-
-
Should Healthcare Be Free For Everyone? Is This A Trick Question
Healthcare Should Be Free For Everyone.
-
WHAT DO YOU THINK ???
Once again the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has been caught using taxpayer money to influence politics. I urge you to amend federal law to prohibit the Drug Czar and his deputies from using taxpayer money to lobby or campaign. A recent investigation by the Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) used taxpayer money to boost support for Republican candidates in 2006. U.S. Drug Czar John Walters and his deputies traveled to almost twenty events with vulnerable Republican members of Congress in the months prior to the election. The taxpayer-financed trips were orchestrated by President Bush's political advisors and often combined with the announcement of federal grants or actions that benefited the districts of the Republican members. A November 20, 2006, memo from Sara Taylor, the former White House Director of Political Affairs, summarizes the travel Drug Czar John Walters took at her request. An agency e-mail sent the following day describes how Karl Rove commended his agency (and three cabinet departments Commerce, Transportation, and Agriculture) for "going above and beyond the call of duty" in making "surrogate appearances" at locations the e-mail described as "the god awful places we sent them." That e-mail, as well as e-mails that followed, show that ONDCP officials were proud of the commendation they received from Mr. Rove and the political travel they took using taxpayer dollars. According to ONDCP's liaison to the White House, Douglas Simon, "Our hard work...in preparing the Director and Deputies for their trips and events" allowed them to travel "thousands of miles to attend numerous events all across the country." The Drug Czar and his staff also routinely use taxpayer money to campaign against proposed state laws they personally don't like. During the 2002 election, for instance, ONDCP's campaigning on a Nevada ballot initiative was so intense that the state's Attorney General complained in a letter to the Nevada Secretary of State that, "it is unfortunate that a representative of the federal government substantially intervened in a matter that was clearly a State of Nevada issue. The excessive federal intervention that was exhibited in this instance is particularly disturbing because it sought to influence the outcome of a Nevada election." More recently, ONDCP officials traveled to New Mexico four times in 12 months at taxpayer expense to lobby state legislators to oppose a proposed medical marijuana bill. They conducted similar lobbying trips to other states. In 2006 Congress included a provision in the ONDCP Reauthorization Act that prohibits ONDCP from using the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign to support or oppose legislation, regulations, ballot measures or candidates. I urge you to expand this ban to prohibit ONDCP officials from using any taxpayer money to lobby or campaign.
Sincerely,
Drug Policy Alliance Once again the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has been caught using taxpayer money to influence politics. I urge you t... more -
PAT ROGERS, WHO NEW?
The failure of the war on drugs is that we policy makers fail to see that police cannot be all things to all people. And that, in our democratic society, police alone cannot embody and represent the entirety of our rule of law. The rule of law is more than just enforcement. The rule of law is a trust between the people, policy makers and police that given a reasonable regulatory regime most citizens will choose to live within the regime leaving police free to better protect us all from the limited population of predators who try to thrive on marginal illegal market demand. The failure of the war on drugs is that we policy makers fail to see that police cannot be all things to all people. And that, in our ... more
-
please read this
GO PLACIDLY AMID THE NOISE AND THE HASTE AND REMEMBER WHAT PEACE THERE MAY BE IN SILENCE.AS FAR AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they to have there story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not stress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness . Beyond a wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all it's sham ,drudgery and broken dreams;it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy ..... GO PLACIDLY AMID THE NOISE AND THE HASTE AND REMEMBER WHAT PEACE THERE MAY BE IN SILENCE.AS FAR AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT surrender be on go... more
-
THIS IS A GOAL OF MINE, HOW ABOUT YOU!
GO PLACIDLY AMID THE NOISE AND THE HASTE AND REMEMBER WHAT PEACE THERE MAY BE IN SILENCE.AS FAR AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they to have there story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not stress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all it's sham ,drudgery and broken dreams;it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy ..... GO PLACIDLY AMID THE NOISE AND THE HASTE AND REMEMBER WHAT PEACE THERE MAY BE IN SILENCE.AS FAR AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT surrender be on go... more
-
related topics
Clean Needle Exchange
Contributors (7)
Clean Needle Exchange
