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News. See: News sources. Facebook: GCM-420. Social media: Tags. Vote out most Republicans! Ballotpedia issues: marijuana and minimum wage. It is not socialist. It is Common Sense. (search for "poor" among Thomas Paine quotes). See: List of minimum wages by country. And: Medicare-for-all, like Canada, is not socialist either. See: US federal minimum wage has 35% less buying power than in 1969. 10 years since last increase. A record. [18]. Racist Republican state governments in 28 states passed laws to prevent cities from raising the minimum wage. Far-right talk radio helps Republicans do this. Republicans block cheap municipal broadband in 26 states. Vote!  2020 Global Cannabis March and 420 Map. Crowd photo from Mexico City, May 4, 2019.  Ever-increasing US household debt under Trump, and his huge tax breaks for the rich, but not for the middle class who need it the most. Huge medical and student debt. Low minimum wages in many Republican states. See map. [1]. 22 Jan 2020: Legal pot ‘peddlers’ should be allowed to sell at farmer’s markets, on street corners, black activists say.  Minimum wage by state 12 Dec: 2020 US State Minimum Wage Rates. Plus map showing lower minimum wages in Republican states. [30][31].  Wikipedia: John Sinclair (poet).  27 Nov: Poopy lettuce strikes again, sickening 67 with E. coli-tainted romaine. 25 Nov: Our food is tainted with E. coli, yet Trump's FDA is rolling back safety rules.
 Trump signed tax law that gave 83% of benefits to the top 1%.
Do not buy most most cannabis stocks. There is a huge inventory of unsold cannabis: 17 Oct: Democrat Governors Of Northeastern States Adopt Coordinated Marijuana Legalization Plan. 9 Oct: Pennsylvania. Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf's proposed steps on marijuana legalization. 
 Chart from: 16 July 2019: Scotland has highest drug death rate in EU. [46]. BBC News. Data is latest available at article publication. 218 deaths per million for Scotland in 2018. 217 for US in 2017. Return to top. Or: Table top. Or: News. Or: Home.
 9 Oct: America's richest 400 families now pay a lower tax rate than the middle class. CBS News. Return to top. Or: Table top. Or: News. Or: Home.  7 Aug: Luxembourg to be first European country to legalise possession, sale, and production of cannabis. Coalition of Liberals, Social Democrats, Greens. [56][57][58].  Return to top. Or: Table top. Or: News. Or: Home. Global Cannabis March and 420.  President Vladimir Putin. Screwing up elections at home and abroad. Wikipedia: 2019 Moscow City Duma election. And: Wikipedia: 2019 Moscow protests. And: Moscow Mitch blocks election security bills in the US Senate, and nearly all cannabis reform legislation!
Return to top. Or: Table top. Or: News. Or: Home. 22 Jul 2019: Philippine march for cannabis. Quezon City, part of Metro Manila. [60][61][62].
US Republican leaders are out of touch with mainstream Americans and Canadians. 21 Jul: Canada. THC slushies, pirate radio, and cannabis-driven boom in a Mohawk community.
19 Jul 2019: Texas Republican Leaders Want You to Know They Really, Really Hate Marijuana. [65][66][67][68]. 18 Jul: Texas Republican Lawmaker Lies about Pot & Veteran Suicides to Block Medical Access. [69][70].  17 Jul: Republicans Want a White Republic. They'll Destroy America to Get It. Time magazine. Return to top. Or: Table top. Or: News. Or: Home. Medicare spends less than 2 percent on bureaucracy. 1.4% to be exact. See chart. We need Medicare for All. Nearly a third of our health care dollars go to something other than health care. See also: Trump approval hits new low (35%) in CNN poll. 32% in AP–NORC poll. Lowest in history for a first-year President. [73]. Bring back democracy: Remove Presidential veto power. And: Senate 60% rule.   See: More News. And: Cannabis is safer. And: Cannabis polls. Vote out most Republicans and their cannabis war.
CannabisVoter.info - Click your state to see which anti-cannabis Republicans to vote out. Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool - Ballotpedia. Enter address. Republicans Voted Often to Kill Coverage of Pre-Existing Conditions. [74][75][76]. Timeline. Trump's staggeringly low approval ratings compared to other presidents. Scroll down. Run mouse cursor over Presidential charts. Updated continuously.
Vote out most Republicans! Ballotpedia issues: marijuana and minimum wage. Return to top. Or: Table top. Or: News. Or: Home. This news feed may have long lapses.
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News: If Bernie would stop calling himself a democratic SOCIALIST he could win. He is actually an old-time progressive democrat who wants universal healthcare and progressive taxation. Like Roosevelt and Truman. Truman, a Democrat, followed by Eisenhower, a Republican, had steep progressive taxation where the middle class had less taxes, and prospered the most they ever have in US history. Truman and Eisenhower both increased the minimum wage, which inevitably pushes up middle class wages.
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- Share links: sentencing - sentences - NRA - handguns. This article was written by Timeshifter.
| Federal mandatory minimum sentencing charts. |
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First mandatory minimums chart below is from an older FAMM report, "Correcting Course: Lessons from the 1970s Repeal of Mandatory Minimum Sentences". FAMM is Families Against Mandatory Minimums. [77]. See Wikipedia: Mandatory minimums. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 increased the amounts of crack cocaine required to trigger 5 and 10 year sentences. [78]. See revised charts since then. Share link to this page. For charts of all federal mandatory minimums (not just for drug offenses), go here. Later chart with revisions, such as the amount of crack cocaine required for various sentences: |
Households with handguns: Canada: 3%. USA: 30%.
Republican/NRA-led drug war
| Timeline: A Crackdown Chronology. Mother Jones. "1995: 24 states now have [NRA's] 3-strikes laws on the books. Drug offenders soon make up 25% of the total prison population, with 10 times as many 3rd-strikers serving time for drug possession as for 2nd-degree murder." |
Jeff Sessions and the Conservative Nostalgia for Harsh Sentencing. A new Republican bill would slap nonviolent criminals with 15-year mandatory minimum sentences. August 15, 2018. By Manuel Madrid. American Prospect.
| Some people don't know that the National Rifle Association had a large part in causing the huge increase in the U.S. incarceration rate. The NRA strongly lobbied state-by-state for mandatory minimum sentences (also known as "Truth in Sentencing"), and "Two and Three Strikes" laws. Mandatory-minimum sentences are the root cause of the astronomical US incarceration rate according to a New York Times article. The majority of people incarcerated in the U.S. are in prison or jail due to drug-related offenses, crimes to get money for drugs, or drug-related parole or probation violations. |
At least $55 million in 2016. Much more if internet ads, member mobilization, field operations, and sham issue ads are counted. Data source. [79].
See source.
Republicans support domestic violence
"the presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%." This quote is from the article below:
5 Apr 2019: 157 Republicans Just Opposed Renewing The Violence Against Women Act. On HuffPost.
30% of US households own handguns
The demographics of gun ownership in the U.S.. June 22, 2017. Pew Research Center. From the article:
| About four-in-ten adults (42%) report that there is a gun in their household, ... Overall, about seven-in-ten gun owners say they own a handgun or pistol (72%), |
Doing the math (.72 x .42 = .30) shows that 30% of US households own handguns.
Guns are responsible for the largest share of U.S. homicides in over 80 years, federal mortality data shows. By Christopher Ingraham. April 2, 2018. Washington Post. "All told, in 2016 gun homicides made up 74.5 percent of all homicides in the United States — the highest share in well over 80 years of complete federal data."
2.5% of Canadian households own handguns
Firearms Ownership in Canada - Firearms, Accidental Deaths, Suicides and Violent Crime: An Updated Review of the Literature with Special Reference to the Canadian Situation. Jan. 7, 2015. Government of Canada, Department of Justice, Research and Statistics Division. From the report:
| Canada's rate of 22 percent of households owning firearms was in the middle range of the nine countries (Ibidem). In all nine countries, more households owned long guns than handguns. According to the survey, 95 percent of households in Canada owning firearms had a long gun and less than 12 percent owned handguns. |
Doing the math (.12 x .95 x .22 = .025) shows that 2.5 percent of Canadian households possess handguns.
Canada's murder rate is 1/3 the US rate
| Medicare-for-all is single-payer, non-socialist, non-government-owned, Canadian-style healthcare. | |
| Charts. USA spent $3.3 trillion on healthcare in 2017. (2.3.4.). Canada got better outcomes, spent half as much per person, and thus has a higher median wealth. So: 55% of Americans support 'Medicare-for-all'. (2.) | Households with handguns: Canada: 3%. USA: 30%.) |
| Country | Median wealth per adult 2018. US dollars | Healthcare cost per person. US dollars PPP. 2017 | Murder rate per 100,000. 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | $106,342 | $4,826 | 1.7 |
| USA | $61,667 | $10,209 | 5.3 |
| US spent 17.2% of GDP (national economy) on healthcare in 2017. Canada spent 10.4%. See: info, charts, videos exposing US Republican myths about Canadian healthcare. (2.) |
| Country | Life expectancy 2016 (2) | Under-5 mortality rate per 1000 live births. 2017 | Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births. 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 82.8 years | 5.1 | 7.3 |
| USA | 78.5 years | 6.6 | 26.4 |
Israel dismisses NRA claims
Israel dismisses NRA’s claims about guns laws. 2012. The Times of Israel. And: Israel’s gun control laws can make the US safer, too. Feb. 15, 2018. New York Post.
Israel has a LOW rate of civilian gun ownership. Only 6.7 guns per 100 residents. Lower than many European countries. Far lower than the USA at 120 guns per 100 residents. See Wikipedia: Estimated number of civilian guns per capita by country. Israel also has a low homicide rate. See Wikipedia: List of countries by intentional homicide rate. And: Key Gun Violence Statistics* | Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
NRA's part in the drug war
Return to top. See also: Life for pot. And: Republican-led drug war. And: Drug war causes high U.S. incarceration rate.
See main sections below:
| Scaring crazy people into not being crazy, and not killing large numbers of people. That is what the NRA believes long long mandatory minimum sentences are going to do. It hasn't happened. A better idea is universal background checks, and preventing crazy people, violent people, wife beaters, and child abusers from getting legal firearms in the first place. It is important to note that not all classes of the mentally divergent have a higher risk of violence or suicide. So some of the higher functioning ones could be allowed to have guns. |
Most inmates are incarcerated due to the drug war.
| The Big House That Wayne LaPierre Built. "In 1993 [NRA's] CrimeStrike spent $90,000 to put on the ballot in Washington state a new kind of sentencing law called 'Three strikes and you're out', ... Within just a few years, 23 states had enacted variations of the three-strikes statutes." |
| Backed by NRA CrimeStrike, the nation's first "Three Strikes and You're Out" law was enacted by ballot initiative in Washington state in 1993, sending a shock-wave reverberating through legislatures in 21 states and the U.S. Congress over the next two years. ...
In California, however, the Three Strikes language was very broad -- with any of 500 felonies counting as a possible third strike to trigger a 25-to-life sentence -- plus it included a doubling of the prison term for a second strike. |
Above quote (emphasis added) from: Getting Tough on Crime: The History and Political Context of Sentencing Reform Developments Leading to the Passage of the 1994 Crime Act. Published in Sentencing and Society: International Perspectives. Edited by Cyrus Tata and Neil Hutton. Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hampshire, England, 2002.
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Firearm death rates in high-income countries
- How US gun culture compares with the world in five charts. By Kara Fox, CNN. Graphics by Henrik Pettersson, CNN. February 15, 2018. Chart below is from the article.
| Gun-related deaths in high-income countries. Deaths per million people. Suicides in gray on the left. Homicides in darker color on the right. USA is the long bloody line at the end. |
Click to enlarge.
NRA demonization of drug users
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has often demonized drugs as a way to distract clueless Americans from restricting handgun ownership as Canada does. For example:
- NRA Ad Envisions War Between Defenseless Middle Class And Drug Cartels With High-Capacity Magazines. By Aviva Shen on Feb 15, 2013. ThinkProgress.
 Hey, angry white male Republican voters! Lighten up, dudes. Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine. Jesus healed using cannabis [3]. Stop worshiping Ronald 6 Wilson 6 Reagan 6, and "Just Say No", and the NRA's mandatory minimums. |
The mandatory minimum sentencing laws at the federal level, and in many states, apply to marijuana possession above a certain amount, or growing above a certain number of plants. For more charts of all federal mandatory minimums (not just for marijuana and other drug offenses), see these pages.
The "truth-in-sentencing" (mandatory minimum sentencing) and "Two and Three Strikes" laws apply to many nonviolent criminals. At both the federal and state level. See history farther down of the NRA's state-by-state CrimeStrike campaign. With help from ALEC and Corrections Corporation of America.
- Federal Judge Quits, Calls Judicial System Unjust. June 25, 2003. Associated Press (AP) story, National Public Radio interview, and Judge John S. Martin's statement. "The result, he said, is a slew of lengthy prison sentences for low-level drug dealers 'who society failed at every step.' ... While many judges have criticized sentencing guidelines, it is unusual for a judge to publicly cite the frustrations of the job in stepping down." See also: Let Judges Do Their Jobs. By Hon. John S. Martin Jr..
Dissenting Opinions of Judges, Federal Drug Sentencing, Mandatory Minimum Sentences. A list of many articles by judges. At November Coalition site.
Timeline of mandatory minimum sentencing (does not include jail inmates):
Homicide rate is higher in the USA
| See Wikipedia: |
Chart below. Homicide rates of USA (top line), Australia, Canada, Spain (ESP), Great Britain, and the Netherlands.
Above chart is from: OECD "How Was Life?", page 147. And this article.
More people killed by US domestic gunmen (1,516,863) since 1968 than in all wars fought by America (1,396,733). [80]. From June 13, 2016 article in The Express.
Mass Incarceration and high murder rate damage U.S. Global Peace Ranking. June 9, 2016 article in U.S. News and World Report. See: Wikipedia: List of countries by incarceration_rate.
| Washington Post: Oregon dispute arises from small fires and mandatory minimum sentencing. Jan. 4, 2016 article. Irony of white Oregon militias opposing mandatory minimum sentences championed by racist NRA Republicans to target black drug users. And: The Big Lie in the War Against Drugs. "two enemies: the antiwar Left, and Black people." |
Most firearm deaths in the USA are from handguns. [81][82]. Canada has a much lower rate of handgun ownership than the USA. See chart. Canada has a much lower murder rate. See Wikipedia: List of countries by intentional homicide rate.
Number of guns per capita by country
The table at the above link is currently way out of date. For more recent rates look up the individual countries here:
See also:
- How France cut its per capita gun ownership in half. By David Andelman. Feb. 26, 2018. CNN.
Americans are against mandatory minimums
Above chart from here: Here’s how much Americans hate mandatory minimum sentences. By Christopher Ingraham. October 1, 2015. Washington Post.
Papa Bush doubles down on War on Drugs
Number incarcerated in the USA peaked in 2008. Let us not forget about the astronomical increase in the number of correctional officers, too. 469,500 in 2012. See: Correctional Officers : Occupational Outlook Handbook : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Return to top. Share link: Papa Bush.
- 2nd nationwide televised Bush speech on drugs on September 12, 1989: Quote from speech:
Some think there won't be room for them in jail. We'll make room. We're almost doubling prison space. Some think there aren't enough prosecutors. We'll hire them, with the largest increase in Federal prosecutors in history.
- Life sentence for buying weed? 25th anniversary of Papa Bush's War on Drugs escalation speech on September 5, 1989. The first prime time address of his presidency. Result: Life for pot.
- USA. Drug offenders constitute half of federal prisoners. See chart. See articles: [83][84][85].
- See: The U.S. Drug War. Republicans lead.
Life for pot
- See main article: USA. Life for pot. See also: Number of marijuana prisoners in the USA.
- Life in prison for selling marijuana: Meet the people new pot laws forgot. MSNBC. 8 Sep 2015. [86][87]. "At least 67 people are in prison right now, sentenced to die there for selling marijuana". And: LifeForPot.com. And: POW420.com also lists some cannabis lifers. Facebook: Life for Pot. And: Life In Prison For Pot And Other Travesties Of Marijuana Prohibition. 4 Sept. 2014. Forbes.
- Jeff Mizanskey, life without parole: Missouri man freed after spending two decades in prison for marijuana charge. 1 Sep 2015. Guardian. [88]. And: Grandpa Doing Life Without Parole. [89][90]. Nazi Republican prosecutor.
- Saudi Arabia beheads 4 for pot. [91][92][93][94]. Religious Right: Supported Life for Pot. [95][96][97]. Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich proposed a law that would execute people for 2 ounces of marijuana.
- Life for Pot Prisoner Larry Duke Released! [98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105].
Buried Alive. Non-violent drug sentencing
- Buried Alive. "The Buried Alive Project works to raise awareness and help eliminate life without parole sentences for federal drug offenses through transformative legislation and litigation."
- Non-violent drug sentencing has left thousands of people buried alive in prison. By Sharon Grigsby. Dallas Morning News. Feb. 21, 2018.
NRA CrimeStrike campaign
He is Howard J. Wooldridge. See Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and Facebook pages worldwide. Wikipedia: LEAP. Share link.
The NRA must not be proud of their original CrimeStrike program. At the time of this writing, the NRA website (nra.org) does not mention their original CrimeStrike program. See this search of their website for "CrimeStrike". It only finds a television program.
Fortunately, Google finds the history of CrimeStrike elsewhere:
- Google Books: "CrimeStrike".
- Google Scholar: "CrimeStrike".
Getting Tough on Crime: The History and Political Context of Sentencing Reform Developments Leading to the Passage of the 1994 Crime Act. Published in Sentencing and Society: International Perspectives. Edited by Cyrus Tata and Neil Hutton. Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hampshire, England, 2002. Quote (emphasis added):
At the start of the Clinton administration in 1993 (and in the face of Clinton's strong expressions of support for gun control) the National Rifle Association announced it would launch a national campaign to get tough on criminals (Balz 1993). This was seen by many as a ploy to divert support away from Democratic gun control initiatives. NRA CrimeStrike -- a division of the National Rifle Association which had been founded in 1991 to "focus on the failures of America's criminal justice system" was then headed by Steve Twist, a close associate of Bob Corbin, the former Arizona Attorney General who had served as President of the NRA. According to its internet advertisements, NRA CrimeStrike has worked to pass "truth in sentencing" laws in Arizona, Mississippi, and Virginia; and "Three Strikes and You're Out" laws in Washington, California, Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, Vermont, and Pennsylvania. ... Backed by NRA CrimeStrike, the nation's first "Three Strikes and You're Out" law was enacted by ballot initiative in Washington state in 1993, sending a shock-wave reverberating through legislatures in 21 states and the U.S. Congress over the next two years. ...
In California, however, the Three Strikes language was very broad -- with any of 500 felonies counting as a possible third strike to trigger a 25-to-life sentence -- plus it included a doubling of the prison term for a second strike.
The book chapter discussed above mentions this NRA report from the early 1990s: CrimeStrike Special Report: Elements for an Effective Criminal Justice System. Author: CrimeStrike, A Division of the NRA.
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Showing Holes. By Peter H. Stone. Mother Jones. January/February 1994 Issue. Quote from article (emphasis added):
The NRA also made the major blunder of taking on Joseph McNamara, the well-known former head of the San Jose, California, police department. The NRA ran an ad, headlined "So You Want Legalized Drugs in America?", that distorted McNamara's beliefs and angered many law enforcement officials. CrimeStrike, which combines state lobbying with national advertising and direct-mail blitzes, appears to have been launched partly to woo back the police community. It is also aimed at diverting public attention from gun-control measures and focusing it on NRA-backed campaigns to pass tougher sentencing laws and build more prisons in several states. This past election season [1993], CrimeStrike succeeded in pushing initiatives through in Washington and Texas.
NRA and Charlton Heston Criticize Safety Valve. DRCNet Activist Guide, Issue: #2, August 1994. Quote (emphasis added):
In a highly dishonest advertisement by the National Rifle Association on CNN last Tuesday, actor Charlton Heston criticized the Crime Bill, claiming that it would let 10,000 drug dealers back out on the streets.
The NRA Strikes Back. By Chris Bryson, In These Times, March 17, 1997, pp. 18-19. Click "full page" link for full-size pages. Quote (emphasis added):
the NRA formed CrimeStrike in 1991 as a division of its lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action. ... CrimeStrike logged its first victory in November 1993 when it backed Washington state's "Three Strikes and You're Out" initiative, the nation's first. ... That success was rapidly followed by similar victories in California and Virginia, where NRA lobbyists again provided essential money and manpower to "three strikes" campaigns. In Virginia and Mississippi, according to CrimeStrike state legislative affairs director Susan Misiora, the NRA was "instrumental" in passing truth-in-sentencing measures which lengthened average prison sentences.
When Misery Means Profit: Immigration Enforcement, the Prison Industry and ALEC. 2011 article by AZ resists ALEC. See Wikipedia: American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Article quote (emphasis added):
In the early 1990s, the NRA, an ALEC member, initiated a campaign called CrimeStrike designed to win passage of ALEC’s “Truth in Sentencing Act” and “Habitual Violent Offender Incarceration Act” in state legislatures. Between 1993 and 1995, truth-in-sentencing laws were adopted by twenty states and by 1998 ALEC could declare victory as truth-in-sentencing bills had become law in 40 states. In addition, 25 states now have three-strikes laws similar to ALEC’s model legislation. Of course, the result of this legislation is predictable and well documented: during the 1990s, prison construction boomed, the incarceration rate doubled driven by a prison population expansion of one-half million people and private jailers secured lucrative new contracts to house thousands of inmates from overcrowded public facilities.
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Not for Praise, but for Principle. August 18, 1995. An address to the 17th Annual NRA National Shooting Coaches and Instructors Conference. By Thomas C. Wyld, Director, PR & Communications, National Rifle Association. Institute for Legislative Action. Fairfax, Virginia. Quote (emphasis added):
That's why, in the first six months of this year alone, NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, through its CrimeStrike Division, has worked toward criminal justice reform and victims' rights in fifteen states -- from "Three Strikes You're Out" in Vermont to the "Hard Time for Armed Crime" Initiative in Washington state. Think about that. Criminal justice reform. And victims' rights. In fifteen states. In just six months. By one citizens' group. Yours. The National Rifle Association. NRA is working for -- and passing -- Two and Three Strikes laws to ensure that repeat offenders are kept behind bars for life. NRA is working for -- and passing -- truth-in-sentencing to require violent criminals to serve eighty-five percent of sentences imposed.
Corporate Con Game. June 21, 2010. By Beau Hodai, In These Times. Quote (emphasis added):
In the early '90s, the ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force was co-chaired by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the country's largest private prison company. During those years, the National Rifle Association (NRA), another task force member (and the current task force co-chair), initiated a campaign to introduce two pieces of ALEC-inspired legislation at the state and federal level: the so-called "truth-in-sentencing" and "three-strikes-you're-out" laws. Truth-in-sentencing called for all violent offenders to serve 85 percent of their sentences before being eligible for release. Three strikes called for mandatory life imprisonment for a third felony conviction. The NRA campaign, dubbed "CrimeStrike,"...
10 Myths of Gun Control. March 1996, NRA Institute for Legislative Action. Quote (emphasis added):
NRA is meeting that challenge with its CrimeStrike division, established to advance real solutions to the crime problem while protecting the rights of all honest citizens. Working in states across the nation, CrimeStrike has worked for passage of "truth in sentencing laws" which require that criminals actually serve at least 85% of time sentenced, "Victim's Bill of Rights" constitutional amendments, and "Three Strikes You're Out" laws.
Disenfranchised from voting, college, jobs
This racist drug war is triply hard. People convicted of misdemeanor cannabis offenses, and other drug offenses, are blocked from getting much college financial aid. Drug convictions of all kinds can block job opportunities. And worst of all felons can be blocked permanently from voting. It is the epitome of Nixon's drug war racism and the "Southern strategy". See Wikipedia: Felony disenfranchisement. See map of U.S. felony disenfranchisement laws by state. See news.
2nd Amendment supported slave patrols
Just like the NRA uses the second amendment to support mandatory minimum sentences to fight the racist drug war.
- The Second Amendment was ratified to preserve slavery. By Thom Hartmann, AlterNet. 22 Feb 2018. The Raw Story.
Shoulda Robbed a Bank
Drug Sentences Driving Federal Prison Population Growth, Government Report Finds. By Phillip Smith, Sept. 13, 2012. StoptheDrugWar.org - A comment:
| What I saw during my 5 years in Federal Prison. by UndertheRadar (not verified), September 20, 2012, 12:33pm. I stayed 5 years in Federal Prison for a marijuana offense. While I was there, I watched armed bank robbers come and go in as little as 17 months. One lad was in for armed Post Office robbery with a sawed off shotgun...his stay, 20 months. When I went to the parole board after 3 years 'behind the wall,' I pointed this out to the panel members. Their response, "You must understand that yours was a very serious offense." I laughed about that for 2 more years (as I still sat in prison), then wrote my book: Shoulda Robbed a Bank. When I was in, the entire Federal Prison population was just over 28,000. Drug offenders made up 53% of that number. I see today that population has risen to over 218,000. Prison is big business. It used to be called 'slavery.' Please read Shoulda Robbed a Bank. I need the money... It's available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. |
- Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Smashwords (multiple formats). See more info from the author, Hugh Yonn.
People incarcerated for drug offences
- See main article: People in prisons and jails in the USA for drug-related crime. And: Number of marijuana prisoners in the USA. And: Drug war causes high U.S. incarceration rate. And: The U.S. Drug War. Republicans lead.
489,000 in 2013 (see chart below). For drug offenses alone.
Need to add in drug-related burglary, robbery, murder, etc..
All to get drug money, defend turf, etc..
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Obama helped turn around the Reagan-Bush War on Pot, mandatory minimums, mass incarceration. See: US incarceration peaked in 2008.
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USA: Peak of 7.3 million people in 2007 under adult correctional supervision: On probation or parole, or incarcerated in jail or prison. About 3.2% of the U.S. adult population, or 1 in every 31 adults. More info here. See template.
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In 2009 26.4% of those in federal and state prisons, or on probation or parole, were in due to drug offenses. Jail numbers are not included below.
More articles and links
Truth in sentencing:
- Google search: truth in sentencing.
- Google search: mandatory minimum.
- Google search: three strikes laws.
- Truth in Sentencing Laws | eHow.com.
- See Google News: mandatory minimum. And sorted by date.
- Holder's Legacy: Steering Away From the Drug War and Mass Incarceration. 25 Sept 2014. Huffington Post. [106][107].
- The head of the DEA is still quite fond of mandatory minimum sentences. 19 Sept 2014. Vox. Useful charts, too.
- DEA Chief Michele Leonhart Struggles To Explain Position On Drug Sentencing Reform. 18 Sept 2014. Huffington Post.
- Federal Agency Approves Early Release Of Some 46,000 Drug Prisoners. 18 July 2014. ThinkProgress. More info: [108] [109].
- Drug Offenders Constitute Half of Federal Prisoners: A Chart. 11 March 2014. By FAMM. [110] [111].
- Attorney General Eric Holder Slams U.S. Mass Incarceration At Security Ministers Conference in Medellín, Colombia. 22 Nov 2013. Drug Policy Alliance.
- How Eric Holder Bypassed Congress To Reform America's Draconian Drug Sentencing. By Erin Fuchs. 12 August 2013. Business Insider.
- Special Series: The Legacy And Future Of Mass Incarceration. February 2013. NPR, National Public Radio. Working with Prison Time: 40 years of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, a service of NCPR: North Country Public Radio.
- GUEST OPINION: Elderly prisoners pose little risk, big cost - Fall River, MA - The Herald News. By Vanita Gupta. 15 June 2012.
Handguns, firearms, deaths. By country
- Wikipedia: List of countries by incarceration rate.
- Incarceration rates of European countries.
- Wikipedia: Estimated number of guns per capita by country.
- Wikipedia: List of countries by intentional homicide rate.
- Wikipedia: List of countries by firearm-related death rate.
- Gun Ownership By Country 2015: US Ranks First As Obama Calls For 'Common Sense' Laws. 24 July 2015. By Sarah Berger. International Business Times.
Chart below: Household ownership of handguns and firearms by country. For U.S, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and European nations.
2004-2005. See info.
Source: Page 18, Figure 11. International Statistics On Crime and Justice. European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control. Affiliated With the United Nations. Edited by S. Harrendorf, M. Heiskanen, S. Malby.
Handguns equal high murder rate
2004-2005. See info.
The U.S. stats for shootings are startling. Above graphic is old. For more recent info: About Gun Violence | Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence:. See Wikipedia: Brady Campaign. See table of CDC stats: Gun Death and Injury Stat Sheet 2008 & 2009.
In 2005 almost 3% of households in Canada possessed handguns, compared to 18% of U.S. households that possessed handguns. See chart. Canada has a much lower homicide rate than its neighbor to the south, the USA.
In 2011, 72% of the 8,583 homicides committed using firearms in the United States were committed using handguns. See: Expanded Homicide Data Table 8 - Murder Victims by Weapon, 2007-2011. By the FBI (U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Nearly all of Western Europe bans or severely restricts handguns. Rifles and shotguns are legal to own. The murder rates are much lower than in the USA. See Wikipedia:
- List of countries by intentional homicide rate.
- List of countries by firearm-related death rate.
- Gun politics and Gun politics in Canada.
- Gun politics in the United States.
GOP wants easy way to buy silencers
- GOP Lawmakers Want To Make Gun Silencers Cheaper, Easier To Buy. 23 Oct 2015. By Nick Wing. Huffington Post.
- Gunmakers and the NRA Bet Big on Silencers. What Could Go Wrong? 19 Mar 2013. By Stephanie Mencimer. Mother Jones.
- Silencers: The NRA’s latest big lie. 30 Dec 2012. By Alexander Zaitchik. Salon.
Lower gun death rates via gun control laws
- The Top 10 States For Gun Deaths — Guess How Many Are Blue With Strict Gun Control Laws. By Charles Topher. Dec. 7, 2015.
Handguns and long guns. By country
- A minority of Americans own guns, but just how many is unclear. Pew Research Center. June 4, 2013.
- Self-Reported Gun Ownership in U.S. Is Highest Since 1993. By Lydia Saad. October 26, 2011. Gallup report. "Forty-seven percent of American adults currently report that they have a gun in their home or elsewhere on their property. This is up from 41% a year ago and is the highest Gallup has recorded since 1993, albeit marginally above the 44% and 45% highs seen during that period." ... "The new result comes from Gallup's Oct. 6-9 [2011] Crime poll."
- Table 18 (below) on page 279 of Criminal Victimisation in International Perspective, by the International Crime Victims Survey.
Table 18 heading: "Ownership of firearms and handguns in countries and main cities (percentages). 1989-2005 ICVS and 2005 EU ICS." From the report intro: "A large portion of the latest data in this report comes from the European Survey on Crime and Safety (EU ICS), organised by a consortium led by Gallup Europe, co-financed by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Technology Development."
The percentages in table 18 below are by household (click to enlarge).
NRA, handguns, youth murders in Chicago
Return to top. See above chart for household possession of firearms and handguns by country.
The NRA refuses to acknowledge that countries with low rates of handgun ownership have much lower murder rates. Only nationwide handgun restriction works well.
The statistics do not show the terror and post-traumatic stress of living in the war zones where many urban high schools in the USA are found.
- Harper High School, Part One. Feb. 15, 2013. This American Life.
- Harper High School, Part Two. Feb. 22, 2013. This American Life.
"We spent five months at Harper High School in Chicago, where last year alone 29 current and recent students were shot. We went to get a sense of what it means to live in the midst of all this gun violence, how teens and adults navigate a world of funerals and Homecoming dances."
NRA's heroic gunslinger myth
- Tactical Experts Destroy the NRA’s Heroic Gunslinger Fantasy. 5 Oct 2015. The Nation.
- More Combat Veterans come out to call NRA gun myths "insane". 7 Oct 2015. Daily Kos.
- Combat veterans shoot down NRA ‘fantasy world’ of ‘good guys with guns’. 7 Oct 2015. Raw Story.
10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down
- 10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down. By Dave Gilson. Jan. 31, 2013. Mother Jones.
High-capacity magazines should be banned
New Zealand bans types of semi-automatic weapons, high capacity magazines after mass shooting. 21 Mar 2019.
High-capacity magazines for rifles make some sense, but not much, in making the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution more effective as a bulwark against tyranny. But they cause far more damage in mass shootings. They should be banned. Both for handguns and long guns. See this article explaining why a single rifle shot is so much more deadly than a handgun shot:
- What I Saw Treating the Victims From Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns. By Heather Sher. Feb. 2018. The Atlantic.
The proliferation of handguns is far more important in causing higher murder rates than long guns. Getting rid of handguns is what is necessary. Rifles and shotguns do not need to be banned. An "assault rifle" that is legal in the USA is just a semi-automatic rifle. Many hunting rifles are semi-automatic.
Fully-automatic rifles (machine guns) are no longer legal in the USA for the most part.
Handguns are laughable weapons for defending against tyranny. They should be banned since most murders in the USA are committed with them.
For more info and points of view:
- Wikipedia: Magazine (firearms). Magazines and clips.
- David Gregory Held Up A High-Capacity Magazine To See If The Head Of The NRA Would Budge On Anything. By Brett LoGiurato. Dec. 23, 2012. Business Insider.
- NRA Chief Calls For National Database Of The Mentally Ill And Says: If You Want To Call Me Crazy, Then Call Me Crazy. By Brett LoGiurato. Dec. 23, 2012. Business Insider.
- Why We Must Ban High-Capacity Gun Magazines. By Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy. April 6, 2011. Huffington Post.
Bump stocks should be banned
The elephant is the mascot of the Republican Brownshirts. See: Holy War on Drugs, Republican-led mass incarceration. Share link.
More cops, more guns, more jails
Whatever good the NRA has done is far outweighed by its part in creating an incarceration nation. See Drug war charts and maps. See Wikipedia: Mandatory minimum sentencing, and Two and Three Strikes laws. On the day of the Mayan apocalypse, Dec. 21, 2012, the NRA marched in: "LaPierre announced that former Rep. Asa Hutchinson [ex-DEA chief], R-Ark., will lead an NRA program that will develop a model security plan for schools that relies on armed volunteers." Many of them trained and indoctrinated by the NRA. NRA Press Conference: Wayne LaPierre Calls For Armed Police Officers At Every School. Huffington Post, Dec. 21, 2012.
George Orwell, rifles, and tyranny
| George Orwell: "The totalitarian states can do great things, but there is one thing they cannot do: they cannot give the factory-worker a rifle and tell him to take it home and keep it in his bedroom. That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage, is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." -- January 8, 1941 in an article for the London Evening Standard. See source. |
The Republican Party (GOP) and the NRA are responsible for mass incarceration, and removing rifles and voting rights from millions of drug users and non-violent felons across the United States. See: Can Convicted Felon Purchase or Possess a Firearm?.
Handguns don't defend against tyranny. That is laughable. Rifles defend against tyranny. And the country of Orwell, the UK, bans handgun ownership for the most part. See Wikipedia: Gun politics in the United Kingdom. All handguns do is greatly increase the murder rate.
Canada versus USA
American Exception. Inmate Count in US Dwarfs Other Nations'. April 22, 2008. New York Times. Page 1, section A, front page. Archive. From the article (emphasis added):
Still, it is the length of sentences that truly distinguishes American prison policy. Indeed, the mere number of sentences imposed here would not place the United States at the top of the incarceration lists. If lists were compiled based on annual admissions to prison per capita, several European countries would outpace the United States. But American prison stays are much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher. ... "Rises and falls in Canada's crime rate have closely paralleled America's for 40 years," Mr. Tonry wrote last year. "But its imprisonment rate has remained stable."
Wikipedia: Danny Zuker. His Twitter feed. Canada has a much lower rate of handgun ownership than the USA. See chart. Much lower incarceration and murder rates too.
New York Times: "Rises and falls in Canada's crime rate have closely paralleled America's for 40 years," Mr. Tonry wrote last year. "But its imprisonment rate has remained stable." [112] [113]. April 22, 2008.
Youtube video. Pot and Politics: Chris Bennett at Occupy Vancouver (15 Oct 2011). The Harperization of the Drug War in Canada (one minute into video). Speech discusses Prime Minister Stephen Harper's attempts at slavish imitation of the U.S. drug war and mandatory minimum sentencing.
See source article. By The Huffington Post. See image info. [4].
Finland's open prisons
Listen to the audio too.
- In Finland's 'open prisons,' inmates have the keys. April 15, 2015. Reporter Rae Ellen Bichell. Public Radio International. From the article (emphasis added):
"By the end of this period of 'decarceration,' Finland had one of the lowest rates of imprisonment on the continent. Lappi-Seppälä says crime didn’t increase as a result. 'The lesson from Finland was that it was perfectly possible to drop the use of imprisonment [by two-thirds,]' he says, 'and that did not disturb the crime trend development in Finland.' What did work was a gradual reintroduction into normal life, the kind that the open prisons offer. About a third of Finnish inmates are housed in open prison, and Finland’s Criminal Sanctions Agency says inmates who go through open prisons are less likely to be arrested again. The reoffending rate drops almost 20 percent. Open prisons also cost less."
Germany's kinder and safer prisons
Germany has much lower incarceration and murder rates than in the USA.
- German Prisons Are Kinder, Gentler, and Safer Than the Ones in America. July 10, 2015 by Maurice Chammah. Vice magazine. From the article:
"Inmates live in rooms and sleep in beds, not on concrete or steel slabs with thin padding. They have privacy—correctional officers knock before entering. Prisoners wear their own clothes, and can decorate their space as they wish. They cook their own meals, are paid more for their work, and have opportunities to visit family, learn skills, and gain education. ... There is little to no violence—including in communal kitchens where there are knives and other potentially dangerous implements. And the maximum time inmates spend in any kind of punitive solitary is eight hours. ... In Germany, prosecutors and judges are not elected. As career civil servants, they are insulated from public opinion."
Cannabis is safer
Return to top. See article: Cannabis is safer.
16 Dec 2019: Majority Of Americans Support Marijuana Legalization, Two More New Polls Show. "Voters who supported President Trump in the 2016 election expressed greater opposition to the policy than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents as a whole."
| 2 May 2019: Time to Admit It: Trump Opposes Cannabis Legalization. He opposed latest 3 bills for veterans’ access to medical cannabis. |
23 Feb 2019: Trump Continues to Flip-Flop on Medical Marijuana.
Share link: Obama.
- Obama correctly said that cannabis is safer than alcohol. See: Cannabis is safer. He also said marijuana should be treated more as a public health issue than a criminal one. And: Obama signals support for legalizing medical marijuana. [114]. See video.
- USA. 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults are alcohol-related (disease, overdose, car crashes, falls, violence, etc). 87,798 per year, 2006 to 2010. [115][116][117][118][119].
See longer article: Cannabis is safer.
- Imagine if Mitt Romney had been elected President in 2012 instead of Obama.
- Obama on marijuana legalization. [120]. "My suspicion is that you’re gonna see other states start looking at this". The Washington Post. Jan. 22, 2015.
Above quote is from Sanjay Gupta interview of Obama on April 15, 2015. Interview aired on CNN on April 19, 2015. [121][122][123].
- Obama administration asks Supreme Court to reject lawsuit filed by Republican governments in Oklahoma and Nebraska to stop legal marijuana in Colorado [124]. December 2015.
 Obama helped turn around the Reagan-Bush War on Pot, mandatory minimums, mass incarceration. See: US incarceration peaked in 2008. |
- Holder's Legacy: Steering Away From the Drug War and Mass Incarceration. [125]. Attorney General Eric Holder (2009-2015) under President Obama. 25 Sep 2014.
USA. The state of the nation
Return to top. See:
There were 70,200 overdose deaths in 2017 in the US under the Republican-led drug war under Trump. Multiple drugs were involved in many of the deaths.
Vote out most Republicans
Return to top. Vote out most US Republicans and their cannabis war.
Prosperity for all is not sustainable without universal healthcare, progressive taxation, higher taxes on the rich, lower taxes on the middle class, a high minimum wage, and a sustainable population. Vote out most Republicans! Ballotpedia issues: marijuana and minimum wage. It is not socialist. It is Common Sense. (search for "poor" among Thomas Paine quotes). See: List of minimum wages by country. And: Medicare-for-all, like Canada, is not socialist either. See: US federal minimum wage has 35% less buying power than in 1969. 10 years since last increase. A record. [126]. Racist Republican state governments in 28 states passed laws to prevent cities from raising the minimum wage. Far-right talk radio helps Republicans do this. Republicans block cheap municipal broadband in 26 states. Vote!
Money wasted on health insurance companies, drug wars, and most ground wars, helps no one.
Holy War on Drugs, Conservative-led global incarceration.
US Republican cannabis war
Return to top. See also: Cannabis is safer.
Vote out most Republicans and their cannabis war.
| Legal Marijuana Advocates Rank The Best And Worst Governors On Cannabis. 2.. By Tom Angell, Jan 16, 2019. From the article (emphasis added): |
| Of the governors who received passing grades in the new scorecard, 22 are Democrats and only five are Republicans. Meanwhile, 100 percent of those who got A grades are Democrats. On the other end of the scale, the 15 who got D grades and the four who received an F are all GOP governors. No Democrat got less than a C. |
|
Register and vote for cannabis.
CannabisVoter.info - Click your state to see which anti-cannabis Republicans to vote out.
Trump vetoes democracy. He does so via the threat of presidential vetos requiring a 2/3rds vote of Congress to override. No European democracy has such authoritarian executive vetos. Their kings, presidents, and prime ministers were stripped of such power.
USA. Life for Pot. Under Trump
GOP Senate blocks cannabis. The Republican US Senate is a pseudo-democracy. A minority of Republicans block federal rescheduling or descheduling of cannabis. They block many bills that have majority public support. They do so via a radically expanded filibuster rule that requires 60% votes to pass anything, thus allowing a minority of 40% to rule.
See Wikipedia: Nuclear Option. It can bring back "50% plus 1" democracy to the US Senate. Stop the:
Republican Senate filibuster against rescheduling or descheduling of cannabis. Still true.
| 16 July 2018: Republican Congressional Committee Blocks Marijuana Votes (Again). |
| 10 July 2018: Republican Congress Has Blocked Dozens Of Marijuana Amendments. |
Republican mass incarceration
- US still has the world's highest incarceration rate. The Republican-led drug war and Republican/NRA-led implementation of mandatory sentencing caused it.
| The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world due to the Republican-led drug war, and the Republican/NRA-led campaign for mandatory minimum sentencing. 29 Mar 2019: Republican history of support for the Bail Bond Industry, and cash bail for people accused, but not convicted, of nonviolent crimes. 2.3.4. 30 April 2019: How Private Equity Is Turning Public Prisons Into Big Profits. |
Incarceration rates compared
OECD (developed democracies). Incarceration rates in chart below. See source info. And: Wikipedia:List of countries by incarceration rate. And: Wikipedia: Comparison of United States incarceration rate with other countries.
We need to look at Portugal!
Return to top. See: Portugal. Cannabis-related links. Also has links about Portugal's drug decriminalization.
Portugal's drug decriminalization. 2.3.4. Based on single-payer, universal healthcare. 2.
USA had 185 overdose deaths per million people. From 2016 chart in article. Also, see chart below.
Portugal had 6 overdose deaths per million people.
Chart of the day: Drug overdose deaths per million persons. Can the US learn something from Portugal? • AEI | Carpe Diem Blog » AEIdeas. By Mark J. Perry @Mark_J_Perry - July 9, 2017. See chart:
How Europe's heroin capital solved its overdose crisis. By Chris Brown. Apr 25, 2017. CBC.ca. "Goulao says 90 per cent of public money spent fighting drugs in Portugal is channeled toward those health-care goals — just 10 per cent is spent on police enforcement."
Cannabis versus cigarettes
Return to top. See: Cannabis is safer.
Chart is for regular marijuana and cigarette use by 12th graders in the USA in the past 30 days. For cigarettes actual daily use is measured. For marijuana it is for use on 20 or more occasions in the past 30 days. Green line is for marijuana. Dark blue/purple line is for cigarettes. Percent of 12th graders using over the years. Note the drastic and welcome drop in cigarette use. Marijuana use has stayed relatively low and steady.
Life for Pot. Under Trump
USA. Life for Pot. Under Trump
70,200 deaths in US in 2017
During Trump's drug war.
Return to top. Click charts to enlarge.
There were 70,200 overdose deaths in 2017 in the US under the Republican-led drug war under Trump. Multiple drugs were involved in many of the deaths. See the numbers for the various drugs in the chart just below.
Chart source. Among the more than 70,200 deaths in 2017, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (synthetic opioids) with 28,466 deaths.
Chart source. Total US drug deaths by year. The 2 lines are for male and female numbers.
Trudeau's Canada legalized
Trudeau is not a socialist.
- Wikipedia: Cannabis in Canada. Recreational cannabis is legal in Canada.
Canadian healthcare myths
Return to top. See: Canadian healthcare myths.
| Videos. US Republican myths about Canadian healthcare: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96. Nations with better and healthier quality of life: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14. |
Single Payer costs less and
Canada is not socialist.
See charts in these articles:
- Canadian single-payer universal healthcare versus US healthcare.
- Happy alternatives to US Republican-led poverty, mass incarceration, food insecurity, debt, ill health, intense concentration of wealth, endless wars.
| Medicare-for-all is single-payer, non-socialist, non-government-owned, Canadian-style healthcare. | |
| Charts. USA spent $3.3 trillion on healthcare in 2017. (2.3.4.). Canada got better outcomes, spent half as much per person, and thus has a higher median wealth. So: 55% of Americans support 'Medicare-for-all'. (2.) | Households with handguns: Canada: 3%. USA: 30%.) |
| Country | Median wealth per adult 2018. US dollars | Healthcare cost per person. US dollars PPP. 2017 | Murder rate per 100,000. 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | $106,342 | $4,826 | 1.7 |
| USA | $61,667 | $10,209 | 5.3 |
| US spent 17.2% of GDP (national economy) on healthcare in 2017. Canada spent 10.4%. See: info, charts, videos exposing US Republican myths about Canadian healthcare. (2.) |
| Country | Life expectancy 2016 (2) | Under-5 mortality rate per 1000 live births. 2017 | Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births. 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 82.8 years | 5.1 | 7.3 |
| USA | 78.5 years | 6.6 | 26.4 |
It has higher minimum wage
A higher minimum wage is also not socialist. Canada has a higher minimum wage than the US. See: Wikipedia: List of minimum wages by country.
It has a lower murder rate,
US; more handgun owners.
See chart in previous section. Canada has a much lower homicide rate, and a much lower rate of handgun ownership. Even clueless Trump pinheads might figure out the connection. It is that simple.
Portugal's drug decrim
Return to top. See: Canadian single-payer healthcare and Portuguese drug decriminalization.
We need to look at Portugal, where their overdose death rate, HIV, and hepatitis rates, were all drastically reduced after decriminalization and a public health, universal healthcare, treatment-for-all approach.
Portugal's drug decriminalization. 2.3.4. Based on single-payer, universal healthcare. 2.
It has now been 18 years since Portuguese decriminalization in 2001.
Healthcare for all costs less
Return to top. Share link: longcanada.
Total healthcare cost per person in Canada and Europe is half of what Americans pay per person in taxes, deductibles, copays, and premiums. This is because health insurance companies have much less to do with healthcare there. Drug prices are negotiated. And universal healthcare is about prevention and keeping people well, and not about continually "treating" them and keeping them profitably sick. See info, charts, and videos in this article:
| Charts. US spent 17.2% of GDP (national economy) on healthcare in 2017. - Canada spent 10.4%. See: info, charts, videos exposing Republican myths about Canadian healthcare. (2.) |
| Country | Per capita spending on health. Public and private costs. USD - PPP. 2017 | Healthcare costs as a percent of GDP. 2017 | % of health costs paid by gov't. 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| (refs> | 6. | 7. | 8. |
| Australia | $4,543 | 9.1 | 67.8 |
| Canada | $4,826 | 10.4 | 70.3 |
| France | $4,902 | 11.5 | 78.8 |
| Germany | $5,729 | 11.3 | 84.6 |
| Japan | $4,717 | 10.7 | 84.1 |
| Sweden | $5,511 | 10.9 | 83.9 |
| UK | $4,264 | 9.7 | 79.2 |
| USA | $10,209 | 17.2 | 49.1 |
| USA spent $3.3 trillion on healthcare in 2017. (2.3.4.). Canada spent half as much per person, and got better outcomes. 55% of Americans support 'Medicare-for-all'. (2.) |
| Country | Life expectancy (years). 2016 | Under-five mortality rate per 1000 live births. 2016 | Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births. 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| (refs> | 1. | 2. | 3. 4. 5. |
| Australia | 82.9 | 3.8 | 5.5 |
| Canada | 82.8 | 4.9 | 7.3 |
| France | 82.9 | 3.9 | 7.8 |
| Germany | 81.0 | 3.8 | 9.0 |
| Japan | 84.2 | 2.7 | 6.4 |
| Sweden | 82.4 | 2.9 | 4.4 |
| UK | 81.4 | 4.3 | 9.2 |
| USA | 78.5 | 6.5 | 26.4 |
Drug company price fixing
12 May 2019: Sweeping lawsuit accuses top generic drug companies, executives of fixing prices. On 60 Minutes. CBS news. From article: "But 1,215 generics, many of them the most prescribed drugs, jumped on average more than 400 percent in a single year. ... 90 percent of all prescriptions filled in this country are filled with generic drugs."
Huge cost of deductibles
2 May 2019: Trumpcare: Health insurance deductibles soar, leaving Americans with unaffordable bills. Los Angeles Times. 26 Mar 2018: Why thousands of Americans Are Risking It and Skipping Health Insurance. Bloomberg News.
Medicare for all costs less
16 Jul 2018: The Astonishingly High Administrative Costs of U.S. Health Care. New York Times.
10 Apr 2019: Medicare For All: Accept No Substitutes. [127][128]. Medicare spends only 1.4% on bureaucracy:
Related charts. See image source on Facebook.
And is not socialist.
US drug war is expensive
Cost of Republican-led U.S. drug war.
Cash bail costs taxpayers
Return to top. - Republicans will do almost anything to maintain a high incarceration rate.
| 29 Mar 2019: Republican history of support for the Bail Bond Industry, and cash bail for people accused, but not convicted, of nonviolent crimes. 2.3.4. |
24 Jan 2017: Our Money Bail System Costs U.S. Taxpayers $38 Million A Day. On HuffPost.
Ground wars are costly
$5.9 trillion is the cost of America’s wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, etc..
Peace-keeping forces are much less expensive in money and lives. They actually prevent US involvement in ground wars for the most part. The US should not be fighting the ground wars of others. If that happens it often means the US is propping up authoritarians, dictatorships, fake democracies, and corporate wars. See: Wars, drug wars, black sites, and dictators on demand.
Pentagon is a money pit.
17 Mar 2019: The Pentagon’s Bottomless Money Pit. By Matt Taibbi. Rolling Stone. "Despite being the taxpayers’ greatest investment — more than $700 billion a year — the Department of Defense has remained an organizational black box throughout its history. It’s repelled generations of official inquiries, the latest being an audit three decades in the making, mainly by scrambling its accounting into such a mess that it may never be untangled."
Hemp for all
- Google search: The Emperor Wears No Clothes. Jack Herer. Chris Conrad.
| 12 Dec 2018: Veto-proof Farm Bill passed overwhelmingly by Congress. American farmers will be able to plant and harvest hemp. It could spark a boom for the $1 billion marijuana-linked CBD industry. 2. |
Children's Climate Action
Weekly totals for cities/towns worldwide for #FridaysForFuture youth strike for climate.
Facebook video with captions. A teenage climate activist (Greta Thunberg) called out world leaders in December 2018 at age 15. See comments and number of views by clicking on the video after it starts. Another popular version. Her videos have many tens of millions of views. See the full version on Youtube. It has a transcript in the description. There are many versions online. See Wikipedia: 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference. See: Thousands of UK Students Skipped Class to Protest Climate Change. Feb 15, 2019. Many photos.
- Wikipedia: Greta Thunberg. And: Wikipedia: School strike for climate. Many events worldwide.
- Google search: greta climate. Twitter: #FridaysForFuture #SchoolStrike4Climate #ClimateStrike.
- Wikipedia: Voting age. Voting age of 16 in many countries. Youth have more sense than US Republican climate change deniers.
Darwinian evolution turning into US Republican politician evolution:
Green Love. Warming &
Democrat Congresspeople in the US support cannabis reform and the environment much more than Republican leaders. Republican misogyny as represented by Donald Trump is only matched by Republican misogyny for Mother Earth. Partly due to Trump the number of Democrat women in Congress increased in record numbers after the 2018 midterm election. The number of Republican women in Congress declined after the 2018 election. See Wikipedia: 2018 United States elections.
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-
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2018. A record year for female members of US Congress. [5][6]
-
Nevada 2018. First US state with majority-female legislature.
18 Dec 2018: Nevada becomes first US state with majority-female legislature. This was partly due to voters dumping the Trump morons (Republican leaders) who opposed recreational cannabis. Nevada legalized recreational cannabis in 2016.
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is the main driver of global warming. Free birth control is part of the solution. The Little Ice Age is believed to have been partly due to the reforestation that occurred during the hundreds of years of lower human population caused by the Black Plague worldwide.
Colorado’s Effort Against Teenage Pregnancies Is a Startling Success. Free birth control. July 5, 2015. New York Times.
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7 July 2015: As with cannabis legalization Colorado led the way.. More info. 2.3..
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Wikipedia: Population milestone babies.
- 9 June 2015: Abortion Rates Dropped Sharply. What Caused It? "According to a survey released by the Associated Press on Monday, abortions have dropped by 12 percent nationwide since 2010. ... the correlation between increased access to contraception and a decrease in unplanned pregnancy has been significantly documented over the last two decades. Teen pregnancy rates have been dropping to historic lows, a trend that has been connected to the change in social norms surrounding contraception and increased birth control availability."
- ObamaCare Birth Control - Obamacare Facts. Free birth control.
Flood insurance
Return to top. More socialism for the rich.
Taxpayers Get Soaked by Government's Flood Insurance for Risky Beachfront Property of the Rich. It's really a subsidy for rich banks to cover their mortgage risk. And it's not just money for rebuilding homes in risky places being overrun by ever-increasing high water from global warming. It's money for neverending dredging, too. "Up and down the coast, the Army Corps of Engineers dumped sand on hundreds of beaches."
Green energy costs less
Oil subsidies are socialist.
15 Aug 2019: Renewable energy can generate billions of dollars in health benefits, study finds.
8 May 2019: Study: U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending. By Tim Dickinson. Rolling Stone. From the article (emphasis added):
| It accounts for the “differences between actual consumer fuel prices and how much consumers would pay if prices fully reflected supply costs plus the taxes needed to reflect environmental costs” and other damage, including premature deaths from air pollution. |
9 Sep 2019: EU countries still giving breaks to fossil fuel industries, new study says.
President Eisenhower was
A progressive Republican.
He wasn't a socialist. His
- They tried to call FDR and the New Deal 'socialist' too. Here's how he responded. By Michael Hiltzik. Feb 13, 2019. Los Angeles Times.
91% top marginal tax rate
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Hires Former Marijuana Lobbyist As Senior Advisor. By Kyle Jaeger. January 7, 2019. Marijuana Moment. From the article: "Both believe that marijuana should be legalized at the federal level".
Ocasio-Cortez floats 70 percent tax on the super wealthy to fund Green New Deal.
7 Jan 2018: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is floating a 70 percent top tax rate — here’s the research that backs her up. And: Haters. And: Dancegate.
Eisenhower, the progressive Republican President, had a 91% top marginal income tax rate.. He participated in one of the greatest eras of economic prosperity-for-more in the US in the 1950s.
That era had lower overall taxes on the middle class.
Make America Progressive and Prosperous for More Again. 
As Poll Shows Majority Back 70% Top Marginal Tax Rate for Ultra-Rich, Ocasio-Cortez's "Radical" Proposal Proves Extremely Mainstream. [129][130].
-
Median wealth per adult. Credit Suisse. 2019 report. Country links are to Wikipedia articles. Click red column headers to sort. Link.
Country Median wealth
per adult.
US dollars1 Switzerland 227,891 2 Australia 181,361 3 Iceland 165,961 4 Hong Kong 146,887 5 Luxembourg 139,789 6 Belgium 117,093 7 New Zealand 116,433 8 Japan 110,408 9 Canada 107,004 10 Ireland 104,842 11 France 101,942 12 United Kingdom 97,452 13 Singapore 96,967 14 Spain 95,360 15 Austria 94,070 16 Italy 91,889 17 Malta 76,016 18 South Korea 72,198 19 Norway 70,627 20 Taiwan 70,191 21 Qatar 69,671 22 United States 65,904 23 Denmark 58,784 -
& lower middle-class taxes
Overall taxes on the middle class in the US were lower in the 1950s
Equaled prosperity for more
Eisenhower, the progressive Republican President, had a 91% top marginal income tax rate.. He participated in one of the greatest eras of economic prosperity-for-more in the US in the 1950s.
That era had lower overall taxes on the middle class.
- Viral meme says 1956 Republican platform was pretty liberal. Article by PolitiFact says it is mostly true. See Wikipedia: PolitiFact.
Vs Republican Party today:
GOP kleptocracy, drug war,
| Republican Party. Greed, ground wars, drug wars, and mass incarceration. |
-
Source. 22 Jan 2019: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: A system that allows billionaires to exist alongside extreme poverty is immoral. -
Wage slave waking up -
See: map source. U.S. Dept. of Labor. Map of states with higher minimum wage than the federal minimum wage. Note that slavery still exists in the Republican South. Wage slaves. -
Wikipedia: Minimum wage in the United States. Wikipedia: Fight for $15. -
That illegal smile Republican leaders don't like.
US Republican war on poor,
Return to top. Income inequality and drug war.
Record US income inequality,
26 Sep 2019: Income inequality in America is at its highest level in more than 50 years.
| Stock owned by richest 10%. | |
| 2016 | 84% |
| 2013 | 81% |
| 2001 | 71% |
The Richest 10% of Americans Now Own 84% of All Stocks. Dec. 19, 2017. Time (magazine). "The top 10% of American households, as defined by total wealth, now own 84% of all stocks in 2016, according to a recent paper by NYU economist Edward N. Wolff."
Rich get richer; while middle class wages are flat (inflation-adjusted), and the federal minimum wage (inflation-adjusted) has declined.
USA. Since 2001, labor’s share of national income has suffered a sustained decline. 11 Sep 2018.
See chart. [7]. And source article.
Rich pay less taxes than you,
9 Oct 2019: America's richest 400 families now pay a lower tax rate than the middle class. CBS News.
8 Oct: For the first time in history, U.S. billionaires paid a lower tax rate than the working class. The Washington Post. From the article: "The top 400 families have more wealth than the bottom 60 percent of households, while the top 0.1 percent own as much as the bottom 80 percent. ... the tipping point came in 2017, with the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The legislation, championed by President Trump and then-House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), was a windfall for the wealthy: It lowered the top income tax bracket".
6 Oct: The Rich Really Do Pay Lower Taxes Than You. New York Times.
Flat inflation-adjusted wages,
Return to top. See: Under Trump, inflation-adjusted real wages are flat.
Chart. Homelessness is increasing under Trump. And: Inflation-adjusted wages are flat.
The top line in the chart below is for hourly wages adjusted for inflation: Bottom of chart below says: "Data for wages of production and non-supervisory employees on private non-farm payrolls."
And lower minimum wage.
USA. Inflation-adjusted federal minimum wage over the years. US federal minimum wage has 35% less buying power than in 1969. 10 years since last increase. A record. [131].
"The U.S. has one of the stingiest minimum wage policies of any wealthy nation." See: Charts. See Wikipedia: List of minimum wages by country.
Massive US student debt
Facebook video: $1.5 trillion in student debt. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. Read the heartbreaking comments. 10 Dec 2018: People Are Living With An Incredible Amount Of Debt From Student Loans And Credit Cards. By Venessa Wong. BuzzFeed News.
= Republican loansharking
See Wikipedia: Student debt. Roughly 1 in 4 adults. No bankruptcy rights. Much higher interest rates. Lifetime debt. Modern loansharking and predatory lending, approved by Republicans.
College at 16 is cheaper.
Return to top. See: Wikipedia: Age of majority (by country). Wikipedia: Voting age. Voting age of 16 in many countries.
Scotland: Adult at age 16. Prolonged forced adolescence is a waste of time and money. Increased agency is better. Public high school in the USA costs an average of $12,509 a year per student in taxes. The money now spent for high school between the ages of 16 to 18 could be set aside for 2 years of college tuition, room, and board. See: Scotland. What can I do at my age? See: Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991. See: Wikipedia: Education in Scotland: "In 2014, research by the Office for National Statistics found that Scotland was the most highly educated country in Europe".
Massive US medical debt,
This doesn't happen in Canada, due to single-payer universal healthcare.
17 Jan 2019: US. 34 Devastating Stories About How People Are Still Crushed By Medical Debt. By Venessa Wong. BuzzFeed News.
Massive US household debt,
Return to top. See Wikipedia: Household debt.
US household debt at all time high. Chart is in the PDF linked from that page.
Total household debt timeline.
Total Household Debt by Type:
Click to enlarge. Timeline is by quarters.
Polls support legalization
Return to top. See: Cannabis polls.
23 Oct 2019: 66% of Americans support legalizing adult use of marijuana. By Gallup Poll. 19 April 2019: CBS poll at 65% for legalization. This is after decades of activism such as cannabis marches, events, education, referendums, and more. See: cannabis polls and activism.
The majority of US Republicans now support full cannabis legalization, but many Republican leaders do not. We march until all the anti-cannabis US Republican leaders are removed from office.
![[1]](https://cannabis.wikia.org/wiki/File:2020_US_minimum_wage_map.png){kind=link}
![[81]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Children_and_teen_gun_death_rate.svg){kind=link}
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