.
Critics would suggest that Beau Biden’s death, while certainly tragic and heartbreaking, is not comparable to losing a child due to a highly preventable murder.
