Tag: Politics

Pressure mounting, President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress strained Tuesday to trim back his potentially historic $3.5 trillion government overhaul to win support from two key holdout senators ahead of make-or-break deadlines for votes.

The U.S. is seeing an increased use of cannabis resulting from its legalization for recreational purposes, according to a study conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The findings showed that passage of the laws led to a rise in the odds of past-year and past-month cannabis use among individuals of Hispanic, Other and non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity compared to the period prior to enacting laws for recreational use.

Americans traditionally have been wary of a large permanent military establishment, believing it to be a threat to democratic institutions. This attitude goes all the way back to the Founding Fathers who deliberately kept the army small, preferring to rely on local militia in case of an emergency. This was done to prevent the army from being used to repress the rights of any individual state during the long and ongoing battle over the issue of states’ rights; the echoes of which still reverberate to this very day. The past nine months’ events show how wise this attitude was.

According to the U. S. Constitution, there is an explicit separation between Church and State. Perhaps State doesn't mean politics. I'll explain. I was recently invited to cover an event at the 412 Church, a large expansion of land and building on the border between Hem and San Jacinto in the northwest corner of the San Jacinto Valley. It was billed as a "Townhall Meeting," something, as a journalist, I was pleased to cover. However, what I sat through for an hour had nothing to do with townhall other than it was packed with people. The general public did not speak.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded $15 million in planning grants to 20 states to support expanding community-based mobile crisis intervention services for Medicaid beneficiaries. By connecting people who are experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis to a behavioral health specialist or critical treatment, these services—which will be provided by funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP)— and will be available 24 hours per day, every day of the year, can help save lives. Importantly, these services can also help to reduce the reliance on law enforcement when people are experiencing a behavioral health crisis and, in turn, may help to prevent the unnecessary incarceration of people with serious mental illness or substance use disorders.