Del. Jon Cardin Announces 2014 Attorney General Fundraiser // HMM: Democrat Applauds Dream Act Win But Voted Against It

An anonymous source tells Maryland Juice that today Delegate Jon Cardin announced a fundraiser for 2014 Attorney General. So far, the Baltimore-area Democrat would be taking on only Senator Brian Frosh of Montgomery County, though others are known to be thinking about the race. In the email blast below, Cardin announces a December 4th "Jon Cardin for AG cocktail reception," but our source also points out that strangely, Cardin applauds passage of the Maryland Dream Act. This is unusual, because Jon Cardin voted against the Dream Act in the Maryland House.

DELEGATE JON CARDIN HAILS DREAM ACT BUT VOTED AGAINST IT: In what doubles as a "post election 2012" report, Cardin states that "by supporting the Dream Act, Marylanders advanced the State’s longstanding principle that access to education is the key to strengthening the State. I am proud of Maryland voters, and I am confident that Maryland will continue to lead the way in providing equal rights and equal opportunities to all of its residents."

Too bad Marylanders can't rely on Cardin to lead the way on these issues. Our source points out that Delegate Jon Cardin joined Tea Party members and voted against the Dream Act during the House of Delegates floor vote last year. Prior to the floor vote, the Dream Act was debated in the House Ways & Means committee where Cardin is a member. He abstained from voting on the bill in committee. This is hardly a profile in legislative courage, and it borders on outrageous for him to now applaud passage of something he opposed. See Cardin's email blast below, followed by a few excerpts from the legislative record for the Dream Act:

Cardin Annapolis Reports: Post Election 2012   November 20, 2012 Dear Juice, After two years of hard fought campaigning on both the State and federal levels, the election is finally over. Maryland has approved every ballot question including expanded gaming, affirming same sex marriage, and passing the Maryland Dream Act. On the federal level, President Obama has been re-elected with a mandate to balance the budget and return bipartisanship to Congress while Maryland again elected a strong delegation of Congressmen, including one new Representative, John Delaney, to Maryland’s 6th District. In approving all ballot measures, Marylanders sent the Governor and General Assembly two clear messages. First, by affirming the Dream Act and becoming the first state in the Union to pass same sex marriage by referendum on their first try, Marylanders have spoken for equal rights and fairness for all Maryland’s residents. Further, by supporting the Dream Act, Marylanders advanced the State’s longstanding principle that access to education is the key to strengthening the State. I am proud of Maryland voters, and I am confident that Maryland will continue to lead the way in providing equal rights and equal opportunities to all of its residents. Second, by approving expanded gambling, including table games, and a sixth casino site to be located at Prince George’s County’s National Harbor, Marylanders reminded government that when citizens are choosing where to spend their disposable income, government should not restrict their options.  Furthermore, they reasserted to lawmakers that they are serious about raising revenues in the State. This measure will keep Maryland money in Maryland while creating jobs for Maryland residents. As a result of approving these ballot measures, Maryland looks forward to adding $200 million in revenues from expanded gaming, an estimated $66 million from the Dream Act and millions of dollars from new marriage licenses and the lucrative wedding industry. These new revenues have put Maryland in its strongest budget position in years with the real possibility of balancing the operating budget without significant cuts this coming legislative session. The message is clear, and I plan to continue working to grow industry in Maryland to raise revenues and continue to get my constituents back to work. This session, I plan to introduce research and development legislation to spur business investment in Maryland, including incentivizing existing business growth and creating new business opportunities, particularly in green industries such as wind and solar power. Finally, it is clear that voters in both our State and our country want to see lawmakers from both sides of the aisle working together to find and create innovative solutions to our big problems. I have always been committed to working with constituents and leaders from all sides and collaborating with the entire legislature to create solutions to our problems. Moving forward, please know that I am always open to new ideas and innovative solutions no matter where they come from. DON’T FORGET TO ATTEND THE RECEPTION FOR MY EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE TO BECOME MARYLAND’S ATTORNEY GENERAL ON DECEMBER 4, 2012 AT THE HOME OR ROBB COHEN AND GAIL SCHWARTZ. PLEASE CONTACT STEVE HURVITZ AT (703) 340-4497 OR STEVE@STEVEHURVITZ TO RSVP, JOIN OUR HOST COMMITTEE OR WITH ANY OTHER QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE. You can always reach me at jon.cardin@house.state.md.us.  I am proud to be representing you in Annapolis and to be working with Delegates Dana Stein and Dan Morhaim and Senator Bobby Zirkin as part of the District 11 legislative team. Sincerely,   Delegate Jon S. Cardin

Below you can see the 2011 House of Delegates roll call vote for the Dream Act, followed by the Dream Act Ways & Means roll call vote:

Voting Yea - 74
Speaker Busch	Cullison	Hixson	Mitchell	Stukes
Alston	Davis	Holmes	Mizeur	Summers
Anderson	Dumais	Howard	Murphy	Tarrant
Arora	Feldman	Hubbard	Nathan-Pulliam	Turner, F.
Barkley	Frick	Hucker	Niemann	Turner, V.
Barnes	Frush	Ivey	Oaks	Valderrama
Barve	Gaines	Jones	Pena-Melnyk	Valentino-Smith
Bobo	Gilchrist	Kaiser	Pendergrass	Vallario
Branch	Glenn	Kelly, A.	Proctor	Vaughn
Braveboy	Griffith	Kramer	Reznik	Waldstreicher
Cane	Gutierrez	Lee	Robinson, B.	Walker
Carr	Guzzone	Love	Robinson, S.	Washington
Carter	Harrison	Luedtke	Rosenberg	Wilson
Clippinger	Haynes	McIntosh	Ross	Zucker
Conaway	Healey	Miller, A.	Simmons
Voting Nay - 66
Afzali	DeBoy	Impallaria	McHale	Serafini
Aumann	Donoghue	Jacobs	McMillan	Smigiel
Bates	Dwyer	James	Miller, W.	Sophocleus
Beidle	Eckardt	Jameson	Morhaim	Stein
Beitzel	Elliott	Kach	Myers	Stifler
Bohanan	Fisher	Kelly, K.	Norman	Stocksdale
Boteler	Frank	Kipke	O'Donnell	Szeliga
Bromwell	George	Krebs	Olszewski	Vitale
Burns	Glass	Lafferty	Otto	Weir
Cardin	Haddaway-Riccio	Malone	Parrott	Wood
Clagett	Hammen	McComas	Ready
Cluster	Hershey	McConkey	Rudolph
Conway	Hogan	McDermott	Schuh
Costa	Hough	McDonough	Schulz

Dream Act - 2011 MD House Ways & Means Roll Call

CD6 ANALYSIS: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett Lacking Appeal in Montgomery County // Will Delaney Capitalize on GOP Gaffes?

MARYLAND JUICE'S ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT STATE OF THE CD6 RACE

BACKGROUND: Maryland's 6th Congressional District race is one the nation's most competitive contests for the November 6 elections. Indeed, Maryland Juice has been tracking this slugfest ever since Maryland Democrats redistricted Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's seat to become a majority Democratic U.S. House district. Note: check out our CD6 article archive. The formerly Western-Maryland anchored district now includes a majority of voters who supported President Barack Obama in 2008 -- including many voters in strongly Democratic Montgomery County and the city of Frederick.

MARYLAND JUICE'S QUICK ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT CD6 RACE: For Rep. Roscoe Bartlett to hold onto his seat, his campaign would need to make a number of things happen. First, they would have to appeal to some percentage of the new Democratic majority in CD6. Second, they would have to hope that either overall turnout was low in the Democratic areas of the new district or that enthusiasm for John Delaney remained low. Lastly, they would have to hope for high turnout among GOP base voters in CD6. Here's our take on how these factors are currently playing out:

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's Recent Attack Ad Against John Delaney

WILL NEGATIVE ADS REDUCE SUPPORT FOR DELANEY? - Here's the problem for Roscoe Bartlett: This is a presidential election cycle, which means that turnout will be higher than in off-year cycles (like during the Tea Party wave of 2010). Pinning your re-election hopes on low turnout in a presidential year is no way to win an election. Both the GOP and Democratic bases have additional reasons to be active in Maryland this year, but frankly there are more Democratic than Republican voters in CD6. So barring unusually low turnout in Montgomery County, Bartlett will have to count on finding artificial ways to suppress Delaney's share of the Democratic vote.

This is clearly where the Bartlett campaign's recent attacks on Delaney's environmental record come into play. The Maryland GOP has been sending mail pieces to Democratic voters trying to paint Delaney as a callous member of the 1%. Meanwhile, Bartlett is on TV with similar attack ads against Delaney. Clearly, the Bartlett campaign is trying to raise Delaney's negatives and suppress his support among Democrats.

One unusual feature to this strategy, however, is that Roscoe Bartlett himself does not appear to stand by the negative ads or even know what his campaign operatives and allies are saying. The Gazette recently covered this bizarre disconnect (excerpt below):

GAZETTE: At a recent town hall meeting, a man confronted Bartlett with what he perceived to be a negative campaign on the congressman’s part....

When the man handed Bartlett a campaign flier he’d received in the mail that labeled Delaney a “loan shark,” Bartlett shrugged it off. “That wasn’t me; that was the campaign,” he said, handing back the flier and shaking his head.

In a more recent exchange, Bartlett’s opponent called out the congressman for quoting a 2006 opinion piece in Forbes magazine, entitled “Loan Shark,” for Delaney’s business practice of lending money to small businesses....

“Oddly enough, the veteran Republican actually defended Delaney against accusations that he ripped off small businesses in favor of making bigger profits in the financial loaning industry. ‘I have no idea how he could be called a loan shark,’ said Bartlett....”

CAN ROSCOE BARTLETT SELL HIMSELF AS AN INDEPENDENT VOICE? - While trying to reduce support for Delaney, Bartlett is also trying to re-brand himself as an independent voice in Congress. His campaign is now attempting to make Bartlett more palatable to moderate, independent and Democratic voters  in the new CD6. The New York Times recently profiled a number of embattled House Republicans who are now claiming the mantle of bi-partisanship. Maryland's Roscoe Bartlett, of course, is included in the NYT mix (excerpt below):

NEW YORK TIMES:  In campaign advertisements, some lawmakers who once dug in against Democrats now promote the wonders of bipartisanship. And legislatively, Republicans in tough races are seeking to soften their edges by moderating their votes, tossing their teacups and otherwise projecting a conciliatory image to voters.

The Republican quest for bipartisanship — at least nominally — is not hard to explain. A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted last week and released this weekend showed that 44 percent of Americans see Republicans at fault for gridlock in Washington, compared with 29 percent who blame President Obama and the Democrats....

On election night in 2010, as Tea Party conservatives were being swept into office, Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland, a 10-term Republican, declared: “The Tea Party came to where I was. I’ve always been there.”

But then came Maryland’s redistricting and an influx of Democratic voters to Mr. Bartlett’s once-reliable Republican corner of the state. Now much of his advertising emphasizes his support for higher education, including contributions to college funds out of his own pocket.

“Roscoe has never been afraid to buck his own party,” a radio ad intones. “Roscoe Bartlett, an independent voice for Maryland....”

BARTLETT'S GAFFES ARE DISTRACTING VOTERS FROM HIS MESSAGE: The reality, in Maryland Juice's honest opinion, is that it is hard to implement campaign messaging strategy when your candidate veers off course. In Maryland's CD6, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett has been veering wildly off course. Much media attention has been drawn to his recent comments comparing student loans to the Holocaust. The Frederick News-Post, for example, today published an editorial blasting Bartlett's Holocaust comments. But they also took the opportunity to dredge out past examples of Bartlett's gaffes (excerpt below):

FREDERICK NEWS-POST: U.S. Roscoe Bartlett faced a firestorm of attention in the past couple of weeks for his unfortunate invocation of the Holocaust to illustrate how ignoring the Constitution could result in serious ramifications.... Cue the sharp intake of breath, then the apology, then a call to resign....

As longtime 6th District constituents already know, the congressman has flubbed publicly before. Bartlett had been in office for only three months in 1993 when he referred to Asian-American names on a list of scholarship recipients, saying they didn't "represent the normal American." Naturally, a firestorm ensued after the story was first published in The Washington Post.

Then, during a 2002 announcement of expansion plans for Fort Detrick's PX and commissary, Bartlett questioned continued funding for cleaning up a polluted site on post.

IF A TREE FALLS IN THE WOODS // WILL THE DELANEY CAMPAIGN CAPITALIZE? - One great unknown in the CD6 race, is whether John Delaney will start airing advertisements highlighting Bartlett's record and gaffes. After all, it is currently unclear what percentage of CD6 voters have even heard about Bartlett's holocaust comments. My suspicion would be that a relatively small percentage of CD6 voters happened to be reading The Baltimore Sun, Frederick News-Post, Washington Post or Huffington Post at the time that Bartlett made the Holocaust comments. That means that unforced errors from the Bartlett campaign ought to present John Delaney with a "use it or lose it" choice to make about his advertising buys. After all, how many Montgomery Democrats will believe any attempts by the Bartlett campaign to moderate his image after hearing his comments about students loans and the Holocaust?

Yesterday, for example, a CD6 economic development blogger wrote a post titled "Why I Oppose Re-Election of Roscoe Bartlett," and they highlighted his long history of rightwing positions on issues. The blogger, at a site called "Thoughts about K4D" showed a scatterplot comparing Roscoe Bartlett to other members of Congress, and how based on his bill sponsorships, he is among the most rightwing Republicans in the U.S. House (see the graph below, noting that I've circled Bartlett's position):

The CD6 blogger also highlighted Bartlett's votes on a range of issues:

• Voted YES on banning federal health coverage that includes abortion. (May 2011)
• Voted NO on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Jan 2007)
• Voted NO on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)
• Voted YES on terminating the Home Affordable mortgage Program. (Mar 2011)
• Voted NO on $192B additional anti-recession stimulus spending. (Jul 2009)
• Voted NO on modifying bankruptcy rules to avoid mortgage foreclosures. (Mar 2009)
• Voted NO on additional $825 billion for economic recovery package. (Jan 2009)
• Voted NO on monitoring TARP funds to ensure more mortgage relief. (Jan 2009)
• Voted NO on $15B bailout for GM and Chrysler. (Dec 2008)
• Voted NO on $60B stimulus package for jobs, infrastructure, & energy. (Sep 2008)
• Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)
• Rated 7% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
• Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
• Rated 25% by the NAACP, indicating an anti-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)
• Voted NO on letting shareholders vote on executive compensation. (Jul 2009)
• Voted YES on prohibiting needle exchange & medical marijuana in DC. (Oct 1999)
• Voted YES on subjecting federal employees to random drug tests. (Sep 1998)
• Voted YES on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. (Apr 2011)
• Voted NO on $2 billion more for Cash for Clunkers program. (Jul 2009)
• Voted YES on deauthorizing "critical habitat" for endangered species. (Sep 2005)
• Voted YES on speeding up approval of forest thinning projects. (Nov 2003)
• Rated 30% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)
• Voted NO on supporting democratic institutions in Pakistan. (Jun 2009)
• Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. (Oct 2005)
• Voted YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse. (Apr 2003)
• Voted YES on decreasing gun waiting period from 3 days to 1. (Jun 1999)
• Voted YES on the Ryan Budget: Medicare choice, tax & spending cuts. (Apr 2011)
• Abolish federal Medicare entitlement; leave it to states. (Dec 2000)
• Limit anti-trust lawsuits on health plans and insurers. (Mar 2002)
• Rated 22% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)
• Redefine "birthright citizenship" to exclude illegal aliens. (Jan 2011)
• Declare English as the official language of the US. (Feb 2007)
• Declared English the official language of the US. (Jan 1999)
• Rated 0% by the AU, indicating opposition to church-state separation. (Dec 2006)

FINAL THOUGHT: Many of the aforementioned details would surely alarm the numerous Democratic voters in the new CD6. But the question remains, will Democrat John Delaney go on the offensive or will he try to quietly ride into the sunset?

SHAME ON YOU: Gov. Martin O'Malley & President Barack Obama Continue Failed War on Drugs // 4:20 PM on 4/20

BACKGROUND: Maryland Juice is reprinting a recent article we published last month condemning attacks on drug policy reform that are (disappointingly) coming from Gov. Martin O'Malley and President Barack Obama. Mr. O'Malley has pledged to veto medical marijuana legislation, while Mr. Obama is breaking a 2008 campaign promise by using federal law enforcement resources to harass state-approved medical marijuana dispensaries. Public sentiment is not with these gentleman on this issue, and it has in fact been trending away from them for years. No longer just a youth issue, the zeal for the so-called "War on Drugs" is also wearing thin among older voters. This effect will likely continue as the Baby Boomers begin to age and churn the population.

THE WORLD'S LARGEST PRISON POPULATION: But more important than simple opinion shifts is the large problem of over-incarceration in America. This problem is a clear result from a "War on Drugs" plotted out based on "conventional wisdom" instead of science and evidence. It should be obvious to all by now that over-incarceration of people of color is tied to our fanatical pursuit of non-violent drug charges. These strong-arm law enforcement pursuits used to be grounded in anti-crime policies related to past drug epidemics and sometimes as political cover for our foreign adventures in Central and South America.

Decades later, the result is the world's largest prison population and a completely apathetic response from the vast majority of policymakers. Medical marijuana is obviously the vanilla proxy battle for the bigger problem, but we can't even get that passed in Maryland. See a re-hash below:

ROLLING MY EYES: Gov. Martin O'Malley Plans to Veto Medical Marijuana Bill // AG Doug Gansler, Others Scared Of Feds

LEAKED DOCS: Handwritten Notes from Sam Arora's Interview with Equality Maryland // Democratic Lawmaker Is Lying

BACKGROUND: Maryland's Democratic lawmaker Sam Arora became notorious last year when he hinted at plans to betray the LGBT community. While running for office as a pro-marriage equality candidate in 2010, Arora raised money from the LGBT community and liberal Democrats alike.

ROLLING MY EYES: Gov. Martin O'Malley Plans to Veto Medical Marijuana Bill // AG Doug Gansler, Others Scared Of Feds

BACKGROUND: Today, the Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley plans to veto any medical marijuana legislation passed by the Free State legislature this year. Citing conflicts with "federal law" -- which haven't stopped progress in other states, by the way -- O'Malley and other top Maryland Democrats are retreating to 1980's style "War on Drugs" politics. Like, gag me with a spoon!

SOURCE: GALLUP 2011.   PASS THE BILL AND MAKE HIM VETO IT.

WHO ARE DEMOCRATS TRYING TO PLEASE?  Maryland Juice's eyes are rolling at the sight of "next generation" Democrats working to undermine progress on drug reform in America. While the vast majority of the public now demonstrates skepticism about the effectiveness of the "War on Drugs" in the United States, our political leaders continue to treat drug policy with "conventional wisdom" and fear instead of evidence and science.  The Huffington Post brings us up to speed on the current policy debate, which pits Democrats against the World:

HUFFINGTON POST: The debate around marijuana legalization has arrived. The issue is popping in ways that haven't been seen in decades -- if ever. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Mexico yesterday and later will travel to Honduras in the midst of rapidly-escalating demands by Latin American presidents that legalization be included among the options for reducing drug-related violence, crime and mayhem.

The Associated Press published an impressive story over the weekend about the transformation happening in Latin America. "Presidents of Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Mexico, all grappling with the extremely violent fallout of a failing drug war, have said in recent weeks they'd like to open up the discussion of legalizing drugs," the article stated.

Two weeks ago, Guatemala's president Otto Perez Molina, a right-wing conservative and former army general, stunned observers when he declared that the U.S. inability to cut illegal drug consumption leaves his country with no option but to consider legalizing the use and transport of drugs. He vowed to galvanize regional support.

The debate and momentum to legalize marijuana is also happening here in the U.S. Last week the Colorado Secretary of State certified an initiative for the state's November general election ballot that would legalize personal marijuana possession and allow regulated sales of marijuana to adults. Colorado now joins Washington as one of two states to qualify a legalization initiative in 2012, while several other states are hoping to follow suit.

But if you want an example of just how mainstream this issue is becoming, take a look at the Costco Connection, a lifestyle magazine that is distributed to eight million Costco members and read by close to 20 million people. The March issue asks the question "Should Marijuana Be Legal?" with the Drug Policy Alliance's executive director Ethan Nadelmann arguing yes and Robert DuPont, founding director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse arguing against. 

One group that is not participating in the debate is our "leaders" in Washington. While presidents of Latin America are calling for an open debate and more than 50 percent of Americans saying they support legalizing marijuana, you hear a deafening silence from Washington.

VIOLATING SCIENCE: Indeed, Maryland Juice would say that the way mainstream politicians treat drug policy in America reminds me of the way conservatives promote abstinence education over contraception. Essentially, they are choosing to blind themselves to the realities and science of drug policy. Last year, Portugal released results of a 10-year experiment in drug decriminalization and rehabilitation -- and not surprisingly, their hard drug use rates have dropped in half. So whose votes are Maryland Democrats trying to win with this retro "War on Drugs" perspective?

MARYLAND IS THE LATEST STATE TO JOIN THE RETREAT: Today, The Baltimore Sun reports that Free State Democrats are the latest capitulators to wave the white flag of defeat. It appears that the "conventional wisdom" crowd will defeat the "freedom and evidence" crowd for another generation. Gov. Martin O'Malley has indicated he will veto medical marijuana legislation in Maryland. Nevermind that the public supports full-on decriminalization -- we can't even get treatments for cancer patients in Maryland! Pathetic. Read The Sun's coverage below:

Gov. Martin O'Malley likely would veto any legislation to legalize medical marijuana because of concerns over whether it would stand up to federal scrutiny, his spokeswoman said Thursday....

His decision could once again kill an effort that has stalled in the General Assembly for years.

Maryland legislators are to begin debating three medical marijuana bills in House of Delegates committee hearings today.

"We have some serious concerns about liability," said O'Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. "Those concerns were raised by U.S. attorneys across the country. Based on those concerns, it is probably likely we would veto any legislation...."

Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler's office also expressed concerns about the legality of medical marijuana in a letter to Baltimore County Del. Dan K. Morhaim, the lead sponsor for two of Maryland's bills....

"The federal law prohibits use and possession of marijuana, as well as distribution and manufacture, without regard to whether the marijuana is ultimately used to treat a medical condition," wrote Assistant Attorney General Kathryn M. Rowe.

Maryland Health Secretary Joshua M. Sharfstein is expected to testify today that his agency cannot support any of the bills, including one that he previously endorsed, according to a draft of his testimony....

This year, lawmakers will consider two bills written using the commission's recommendations and introduced by Morhaim, the only doctor serving in the General Assembly....

Del. Cheryl Glenn, a Baltimore City Democrat, has introduced the most liberal bill, which would allow individuals to grow marijuana. She said former talk show host Montel Williams, who said he smokes marijuana to deal with the pain of multiple sclerosis, will testify on behalf of her bill.

Glenn said she doesn't worry about federal law because it is unlikely to be enforced.

"The federal government is on record saying this is not a priority for them," Glenn said. "If a state has a well-written law they are not going to seek any enforcement action. There is no need for patients with cancer and other diseases that become so debilitating to have to suffer."

CONFLICTS WITH FEDERAL LAW ARE B.S. - Maryland Juice thinks that the conflicts with Federal law are not a legitimate reason to veto medical marijuana legislation in Maryland. Every state in the nation that has passed such legislation has done so knowing that Federal law conflicted with their proposed state law -- and every state did so knowing that the Feds did not really enforce such laws. This is true in many areas of the law -- for example, the FDA currently turns a blind eye to seniors in border states who purchase prescription drugs from Canada.

WHO IS TO BLAME? - So why are Democratic politicians suddenly running scared from this issue? Two words: Barack Obama. He has broken a campaign promise and launched a new war on reason in the drug policy arena. Nobody seems to know why -- and we are all awaiting an explanation. After all, when he ran for President in 2008, he promised he wouldn't do this.  Rolling Stone Magazine recently wrote a very lengthy piece about Obama's reversal:

Obama's War on Pot

In a shocking about-face, the administration has launched a government-wide crackdown on medical marijuana

Back when he was running for president in 2008, Barack Obama insisted that medical marijuana was an issue best left to state and local governments. "I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue," he vowed, promising an end to the Bush administration's high-profile raids on providers of medical pot, which is legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia.

But over the past year, the Obama administration has quietly unleashed a multi­agency crackdown on medical cannabis that goes far beyond anything undertaken by George W. Bush. The feds are busting growers who operate in full compliance with state laws, vowing to seize the property of anyone who dares to even rent to legal pot dispensaries, and threatening to imprison state employees responsible for regulating medical marijuana. With more than 100 raids on pot dispensaries during his first three years, Obama is now on pace to exceed Bush's record for medical-marijuana busts. "There's no question that Obama's the worst president on medical marijuana," says Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "He's gone from first to worst...."

Democrats: The Dark Ages policy debates are becoming tiring. We expect better from you. Keep it real -- or fail.