Yesterday, the Obama administration announced new Justice Department rules on going after state licensed medicinal marijuana dispensers. Previously, the Bush administration went hard after marijuana dispensaries, even if they were in compliance with state law (really odd for a conservative administration). Now, Obama has instructed prosecutors to spend their time and federal dollars going after nefarious criminals, not sick stoners. John Nichols agrees.
Year One of the Obama Administration focused on using the government to stabilize the economy and (hopefully) enact serious health care reform. Year Two (and three and four) will likely focus on deficit reduction. Gerald Seib of the WSJ suggests that Obama might support the Conrad-Gregg proposal to create a bipartisan Congress/White House deficit reduction panel. The panel would be charged with developing a mix of tax increases and spending cuts in order to better manage our fiscal imbalances. We'll see. But, it's hard to imagine much getting accomplished in an election year. Sad.
The debate among Obama's war council centers on whether sending an additional 40,000 troops to Afghanistan will actually work. f
Finally, liberal activists are upset at the slow pace at which Obama is handling judicial nominations. Compared to recent predecessors Obama has forwarded far fewer names to the Senate for judicial confirmation. Why? Some attribute it to Obama's insistence on reducing partisan rancor. Others simply say it's because Obama has not fully articulated his own judicial vision. Either way, he needs to step it up.
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