Boehner Could Get Immigration Done Tomorrow

The U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill, SB 744, last June by a vote of 68-32.  From the liberal perspective it was pretty harsh, requiring people who are here peacefully providing for themselves and their families to wait 13 years for a path to citizenship.  It starts after  they have paid fines and application fees and waited 10 years as a "Registered Provisional Immigrant," demonstrating a work history all of that time with gaps of no more than 60 days, which is not always an easy feat for farm workers.  After that, they could apply for "permanent residence" and wait up to three more years.  The clock wouldn't start on any of this before the Border Patrol is doubled to 38,000 personnel, an additional 750 miles of fence is built, and their budget is doubled to $7 billion a year.  That's on top of a system that's already doubled its budget and personnel once since 1993.

But at the Republican price of making sure plenty of people get punished for many more years, at least there would at long last be a solution to the shadowy legal status of an estimated 11 million people in this country.  And it does include a DREAM Act provision to legalize young children brought in by their parents.  Fourteen Republican Senators joined the entire Democratic caucus to break the logjam and pass 744.  But since then, the GOP-controlled House of representatives has not taken up the legislation.  Observers agree there are plenty of votes in the House to pass immigration, counting all 199 Democrats and at least 25 of the 233 Republicans.  However, since the majority of the Republicans are opposed, Speaker John Boehner has allowed this national problem to fester rather than take a stand against the hardliners of his party.

The Speaker spoke of this recently back in his home district in Ohio.  He says he'd like to get immigration handled but says his GOP colleagues are afraid of the issue.  He then goes on to mock  their timidity.  He's really pretty funny.  See the you tube video here.  He chides them, reminding them that the reason they are elected is to make decisions.  What's ironic about the whole thing, of course, is that as Speaker of the House Boehner himself could order it brought up for a vote and get it solved tomorrow.  Instead, just like those he ridicules,  the Speaker is too afraid of criticism to take action on behalf of the peace of mind of 11 million human beings and on thousands of businesses that need a reliable labor supply.  It's shameful.     
        

I'm Working on a Book

In my spare time I have been writing a book.  It's about my conversion to a liberal political philosophy and a defense of the liberal perspective on many issues of the day.  The working title is Proud to be a Liberal.

I am drawing some of the material from my blog posts and am generating generating quite a bit more from new research and contemplation.  I count about 157 pages in 8 1/2 by 11 format, which, I am told, will come to approximately 105 pages in book form.  I'm probably about two-thirds finished with the project.

Here's a brief excerpt:

Being liberal is fun.  It’s fun to be right on the questions of the day, it’s fun to be on the right side of history and it’s fun to have a clear moral conscience about human issues.  A liberal is motivated out of a sense of love and community spirit, beginning with a belief in the equality and dignity of every human being.  That is why liberals have always been the strongest defenders of civil and political rights.  A liberal is concerned first with human needs—what do people need to make their lives freer, healthier and more prosperous—and then looks for opportunities to help secure them. 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines liberalism as: ”a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties; specifically: such a philosophy that considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (as those involving race, gender, or class).”

That means a liberal is an idealist, someone who envisions a better world and wants to help bring it about.  Because a liberal is an idealist who wants to make things better in the world, liberals tend to embrace beneficial change, that is, change for the good.  Another term for beneficial change is progress and so liberals are often referred to as progressives.  At one time there was even a political party in America called the Progressive Party that embodied these ideals.    

I am happy to get your reactions, feedback and suggestions.

Steve

Marijuana Use and Attitudes Among Young Adults

Recently we were covering the 1920s in one of my U.S. History classes at COS.  One of the signature characteristics of that decade was Prohibition.  The passage of the 18^th Amendment in 1918 banned the manufacture, sale, transportation and export of alcoholic beverages.  The fifteen-year Prohibition period was marked by widespread evasion of the law, and the growth of organized crime syndicates  to provide illegal liquor.   Prohibition ended in 1933, when the 21st Amendment, the repeal of Prohibition, was passed.   

Class discussion turned to the question of whether the situation regarding marijuana today is similar to that of alcohol in the 1920s.  Class members suggested I take a survey of the students in all my classes regarding marijuana use and student attitudes about it.  The results were interesting enough I thought it might be worthwhile to share them with the community at large.  Keep in mind these results cannot be considered rigorously scientific; the sample size was the 179 students in my six History classes, the respondents are all current college students and the great majority are approximately the same age.     

       

The survey was confidential and consisted of six items.  The first two questions were to find out the demographics of the respondents.  Question 1 was gender.  51 percent of the students were male and 49 percent were female.  Question 2 was age, with two categories.  81 percent of respondents were 24 and under, while 19 percent were 25 or older. 

The next two questions explored marijuana use.  Question 3 asked, “Have you ever used marijuana?”  55 percent said yes and 45 percent said no.  Question 4 was, “Have you used marijuana in the past month?”  17 percent reported they had, and 83 percent said they had not.

The last two questions elicited student opinions on marijuana legality.  Question 5 asked “Should marijuana be legal for medical use?”  80 percent said yes, 16 percent said no and 4 percent had no opinion.  Question 6 asked, “Should marijuana be legal for recreational use?”  41 percent said yes, 50 percent said no and 8 percent had no opinion. 

Analysis of the results is informative.  A majority of the young adults surveyed have tried marijuana at least once, but a substantial minority of 45 percent  have not.  Only about one-sixth of all respondents have used marijuana in the past month, indicating that the great majority are not frequent users.

There was very heavy support for medical marijuana.  The ratio was five to one in favor, with only a small percentage undecided on the issue.  On the other hand, among these young adults, the majority opposed legalizing marijuana for recreational use.   The raw numbers were 90 in favor, 74 opposed and 15 undecided.  That computes to a 9-percent margin in favor of keeping it illegal.  

There was a significant difference between men and women in use and attitudes.  59 percent of men had tried marijuana compared to 51 percent of the women.  20 percent of the men had used in the past month compared to 14 percent among women.  Support for medical marijuana was overwhelming in both groups, but higher for the men.  85 percent of the men were in favor compared to 76 percent of the women.  There was an especially large difference of opinion on legalizing marijuana for recreational use.  The men were in narrowly in favor, 51 percent to 46 percent, with 3 percent undecided.  But women were strongly against legalization.  Only 31 percent were in favor compared to 55 percent against.  There was also a much larger undecided group of 14 percent. 

The upshot to me was that, at least among this limited sample, marijuana use is not as widespread as many proponents believe, and that a consensus for legalization does not exist at this time, even among the age group where it might be supposed that support is strongest. 

Don't Buy from the Kochs

You may have heard of the Koch brothers. Charles and David Koch (pronounced like “coke”) are heirs to one of the largest fortunes in the world.  Koch Industries, which began in oil refining and branched out into a diversified conglomerate, earns revenue in excess of a hundred billion dollars a year.  Company founder Fred Koch was an early member of the John Birch Society, an ultra-right-wing conspiracy theorist organization.  The Koch's network of foundations gives hundreds of millions a year to Republican, Libertarian and Tea Party causes, think tanks and candidates, with such goals as destroying workers’ union rights, gutting consumer protections, rolling back environmental safeguards, privatizing Medicare and Social Security and repealing Obamacare.  

The recent Citizens United  and McCutcheon Supreme Court decisions have greatly amplified the amount of political influence peddling their organizations can do.  The last thing a Democrat or progressive person should want to do is buy products that make the Kochs even richer so they can contribute even more to right-wing causes.  The link below will take you to a list of Koch Industries consumer products.  You can help the cause simply by not buying these items. 

Koch Industries consumer brands.