A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Friday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.
Listen to the new episode here:
Read a transcript of the new episode, including links to further information regarding the topics discussed, here:
The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity welcomes you to Five Minutes Five Issues.
Starting in five four three two one.
Hello, I am Adam Dick, a Ron Paul Institute senior fellow.
Let’s start.
Issue one.
In an October 11 article at the Ron Paul Institute website, I wrote about H.Con.Res. 81, introduced by United States House of Representatives Member Ro Khanna (D-CA) and cosponsors, including Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Walter Jones (R-NC) who are RPI Advisory Board members. The legislation sought to end US involvement in the war to determine who governs Yemen.
H.Con.Res. 81 used a provision of the War Powers Resolution to ensure the legislation would reach the House floor for a vote. But, Roxana Tiron reported Tuesday at Bloomberg that top Republican and Democratic House leaders intervened, resulting in the drafting of a nonbinding resolution that would come to the House floor instead. Jones is quoted in the article saying that “[a]round here” consideration of the replacement resolution is “probably a small victory,” but it is “not what Congress should do.”
Issue two.
Five years ago this week, Colorado and Washington state voters approved ballot measures legalizing recreational marijuana. Voters have since approved marijuana legalization in six more states and Washington, DC. Meanwhile, legal medical marijuana is much more widespread, and many state and local governments are moving forward with decriminalization. Plus, people are learning from the rolling back of marijuana prohibition in some parts of America that the war on marijuana was supported by unjustified fears.
This week, there were two governor elections, with the New Jersey winner having campaigned for marijuana legalization and the Virginia winner having campaigned for marijuana decriminalization.
The momentum is behind ending the war on marijuana throughout America.
Issue three.
In the July 6, 2016 episode of Five Minutes Five Issues, I noted that then-Attorney General James B. Comey, in announcing his recommendation of no prosecution of Hillary Clinton, pretty much admitted he believed Clinton, as secretary of state, criminally mishandled confidential information. When Comey said both that there was evidence Clinton was “extremely careless” in handling “very sensitive, highly classified information” and that it is “a felony to mismanage classified information … in a grossly negligent way,” he used synonymous phrases to describe Clinton’s actions and criminal actions.
This week, John Solomon reported at The Hill that, in an early draft of the announcement, Comey outright “accused the former secretary of State of having been ‘grossly negligent’ in handling classified information.” Solomon notes that the later wording change to “extremely careless” was significant because “federal law states that gross negligence in handling the nation’s intelligence can be punished criminally with prison time or fines.”
Issue four.
Rowan Scarborough wrote in October at the Washington Times regarding a Department of Defense report describing supposed benefits of requiring women to register with Selective Service. “It appears that, for the most part,” states the report, “expanding registration for the draft to include women would enhance further the benefits presently associated with the selective service system” and “convey the added benefit of promoting fairness and equity.”
As I wrote in December at the Ron Paul Institute website, a provision requiring women to register with Selective Service was included last year in the original Senate-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as well as in the NDAA version passed by the House Armed Services Committee, though the provision was left out of the final bill agreed upon by the House and Senate.
The Defense Department report will probably lead to increased support in Congress for expanding a potential draft to include women.
Issue five.
Ten years ago this week, the Ron Paul presidential campaign received over four million dollars in donations via the internet within 24 hours, setting a political campaigns record. This Guy Fawkes Day money bomb, arranged by Paul supporters independent of Paul’s official campaign, demonstrated, through its tens of thousands of donations amounting to such a large sum, the widespread and dedicated support for Paul. The next month, a money bomb on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party raised even more, setting a record for one-day campaign fund raising on or off the internet.
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That’s a wrap.
Transcripts of Five Minutes Five Issues episodes, including links to related information, are at the Ron Paul Institute blog.
Five four three two one.
Reprinted with permission from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.