A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Saturday. 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.
This week, the United States government announced its intention to give the Israel government $38 billion in military aid over the next ten years. This is a record sum for US military aid to any nation.
But, it is not enough to satisfy at least one US Senator. Jordan Carney reports at The Hill that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is planning to introduce legislation next week to add to the military aid. Graham says in the article that he thinks many senators would vote for an additional $1.5 billion.
Issue two.
Who is funding opposition to statewide public votes on liberalizing marijuana laws that will be held in November? According to Lee Fang in two The Intercept articles this week, in Arizona at least some of the money is coming from an alcohol industry political action committee and a pharmaceutical company.
Fang writes that in Arizona, which has marijuana legalization on the November ballot, “the Arizona Wine and Spirits Wholesale Association donated $10,000 to a group opposing legalization.” In addition, Fang reports that, “On August 31, Insys Therapeutics Inc. donated $500,000 to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, becoming the single largest donor to the group leading the charge to defeat” the marijuana legalization ballot measure. As Fang points out, Insys Therapeutics disclosed in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that legalized marijuana in America would likely significantly reduce sales of a drug the company is developing that uses a synthetic version of the marijuana component THC.
Issue three.
The national Libertarian Party announced on Thursday that, for the first time since 1996, its presidential ticket will be on the ballot in all 50 states. The only other presidential tickets on all 50 states’ ballots are those of the Democratic and Republican parties.
Fee and petition requirements cause third party supporters to spend much of their money and time on just obtaining ballot access. That leaves much less resources to expend on communicating to the people. High ballot access hurdles also result in people living in some states not having presidential tickets from third parties, including the Green Party and the Constitution Party, on their ballots.
Issue four.
HR 5351 is a US House of Representatives bill that would suspend, likely through the end of President Barack Obama’s term in office, the ability to release people detained at the US military’s Guantanamo prison in Cuba. The bill thus condemns individuals to continued imprisonment irrespective of a lack of convincing justification.
The bill passed Thursday on the House floor by a vote of 244 to 174. Only four Republican members voted “no.” Those Republicans in opposition were Reps. Justin Amash (R-MI), John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN), Walter Jones (R-NC), and Thomas Massie (R-KY).
Duncan, Jones, and Massie are members of the Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board.
Issue five.
On Saturday September 10 the Ron Paul Institute held its first conference. The conference, titled Peace and Prosperity 2016, took place at the Dulles Airport Marriott Hotel near Washington, DC.
Over 300 people from across the country and abroad attended the event and listened to speakers share insights primarily on the topics of war, peace, and a noninterventionist foreign policy. Daniel McAdams, Thomas Massie, Lawrence Wilkerson, Lew Rockwell, Philip Giraldi, John Sharpe, Paul-Martin Foss, Brian McGlinchey, and Jessica Pavoni spoke in the hotel ballroom. Jacob Hornberger, who I had the honor of introducing, also spoke. Ron Paul concluded the program with a keynote address.
C-SPAN was at the conference. All of the conference speeches may be viewed on the C-SPAN website.
The exchange of ideas among conference participants continued into the night.
Thanks to the members of the conference’s Host Committee, whose donations made the conference possible.
—–
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.
