Friday, April 12, 2013

Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest aboard Air Force One en route Chicago, Illinois, 2/15/2013

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For Immediate Release February 15, 2013 Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest aboard Air Force One en route Chicago, Illinois, 2/15/2013 Aboard Air Force OneEn Route Chicago, Illinois  1:25 P.M. EST MR. EARNEST:  Welcome aboard Air Force One for our trip to Chicago.  We will only be there a few hours, and then we'll go somewhere much warmer, to Florida for the evening.  I'll make some opening remarks and describe to you a little bit more about the President's event in Chicago today, and then we'll open it up to questions.   Today, the President will visit Hyde Park Academy in the Woodlawn neighborhood in Chicago where he will deliver remarks to Hyde Park Academy students, faculty, and community leaders on the economic proposals from his State of the Union address designed to strengthen the middle class and those striving to get there. Woodlawn is a community where there is a locally organized, all-hands-on-deck approach to provide educational support for students, improve housing, expand economic opportunity, and attract jobs.  That effort makes Woodlawn an appropriate backdrop for the President's focus today on the importance of building ladders of opportunity into the middle class.  That includes policies that ensure that every child gets a great education starting from their earliest years; that our young people grow up in strong communities; that there are clearer opportunities for good jobs for all Americans; and that we support financial security for working families. These policies would benefit middle-class families in every single congressional district in the country.  So every member of Congress who agrees with the President that our nation is strong only when we have a thriving middle class should be strongly supportive of this effort. Now, prior to his remarks, the President will participate in a private roundtable discussion with 16 students who are enrolled in a youth anti-violence program.  This program is a school-based counseling, mentoring, violence prevention and educational enrichment program that promotes social, emotional and behavioral growth for at-risk young men.  The group is a mix of students who have voluntarily joined the program and those who have been urged by their principal to join. As the President has often said in the past, there are important steps we can take as a country to keep guns out of the wrong hands and get weapons of war off the street.  And he will talk about that again today, as well.  But we must also recognize that it's not enough to debate the role of government in reducing violence.  It’s up to parents, teachers, principals, neighbors and communities as a whole to make a difference in the lives of our young people and steer them away from a life of gang violence and toward the classroom.   So with that, we'll take some questions. Q    Will there be any sort of spray of that meeting?  Will we go in at all?  Or just --  MR. EARNEST:  There won't be.   Q    Josh, he’s got a lot built in -- extra time in his schedule before and after.  Is there any chance that he's going to meet with victims' families of the shooting? MR. EARNEST:  I don’t at this point have any additional meetings to read out to you.  The roundtable discussion that the President will participate in with the young men that I just mentioned will take up some time, and that is what a bulk of that time is devoted to. Q    A couple of questions on Hagel.  Has the White House ever said why it thinks Senate Republicans are linking Hagel's confirmation to the events in Benghazi?  I mean, why are they so insistent on linking the two? MR. EARNEST:  Well, that’s a good question.  In some ways, that may be a question that’s better posed to the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  I mean, the thing I can do is I can certainly restate to you the efforts -- the lengths, frankly, that we've gone to, to try to accommodate the requests for information that have been posed by some Republican senators.  Again, we’ve hosted 20 member and staff briefings on this topic; 10 different congressional hearings; six different witness interviews.  We’ve responded to 40 different inquiries, totaling up to 10,000 pages of documents.   But one thing I would add is Senator McCain gave an interview on Fox News yesterday explaining why he was delaying  -- why he supported the delay in this confirmation vote.  And I just want to read the exact quote from what he said, because I think it's pretty enlightening.  He begins saying, "To be honest with you, Neil" -- I didn’t go to journalism school, but I think if I were a journalism professor I would encourage journalists' ears to perk up when an interview -- when a person answering a question says, "to be honest with you."    So in this case Senator McCain says, "To be honest with you, Neil, it goes back to -- there's a lot of ill will towards Senator Hagel, because when he was a Republican, he attacked President Bush."  Senator McCain goes on to say later in the interview that Senator Hagel was "very anti his own party and people.  People don’t forget that," Senator McCain said.  He finished saying, "You can disagree, but if you're disagreeable, then people don’t forget that."   I think this is ironic -- well, I think this is clarifying.  Because this is one of the things -- one of the concerns that we expressed at the very beginning of this nomination process, was that we articulated our view that Republicans should not oppose Senator Hagel merely because he was critical of the war in Iraq.  Ironically, the President -- one of the reasons that the President chose Senator Hagel is because -- is that he demonstrated the courage of his convictions in standing up to intense political opposition to articulate his concerns about the war in Iraq.   This demonstrates somebody who is of strong character, but also somebody who has a lot of good insight into the proper use of our military might.   Q    Now that the nomination has been delayed -- I mean, that’s going to give opponents -- Hagel’s opponents some more time to oppose him and beat the drum against him.  Is the White House -- is there any sort of effort to counter that in these next 10 days or so until his nomination comes to the Senate again? MR. EARNEST:  Well, you have asked me a question about whether or not the Republicans in the Senate are going to try to politically capitalize on this delay.  I would actually make the case to you that this delay is a political tactic.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there are additional politics that are injected into this circumstance.  It is extremely unfortunate.  I referred to the President choosing Senator Hagel because of the courage of his convictions -- of Senator Hagel -- because of Senator Hagel demonstrating the courage of his convictions and the insight that he has demonstrated into foreign policy.  That’s exactly the kind of insight and exactly the kind of courage that our men and women -- 66,000 of whom are serving in Afghanistan right now -- need in their Secretary of Defense. Next weekend, there will be a meeting of our NATO allies in Brussels where defense ministers from those allies will be participating in discussions about our drawdown in Iraq -- I mean, in Afghanistan -- will be participating in discussions about our drawdown in Afghanistan.  Our new Secretary of Defense, who will be responsible for coordinating those efforts, won’t be there. So it’s unfortunate there are Republicans in this case who are choosing to play politics as opposed to doing the right thing. Q    But I think the question, though, was, is the White House prepared with some sort of ready response team to counter the attacks that are sure to surface on former Senator Hagel during this 10-day period.  And do you guys have your fax machine warmed up, ready to --  MR. EARNEST:  Our fax machine, huh?  (Laughter.)  That was funny. Q    The opponents have just bought themselves 10 days to muddy the waters.  Are you guys ready to -- MR. EARNEST:  Again, I think it’s unfortunate that people are choosing to play politics with such an important issue at such a critically important time. I should say we’re confident that Senator Hagel is going to be confirmed.  We are challenging Republicans to drop their opposition -- or at least drop their delay.  I mean, this is the other -- I guess this is the other point that I should make.  This is unprecedented.  Senator McCain, ironically enough, in a previous interview with Fox News, actually pointed out and acknowledged the unprecedented nature of filibustering the President’s nominee to be Secretary of Defense.  At that point, you’d think that might be ancient history.  That was five days ago that Senator McCain said that he didn’t support doing that. Q    Has the President spoken yet to Senator McCain or to Senator Graham? MR. EARNEST:  I don’t have any calls to read out to you at this point. Q    Can I ask -- I’d like to ask you about --  Q    One more thing about Hagel.  Are you going to provide any more information to them to try to satisfy their concerns? MR. EARNEST:  You mean in addition to the 20 member and staff briefings, the 10 congressional hearings, the 6 witness interviews, the 40 inquiries we’ve responded to totaling 10,000 pages of documents, and the letter that was sent to Senate Republicans yesterday by the White House Counsel?  I don’t have anything else to telegraph to you that we might send to them via fax machine or any other modality. Q    Has the President spoken to Senator Hagel in the last couple of days? MR. EARNEST:  I don’t have any conversations to read out to you at this point. Q    Now, after the President leaves Chicago, we know he’s going to Florida for what’s been described as a guy’s weekend.  We’ve read some reports in other publications about some of the details but haven’t gotten the full low-down from the White House.  So let’s just do it for the record if we can.  Can you describe -- is he playing golf?  Is it at the Floridian?  Is he getting a lesson from Tiger Woods’s former coach, Butch Harmon?  I’ve got a couple more, but --  MR. EARNEST:  I don’t have all those details handy, so why don’t we talk on the way to Florida and I can get you some more details on this.  But as I mentioned yesterday, the President is looking forward to spending President’s Day weekend with some friends in Florida, and I’m sure they’ll take advantage of the opportunity to play some golf. Q    Can you tell us what access the press will have to the President during this weekend? MR. EARNEST:  I don’t know what all the logistics are for this weekend.  The truth is I’m trying to get through our event in Chicago, but that’s certainly something we can talk about before we arrive in Florida. Q    And will you release the list of the friends that he’s playing with and staying with this weekend?  MR. EARNEST:  I’ll work on getting that done.  Again, I really just haven’t had a chance to look at it yet, but I’ll be there, too, and I’ll be working to try to do my best to get you the information that you need to do your job while you’re there. Q    And is Ben Rhodes -- I’m curious to know why he’s on the trip.  Is there -- I mean, is this also a working weekend for him?  Is there something that can be read into this, or is he an avid golfer?  (Laughter.) MR. EARNEST:  I have not been on the golf course with Ben before.  Typically, when the President travels overnight, away from the White House, he’ll often bring a member of his national security team just to be there to brief him and keep him updated as necessary on world events.  That’s the reason that Ben is coming.  I’m not sure that Ben brought his golf clubs. Q    I’ve got a question on Benghazi.  So Senator Graham was on Fox News recently and he said that DNI Clapper made the President aware of the two IED attacks on the consulate in April and June.  Now, did the President take any action then? MR. EARNEST:  I have to refer you to my -- for that kind of a detailed, tick-tock question, I’d refer you to my colleagues at the National Security Staff, who can get you -- who can try to get you some more details on this.  I don’t have that information in front of me.   Q    North Korea is telling China that they may set off two more nuclear tests this year.  Is there anything you can do to stop them?  Or what’s your reaction? MR. EARNEST:  Well, I’ve seen the reports that apparently originated with some Chinese sources, I believe, about those conversations.  I’m not aware of the content of those conversations.  Suffice it to say, we have warned North Korea about the damaging consequences, or at least the -- I should say, the further isolation that’s caused by their failure to live up to their international obligations.  Each time we see one of these nuclear tests, it further isolates the country of North Korea, which has a terrible impact on the people of North Korea.  It doesn’t serve their interests. So we encourage the North Koreans to live up to their international obligations, abandon their nuclear program, and work with the rest of the international community to become a responsible member of the international community. Q    There was a report, shortly before we took off, that various world powers are signaling to Iran that they may ease gold sanctions in exchange for shutting down the Fordow plant.  Can you talk about -- what can you confirm about that and what the U.S.’s role in this is? MR. EARNEST:  I don’t have anything on those reports.  I do know that the United States and other members of the P5-plus-1 are looking forward to the talks that will take place in a couple of weeks in Kazakhstan.  But in terms of those -- what kinds of things might be litigated at that meeting, or what kinds of negotiations may be underway in advance of that meeting, I don’t have anything on that for you. Q    Since Rhodes is on the plane, is that something that maybe you can get back to us on? MR. EARNEST:  I’ll look into it.  If we have something on it, I can get it to you. Q    There’s also a report that Mrs. Obama and her daughters are -- have a separate vacation plan for this weekend.  Can you just confirm that? MR. EARNEST:  Those of you who have been covering the White House know that the First Lady and her two daughters, on a pretty annual basis around this time, will go on a ski trip out west with some family friends, and they’re doing that again this year. Q    The President doesn’t like skiing?  (Laughter.) MR. EARNEST:  The President is looking forward to -- Q    Colorado is a swing state.  (Laughter.) MR. EARNEST:  The President is looking forward to a couple rounds of golf this weekend. Q    Has General John Allen told the President he does not want to be nominated as NATO Supreme Commander? MR. EARNEST:  I’m glad you asked that question.  I know that Secretary Panetta talked about this just a little bit yesterday.  The President has appreciated the service of General Allen in Afghanistan.  He’s coming off a 19-month tenure of service there, in a really pressure-packed situation.  This was not -- a stressful role that he played.  The President has relied on him quite a bit over the last 19 months as we’ve navigated some very complicated issues, and again, initiated this drawdown of our men and women out of Afghanistan.   General Allen has said that, as he considers his next assignment, that he wanted to spend some time talking to his family about what he’d like to do next.  And that’s certainly something that is understandable given what he’s been up to the last 19 months.  And so we’re happy to give him the opportunity to consider what he would like to do next. But suffice it to say, the President has a ton of confidence in General Allen, not just because of the great work that he did over the last 19 months in Afghanistan, but because of the wisdom and advice that he shared with the President on a range of issues before that.  So certainly, we'd like to look for an opportunity for General Allen to continue his service to his country. Q    Will the President meet with General Allen to talk about his future? MR. EARNEST:  There's no meeting that I'm aware of right now that's on the schedule.   Q    So it's unclear whether he's going to take this NATO job or something else? MR. EARNEST:  Well, it's something that he said that he would like the opportunity to discuss with his family.  And we're certainly comfortable with his -- Q    So it’s on pause -- it’s on hold until we hear more? MR. EARNEST:  Yes.  Q    What is your sense of how much of the President's remarks today will be devoted to guns and gun violence and homicide in Chicago, et cetera? MR. EARNEST:  Well, as I mentioned, the focus of the President's remarks today will be on the priority of building ladders of opportunity for those Americans who are scratching and clawing, trying to get into the middle class.  So he'll talk about some of the initiatives that he discussed in the State of the Union and even some of the initiatives that he's talked about over the last couple of days.   He'll talk about the difference that it would make to raise the minimum wage up to $9 an hour.  This would literally mean the difference between a family of four whose head of household has a full-time, minimum wage job.  Currently, the head of a household of four who has a full-time, minimum wage job is actually raising his family below the poverty line -- his or her family below the poverty line.  So giving a raise to $9 an hour would have a real impact on the standard of living for families like that.   This is why the President believes it’s important to invest in high-quality early childhood education programs.  We've seen that investments like this for every dollar that we invest in these kinds of programs, we can save seven taxpayer dollars because of the impact it has on educational achievement down the road, because of the impact it has on things like teen pregnancy rates and even on violent crime rates.  So the President will talk primarily about some of these issues.  But the other thing that's true -- and Secretary Duncan speaks about this very eloquently -- that our kids are not going to be successful in the classroom if they're scared of violence in their school.  So the President is going to talk about -- in addition to these other policies that are critical to expanding economic opportunity, he's also going to talk about making our community safer.  And one of the things that he'll also talk about are “promise zones.”  Promise zones are an idea where we can coordinate and integrate federal assistance to communities that are struggling both economically and otherwise.  So what we can do is we can devote resources from the Department of Justice to fund law enforcement programs.  We can dedicate funding from HUD to expand housing options in these communities.  We can dedicate money from the Department of Education to improve schools and to expand educational programs.  Integrating all these programs is critical to offering a ladder of opportunity to the families that live there.  So the President really will be making an effort to focus on the economy, but trying to separate that completely from gun violence is impractical.   Anybody else?  Thanks, everybody.   END1:44 P.M. EST

Extending Middle Class Tax Cuts

Blog posts on this issue February 15, 2013 6:41 PM ESTPresident Obama Welcomes Italian President NapolitanoPresident Obama Welcomes Italian President Napolitano

The two leaders discussed the world economy and President Obama's plan to pursue a U.S.-European Union free trade agreement, which was mentioned in his State of the Union address earlier this week.

February 15, 2013 6:32 PM ESTWeekly Wrap Up: “We Don’t Give Up”

Here’s a quick glimpse at what happened this week on WhiteHouse.gov.

February 15, 2013 4:45 PM ESTOpen For Questions: The State of the Union and Immigration Reform

Cecilia Muñoz, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, answers questions from the public about immigration reform and President Obama's State of the Union Address in an “Open for Questions” session moderated by Elianne Ramos from LATISM.

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65 Republicans Supported Increasing The Minimum Wage When Bush Was President

Credit: Alex Wong (Getty Images)

President Obama’s call for a minimum wage increase in Tuesday’s State of the Union address — like nearly all of his proposals — was met with immediate opposition from Congressional Republicans. But six years ago, many of the same Republicans supported a similar proposal backed by Republican President George W. Bush.

A ThinkProgress analysis finds that at least 67 Republicans who are still in Congress today backed an increase in the minimum wage in some form, including Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).

Political momentum for an increase began in 2004, after President Bush announced his support for a bill by now-Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). After Democrats won majorities of the House and Senate in the 2006 elections, a minimum wage increase became one of their first priorities. The Fair Minimum Wage Act — which also included tax cuts for small businesses — passed the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. When the increase was folded into a larger appropriations bill, it again passed with strong bipartisan support and was eventually signed into law by Bush. 26 House Republicans even signed a letter to then-House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), asking for a vote on a minimum wage increase, including current Representatives Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Peter King (R-NY), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), and Fred Upton (R-MI). In incremental stages, the law raised the minimum wage from $5.15-per-hour to $7.25.

Though Ryan ultimately voted against the measure, he argued that he supported raising the hourly rate as long as it came with a suitable “offset” of small business relief. “Last year, I supported an increase in the minimum wage because it also included tax relief measures for employers to offset the cost of the proposed minimum wage increase,” he noted in a floor speech, as he announced “with great regret” that he could not back the bill without more small business tax cuts.

Like most Republicans, however, Ryan struck a far more defiant tone in response to Obama’s proposal, dispensing of any caveats and telling CNN that “I think it actually is counterproductive in many ways. You end up costing jobs from people who are at the bottom rung of the economic ladder.”


In addition to the letter-signers, those voting for the 2007 increase also included current Members of Congress:

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)

The minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. Adjusted for inflation, the real hourly minimum has dropped 33 centers per hour already, since that year.


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President Obama Signs Mississippi Disaster Declaration

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Mississippi and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding beginning on February 10, 2013, and continuing.

The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Forrest and Lamar Counties.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work in Forrest and Lamar Counties.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Terry L. Quarles as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. 

FEMA said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed.

FEMA said that residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance tomorrow by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.

Extending Middle Class Tax Cuts

President Obama Welcomes Italian President Napolitano

The two leaders discussed the world economy and President Obama's plan to pursue a U.S.-European Union free trade agreement, which was mentioned in his State of the Union address earlier this week.

Here’s a quick glimpse at what happened this week on WhiteHouse.gov.

Cecilia Muñoz, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, answers questions from the public about immigration reform and President Obama's State of the Union Address in an “Open for Questions” session moderated by Elianne Ramos from LATISM.

view all related blog posts

View the original article here

The Obscuring of Black Culture, Or Why I Hate The Fake ‘Harlem Shake’ Meme

The pretender in action

I was confused, and somewhat excited, earlier this week when I first saw a link to a video that purported that the Norwegian Army was captured on video doing the Harlem Shake. Memories flooded back to my time in high school in Flint, MI, and watching my classmates pull off the moves associated with the dance in the darkness of the gym. I clicked, curious to see how a dance associated with Harlem had made its way to Norway after all these years.

That hint of excitement soon gave way to disappointment. Expecting the smooth choreography that I had known, what I was greeted with was a mass of flailing to an electonica song I’d never heard before. The song wasn’t the issue, called “Harlem Shake” and released by Harry Rodrigues, also known as the producer Baauer, last year. No, my problem was with the dancing itself. No unity, no precision, no sense that anything was going on other than pure chaos hiding under the label of a dance that’s existed for years.

That disappointment in turn gave way to dismay when I realized that the Norwegian video was by no means a fluke, but instead just one entry in what has become a meme of global proportions. That meme reached what I can only hope is its breaking point as the anti-debt group “The Can Kicks Back” posted their own version of the video, showing former Former Comptroller General David Walker and former Office of Management and Budget Director Alice Rivlin taking part:

If that truly is the death knell of this meme, I certainly will not miss it once it’s gone.

At first, I was willing to keep my complaints to myself, thinking I was being a buzzkill to the people in the videos who are clearly having a good time filming them for whatever audience they hope to achieve. It soon became clear to me that I wasn’t alone in my annoyance. The Root took a look at the history of the original Harlem Shake in a piece documenting the rise of the meme to the detriment of the classic dance:

Al B, a man who used to dance during breaks at the Entertainer’s Basketball Classic at Rucker Park in Harlem beginning in 1981, has gotten much of the Internet credit for inventing the original Harlem Shake, a dance characterized by wild jerking of the arms and upper body. At one point, it was referred to as the “Albee.”

In a barely comprehensible 2003 interview with basketball website InsideHoops.com, Al B says the dance originated with mummies in Egypt, who shook because they didn’t have freedom to use their limbs. “It was a drunken dance, you know, from the mummies, in the tombs,” he asserted. “That’s what the mummies used to do. They was all wrapped up and taped up. So they couldn’t really move, all they could do was shake.”

VICE also published a piece yesterday by Drew Millard taking the Internet to task for spreading the new meme without recognizing the original Harlem Shake’s cultural significance:

Whenever I look at an Internet full of (mostly) white people doing a bastardized version of a dance that has the same name as another dance (and lest we forget, is named after fucking Harlem), and they’re doing that dance to Trap, a style of EDM that took the name (and some sonic signifiers) of an already-existent style of hip-hop that had a very specific set of sociopolitical implications, and people aren’t finding it at least a little problematic, it makes me feels like I’m taking crazy pills.

The Root article went on to point out that “though the co-opting happened quite by accident, the damage may already be irreversible, as it has been all but stripped of its cultural context and meaning.” Both Millar and The Root are right to be looking at this trend through the lens of race. The Harlem Shake is just the latest data point when it comes to the appropriation of black culture — especially music — and the white-washing that takes place once its conquered.

In the 1950s, rock and roll songs like “Tutti Fruitti” were made acceptable to the mainstream through artists like Pat Boone, depriving their originators of both credit and compensation. While the Harlem Shake entering the consciousness of the mainstream doesn’t have that same stigma of deliberate obscuring of black performers, it definitely helps bury the memory of just where the name came from and what it means to a certain segment of population.

Case in point: when searching on Google for “Harlem Shake” today, only one link is to a page not talking solely about the meme, a Vulture collection of music videos from the early to mid-2000s featuring the dance, hoping to preserve its memory. At a time in the world when the primary way of learning about new information comes via a quick Google, this is paramount to a destruction of history.

There are certainly times when the leaking of black culture into the mainstream produces a synergy that in some ways exceeds the previous product. The introduction of jazz, rock and roll, and rap into the mainstream by white artists eventually helped promote black artists and propel them into the public consciousness in a way that may not have been possible otherwise, resulting in a better product that was able to reach more people.

That clearly is not what’s happening here, though. Jadakiss and Eve weren’t exactly flying below the public’s radar in 2001 when they helped popularize the dance. Instead, the dilution promoted by this meme does nothing to advance the music, the dance, or the culture of the original. I’m highly doubtful that there’s anyone out there who would be willing to look me in the eye and tell me that this is a better piece of performance than this.


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New York Mayor: Minor Marijuana Possession No Longer Means A Night In Jail

Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), arrests in New York City for marijuana have skyrocketed. And while Bloomberg made clear during a radio interview Friday that he does not support legalization of marijuana, he is ready to soften his stance. Bloomberg announced during his State of the City address Thursday that, in the absence of a state law decriminalizing public marijuana possession, he will use his executive power to eliminate jail custody for those arrested for low-level marijuana possession:

Commissioner Kelly and I support Governor Cuomo’s proposal to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a violation, rather than a misdemeanor and we’ll work to help him pass it this year. But we won’t wait for that to happen.

Right now, those arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana are often held in custody overnight. We’re changing that. Effective next month, anyone presenting an ID and clearing a warrant check will be released directly from the precinct with a desk appearance ticket to return to court. It’s consistent with the law, it’s the right thing to do and it will allow us to target police resources where they’re needed most.

In his statement, Bloomberg also joins Cuomo in supporting a stronger state decriminalization measure. Technically, New York decriminalized marijuana possession in 1977 when it reduced the penalty for possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana to a civil fine. But the punishment does not protect public possession of marijuana, which, according to CNN, includes when an individual is asked to empty his or her pockets during one of the more than half a million stop-and-frisks conducted by the New York Police Department. Cuomo’s proposal would decriminalize possession of less than 15 grams of marijuana even in public view.

Bloomberg’s measure would mitigate the immediate harm to people arrested for marijuana – many of whom never face subsequent charges — but it would not change the fact that those found guilty of public marijuana possession will have a misdemeanor on their record, rather than paying a civil fine.

New York is one of 14 states that have some marijuana decriminalization measure on the books – in addition to the 18 states and the District of Columbia that have legalized medical marijuana, and the two states that have legalized recreational marijuana. Arrests for marijuana possession and other minor drug offenses nonetheless remain frequent and disproportionately impact African Americans.

U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, known for opposing legalization of even medical marijuana, joined with NAACP President Ben Jealous in an op-ed published yesterday that declares: “It is clear that we cannot simply arrest our way out of the drug problem. Instead, we need smarter, results-based criminal justice policies to keep our communities safe, including treatment for people with substance use disorders and mental health issues.”


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Sen. Ron Johnson Joins The Violence Against Women Act Is Unconstitutional Club

Four senators, Jim Risch (R-ID), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) previously suggested that any effort to prevent violence against women exceeds the federal government’s power under the Constitution. Earlier this week, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) joined their club of senators who think legislation reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act is unconstitutional:

Some Republicans have objected to new provisions in the law, including one allowing tribal courts for the first time to prosecute men who aren’t American Indians when they’re accused of abusing an American Indian woman on a reservation. . . .

[JOHNSON]: “the Senate has approved a piece of legislation that sounds nice, but which is fatally flawed. By including an unconstitutional expansion of tribal authority and introducing a bill before the Congressional Budget Office could review it to estimate its cost, Senate Democrats made it impossible for me to support a bill covering an issue I would like to address.”

In fairness to Johnson, his objection is much narrower than the one raised by senators like Paul and Cruz, and applies only the provision of the VAWA renewal that would permit tribal prosecutions against non-members of the prosecuting tribe. Nevertheless, Johnson is simply wrong about the Constitution.

It is true that the Supreme Court held back in the 1970s that tribal courts do not have criminal jurisdiction over non-Native Americans, but that decision concluded that “Indian tribes . . . give up their power to try non-Indian citizens of the United States except in a manner acceptable to Congress.” More recently, the Court’s 2004 decision in United States v. Lara recognized that Congress “does possess the constitutional power to lift the restrictions on the tribes’ criminal jurisdiction over nonmember Indians.” The reasoning of that decision would also apply to a law expanding tribal jurisdiction further to include non-Native Americans who engage in violence against women on reservations.

So Johnson is wrong about the Constitution, and his opposition to protecting Native American women is downright cruel. Eighty percent of Native American rape survivors were attacked by non-Indians, and a 2010 report by the General Accounting Office determined that federal prosecutors “declined to prosecute 46 percent of assault matters and 67 percent of sexual abuse and related matters.” As a result, many reservations are virtually law free zones for serial rapists who prey upon Native American women without consequence.


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DAY'S END ROUNDUP

FROM THE BLOGS:

Haley vs. health care
South Carolina Gov. Nicki Haley (R) talks about her state's fight against healthcare reform and gun control with RedState's Breanne Howe.

The many Chuck Hagel positions of John McCain

David Weigel of Slate details the many changes of Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) feelings towards the former GOP senator.

GOP civil war

Read The Economist's take on the growing fault lines among Republican legislators.

Yes, Chuck Hagel is being filibustered. Yes, that's unprecedented.

Wonkblog's Dylan Matthews examines the refusal of Senate Republicans to use the word "filibuster," and the procedural definition of the word itself.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Rangel wants women to be drafted
The Hill's Geneva Sands reports on Rep. Charles Rangel's (D-N.Y.) request that women register for the Selective Service.

House committee to hold hearing on asteroid threat

House Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is holding a committee hearing on the threat of asteroids hitting Earth, according to The Hill's Jonathan Easley.

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States Face Obamacare Health Exchange Deadline

States have another few hours to decide whether they want to create their own health care marketplace, or partner with the federal government, with CNBC's Bertha Coombs.

But the woman who is helping to lead the build out of the federal exchange said most users won't notice much difference from the state-built exchanges except for the branding of the online marketplaces.

"Whether you go in through the federal experience, to your state exchange," said Melissa Boudreault, CGI vice president of state health solutions, "the experience will be very, very similar."

(Read More: Drop Coverage or Cut Hours? Big Companies Grapple With Obamacare.)

Boudrealt expects the outreach effort in states that are running their own exchanges or partnering with the Obama administration will likely be more extensive, and that could ultimately affect enrollment. It's a key issue when it comes to so-called "young invincibles" who may opt to pay the $95 penalty for not carrying insurance, rather than buy a plan they deem too expensive.

"It becomes a big question of you recruit the young," said Deloitte's Patrick Howard. "The individual mandate, in and of itself, is not sufficient."

—By Bertha Coombs; Follow her on Twitter: @coombscnbc


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