Drug war recalibration.

The White House announced Tuesday a new strategy for the decades-old War on Drugs, saying it plans to place emphasis on treatment and prevention and urging sharp reductions to drug abuse rates nation-wide. The plan's rosy language, however, doesn't quite mesh with the reality of the drug war's budget allotment: a fact that did not go unnoticed by activist group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, which chastised the administration as "just talking about" a truly changed strategy over actually moving ahead with one. President Obama's plan calls for a 15 percent reduction in the rate of drug use by youths and chronic drug users as well as in drug induced deaths by 2015. It aims to cut drug use by young adults, and the incidence of drugged driving, by 10 percent, according to a summary of the strategy released by the White House.Link

The RPI Revolution?......

In every election or campaign, there are events and other occurrences that can one can look back to and realize the significance of what transpired. For example, the stock market crash on September 16, 2008 was not only a significant day in our nation’s history, but it also had an enormous effect on the elections that followed in November. Usually it takes time for people to realize the significance of what actually occurred. While it’s not a day that will ever show up in a history book, Saturday, June 30, 2007, is was important day in the history of the Iowa Caucuses. On that day, six presidential candidates participated in a candidate forum that was put on by Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance. The event was a success for both organizations, but the candidate who gained the most politically from the event was the one both organizations refused to invite – Dr. Ron Paul.Link

European debt bailout.

The US exposure to the European debt bailout could be at least $50 billion, but the chance of taxpayers actually being on the hook for that appears remote. Determining the exact amount of exposure is nearly impossible until governments start stepping up to the window created by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to stem the crisis in Greece and elsewhere on the continent. But one rule-of-thumb formula puts potential US exposure at $54 billion should the entire IMF loan fund be tapped.Link

Too Big to Bear?.............

240 former legislators, bank committee staffers, and Treasury officials deployed to lobby. $600 million spent in lobbying, trade association activity and political contributions since March 2008. And that is just from the six biggest banks. The entire financial industry is spending an estimated $1.4 million a day, hiring 70 former members of Congress to make their case...Link