Thursday, February 27, 2014

Arizona's anti-gay bill veto unlikely to end 'religious freedom' movement

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/26/politics/religious-freedom-states/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

The latest political buzz has been about the bill that if passed would allow business owners to close their doors to gay and lesbian people. The argument is that it is within the owner's religious freedom to do this.  Arizona's governor, Jan Brewer, has decided to veto the bill saying that, "It could divide Arizona in ways we cannot even imagine." To me, this seems like a waste of time. Discrimination is never a viable option as seen through the history of our nation and of the world. In our modern age we should be more concerned with who is more qualified for the career and not base their character off of what they personally believe.  I hope to see this bill vetoed in all states to show a message that all people are equal and the merit of a person should not be instead judged on their way of life but judged by what they contribute to society. This relates to AP Gov bc we have been talking about the different steps a bill goes through in order to be approved and become law.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Lawmakers push Obama to reclassify marijuana

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/13/lawmakers-push-obama-to-reclassify-marijuana/?hpt=hp_t2

This article deals with the issue of where marijuana should stand as a drug. As of now it is labeled as a schedule one drug along with heroin, ecstasy, and LSD to name a few. Obama has come out and said, "I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol." It is documented that marijuana has lead to no deaths where as alcohol has lead to hundreds of thousands in the past few years. Americans spend their tax money on sending people to jail who have charges with possessing marijuana but is this really a worth-while law? The government is beginning to show signs that they believe marijuana should become a legal substance to buy, sell and possess. This will bring great revenue as the states who have already made marijuana legal have seen an immense amount of buyers. I am for the legalization because it will keep a lot of people out of jail who don't belong there and will create a greater revenue for our country.