Paul Asked About Uninsured Facing Death & Debate Crowd Yells Let Him Die

Updated at 7:45 p.m. edt

At least one Tea Party official is condemning the hate-filled shouts from a handful of its rank and file who want the uninsured to die rather than to receive lifesaving medical treatment.

"It was terrible... Because two people made a stupid statement does not mean that the entire Tea Party agrees with that, we absolutely do not," said Billie Tucker, spokeswoman for the Tea Party Alliance of Florida.

"We wish they weren't in the room," Tucker told CNN today.

At least three different voices could be heard shouting "yes" or "yeah" when Wolf Bitzer asked Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.). There were also cheers and applause when Paul said it is people's choice to live or die.

end update
---[

Forget all the candidate box scores and prognostication, the real newsmaker at last night's CNN/Tea Party GOP presidential debate was the audience, in which some in the crowd shouted "Yes" when Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) was asked by Wolf Blitzer if America should let an uninsured man die facing a catastrophic health condition. Here is the video, courtesy of ThinkProgress:

UPDATE: The pro-health care reform organization Protect Your Care called on the GOP candidates, the Tea Party Express and other Tea Party affiliates to condemn the behavior of the people in the audience who shouted "Yes" when Blitzer asked if Paul thought the uninsured should be left to die. Protect Your Care Communications Director Eddie Vale released the following statement:
 

"Last night we got a disturbing view into the Tea Party’s extreme right-wing position on health care when members of the audience clapped and cheered the idea of letting someone without health insurance die. Even worse, none of the Republican candidates on stage expressed a word of disapproval as the Tea Party audience literally clapped for blood. This was a spectacle one would have expected back in the gladiatorial combat of ancient Rome, not at a presidential debate.
 
"This moment is a test of whether those who aspire to the office of the President of the United States have the leadership abilities to stand up to the extreme Tea Party elements that we saw on sickening display last night.  The Republican candidates should condemn the extreme and un-American value of letting people die, as should the Tea Party Express and other Tea Party organizations."

Finally Figuring Out Ron Paul is a Real Threat in GOP Race

Suddenly Ron Paul does not look like an outlier anymore.

With an elbows-out cowboy frontrunner and a bombastic anti-government congresswoman who tends to muddle history trailed mainly by boilerplate pro-life hyper-conservatives at the rear, Paul finds himself sharing a stage with opponents who, on many issues, sound a lot him.

The ob/gyn physician from Texas is poised to make mischief in the Republican race. And the mainstream media is finally catching on.

Paul has a low-budget, campaign dependent on volunteer loyalty and well-timed "money-bombs" that net him more than a $1 million-a-pop. Odds are his strategy will see him last through every single Republican caucus and primary.

This week's Gallup poll left little doubt that Gov. Rick Perry is out front with a low double-digit lead over the previously presumed leader in the GOP field, Mitt Romney, the ex-governor of his adopted Massachusetts.

Gallop confirms what a Rasmussen poll taken days after the Iowa Straw Poll and Perry's entry into the race at a conservative bloggers summit in South Carolina: The Texan is the leader going into the traditional Labor Day start for the caucus and primary season.

But survey after survey also consistently indicate Paul has an established base of support that is at least as loyal as the best candidates in the field.

Among the evidence, Paul is the only announced candidate for the GOP nomination whose favorable rating tops his unfavorable rating, according to an AP/IPSOS poll out today.

Paul also polled solidly with Romney and Bachmann in the second tier of candidates who draw support from Republicans who identify closely with the Tea Party, More eye-catching, the same Gallup survey numbers released today have him at a strong third-place ceding among mainstream Republican voters. 

All eyes are on Romney, the languishing would-be establishment candidate, and Bachmann, the previous flavor-of-the-month who is wonderinging when her support will bottom out. Bachmann was at 13% in the Rasmussen poll before dropping to 10% in the Gallup survey.

If the Minnesota congresswoman fades, people will likely discover many Bachmann voters are turned off by Perry and may find a candidate like Paul more appealing. Romney probably can best help Paul by going on the attack against Perry and expose weaknesses and maybe provoke some gaffs.

There are also the backers of the bottom-dwellers to consider. If they cannot hang with the pack, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain and Gingrich all have supporters who will be looking for a new home.

Paul, for now a sort of protest candidate in a field of protest candidates, has to hold his grown and not lose any of his backers to Perry. If he holds, the feisty lawmaker could find his unwavering libertarian camp a home for the forthcoming pool of available Republican primary and caucus voters.

Bipartisan Effort Would Protect State Rights on Marijuana Laws

Updated at 10:45 p.m. edt

Career law enforcement officials today backed the first-ever proposed legislation that would force the feds to respect states that legalize marijuana, declaring government efforts to curb usage and eradicate the cash crop is a big loser.

The group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is just the latest mainstream organization to ask why let drug cartels from places like Mexico and Afghanistan and organized crime rings in the U.S. to get rich from marijuana sales when there is a massive revenue stream just waiting to be taxed by thee state and federal governments.

"Clearly the 'war on drugs' has failed, and nowhere is that more clear than with respect to marijuana. It baffles me that we arrest nearly 800,000 people on marijuana charges in this country each and every year at taxpayer expense when we could instead be taking in new tax revenue from legal and regulated marijuana sales," said Neill Franklin, a former Baltimore narcotics cop and executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

"Making marijuana illegal hasn't prevented anyone from using it, but it has created a huge funding source that funnels billions of dollars in tax-free profits to violent drug cartels and gangs. More and more cops now agree: Legalizing marijuana will improve public safety," Franklin added. 

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition claims career police, prosecutors, judges, federal agents and ocareer among its membership.

end update
---[

A new bipartisan effort launched today in Congress will test who is really for state rights and who is just blowing smoke about the autonomy of governments across the country.

Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Tex.) and other lawmakers co-sponsored legislation today that would force the feds to take the heat off state's that pass laws allowing the personal use of marijuana by adults.

"It's very straight forward. It protects the states," Frank said.

The bill includes allowing the in-state cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana, used by cancer and HIV patients because of its ability to induce people to eat and counter the affects of treatments that cause nausea. It does not legalize marijuana and does not allow  pot to be brought across state lines.

Lawmakers would prefer federal authorities, like the Drug Enforcement Agency, focus on deadly and addictive drugs like crystal meth, cocaine and heroin.  

"We do not believe the federal government should be in the business of prosecuting adults for smoking marijuana. It should be left to the states," Frank said. "There is a scarce availability of (federal) resources."

Formally legal until the laughable "reefer madness" era that primarily painted African Americans and Latinos as drug-crazed pot smokers, marijuana is a cash crop that could pump needed new revenues into government coffers by virtue of applying high taxes to its sale, similar to alcohol and tobacco products.

As of now -- and as it was during the era of alcohol prohibition -- organized crime syndicates are cashing in on the sale of marijuana instead of cash-poor state and federal treasuries. Many marijuana advocates would prefer to see marijuana cultivation and distribution in the hands of small businesses that pay taxes and provide legal jobs.

Advocates hoping to end prohibition on widely used marijuana believe the timing of this bill is right, with more than a dozen states decriminalizing possession of pot. More states are expected to follow suit.

"This bill is being introduced at a perfect time, when public sentiment is shifting solidly against the government's war on marijuana and the failure of prohibition has become undeniable," said Morgan Fox, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project.

"It would remove federal interference from states that are experimenting with more rational marijuana policies and save taxpayers billions of dollars. Thankfully, our elected leaders are catching up to public on this issue, and we should be seeing a lot more discussion about how we can fix our broken laws," Fox added.

Frank admitted it will take time for others in Congress to jump on the bandwagon to end the federal government's failed marijuana prohibition efforts.

"I don't expect it to pass in this Congress... It's an educational progress," Frank said.