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18 Members of Congress Ask Obama to Reclassify Marijuana

Eighteen members of the United States Congress this week wrote a letter to President Obama asking him to reclassify Cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a lower level which would allow medical uses. The current DEA classification means that, in the eyes of the federal government, there’s no legitimate use for marijuana. Even cocaine and meth have limited medical legitimacy.

60% of Americans Say They Don't Understand What Super PACs Are

Campaigns are big business. And, like any business, it requires raw materials in order to produce a finished product. In elections the raw material is money and the finished product is power and influence.

Campaign contributions are closely regulated. According to the Federal Elections Commission, an individual is limited to $2,600 per candidate or candidate committee per election.

There Are No Religious Objections to Treating People with Dignity

Tuesday, the Kansas House or Representatives passed a bill

HB 2453, with the short title “Protecting religious freedom regarding marriage.” The bill is now being debated in the Senate, where its chances for passing look good.

Is Open Government a Barrier to Legislative Action?

“Closed-door interactions.” That’s what the American Political Science Association (APSA) has recommended as one way to tackle congressional inaction. An APSA task force suggests that less transparency in government has clear and actionable benefits which can bolster the ability of Congress to resolve difficult policy issues.

A More Inclusive Presidential Primary Would Motivate Voters to Participate

It seems that in every cycle there is debate about which states should hold the first presidential primary elections. Some state always seems to try to jump ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Since

1972, the Iowa Caucuses have been first in the nation and New Hampshire has been the first "primary" since 1920.

The Story of Kay Shea: Farmers and Nationwide Affiliates Treatment of 86 Year Old

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxmGjcTWKuo

Meet Kay Shea, now 86 years old, 83 at the time of her accident. In August 2011, Kay was hit head on by a 17-year-old boy on a two lane road in central Missouri. She was taken by air ambulance to the hospital where she would stay for the next 5+ months. Her injuries are too many to list here, the hospital bills were over $800,000.

It's Not About Parties, It's About Voters: An Argument for Open Primaries in Washington, DC

Occasionally, an editorial from another publication will catch my eye while looking through Google about how independents are either a myth or nothing more than "political hipsters." In a recent op-ed in the

Washington Blade, written by Pete

Number of Initiatives to Legalize Marijuana in California Now at 4

The number of

marijuana legalization initiatives vying for the November ballot in California is now four.

The “Cannabis Policy Reform Act of 2014,″ by marijuana activist Ed Rosenthal, was submitted late last month to the California Attorney General’s office. The AG approves language for circulation (or signature gathering). That usually takes about a month.

Raising Wages in Mexico Could Sharply Reduce Illegal Immigration, Experts Say

One of the benefits sold by former U.S. President Bill Clinton to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993 was that the agreement would reduce illegal immigration substantially. Twenty years after it was enacted, experts mostly do not agree on the particular effect NAFTA has on immigration.

Using the numbers to analyze it, the results are confusing. For years after the bill, the number of undocumented Mexicans in the United States skyrocketed from 2.5 million in 1995 to 11 million in 2005.

How the U.S. is Losing Latin America

Recently, American foreign policy priorities have been highly focused on the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. Between winding down the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and navigating the tumult caused by the Arab Spring, President Obama has spent much of his diplomatic capital in the Middle East.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the president has further increased American diplomatic involvement. For the past few years, the U.S.