Three out of four midwestern states rejected legalizing marijuana in November, and pot producers’ hopes for federal legislation to end the banking ban on the pot industry went up in smoke when it was not included in the December omnibus bill. Federal legislation in favor of cannabis seems less likely in the new Congress, where Republicans hold a slim majority in the House.
Legalizing pot has been disastrous to the desert southwest, where it has accelerated a dire water shortage that will soon result in deep cuts in what can be taken from the Colorado River. California and Colorado opened the door to rampant marijuana grows that steal immense amounts from the only source of water for 40 million Americans.
A drought emergency was declared for Southern California, as the Biden Administration failed to broker a new deal for how the Colorado River’s unprecedented low water level will be shared across the region. Now the feds threaten to impose rationing on water use by the southwestern United States. So-called progressives’ pro-pot agenda is making it hard to live in liberal states.
Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of Americans voted with their feet by fleeing Democrat-controlled areas to states with Republican governance in 2022. Americans moved out of all four of the biggest liberal states: California, New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Their population declines were the greatest in the country, while conservative states such Texas and Florida boomed by attracting Americans to move there.
So many people left California, New York, and Illinois since Joe Biden took office that each state would have lost yet another seat in the House of Representatives (and another Electoral College vote) in addition to the seat that each state lost in the 2020 Census. Democrat-controlled Minnesota would also lose a seat, while the states picking up those four seats would be Arizona, Florida, Idaho, and Texas.
Everywhere leftism takes over, another slice of America becomes unlivable. From safety walking the streets to the availability of water, leftism simply isn’t a workable governance philosophy. As Floridians and Texans welcome new Californian expatriates, I hope they will educate their new neighbors on the conservative principles that make their state governments so much better.
