It was a notable the other day when Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he would not devote federal resources to pursuing marijuana dispensaries in the many states that have legalized medical marijuana.

On the heels of that announcement, several members of Congress introduced H.R. 3939, the Truth in Trials Act. The bill would provide an affirmative defense against federal prosecution for the medical use of marijuana in accordance with state law.

There have been federal drug prosecutions in which defendants have been unable to introduce evidence that they were complying with state laws permitting medical use of marijuana.

Related bills include H.R. 2835, the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act and H.R. 2943, the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009.

In the last Congress, H.R. 5843, the Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults was one of the most visited bills here on WashingtonWatch.com, and it set a record for most visits on a single day that still stands.

So are medical marijuana and marijuana decriminalization on a roll? That’s for you to decide.

Here’s the current vote on H.R. 3939, the Truth in Trials Act. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.

WashingtonWatch.com has never been profitable. Maybe someday it will be, but there aren’t enough of you yet. And also, it’s not profitable because of the downturn in the economy.

Why do I say that? Because the Washington Post is reporting that the Obama administration plans to give bailout funds to millions of small businesses.

The Obama administration is developing an initiative to take money from the $700 billion program for the banking system and make it available to millions of small businesses, which officials say are essential to any economic recovery because they employ so many people, according to sources familiar with the plan. The new effort — which would represent a striking shift from the rescue program’s original mandate — would direct billions of bailout dollars toward a program that aims more at saving jobs than righting the financial system.

This thing has “WashingtonWatch.com Support Fund” written all over it! I knew I didn’t need to be a good manager to run this thing. Just wait around for a safety net and fall back into it. That’s job creation, right there!

This won’t be the first time that the bailout, which I referred to as a “slush fund” way back in December, gets used for new things. From the get-go, it was shifted to new and different priorities.

But this one I like. Where do I get in line for my piece of the action?

(Portions of this post may have been facetious.)

Here’s a very nice example of an advocate using the wiki function to make his or her case about a bill.

H.R. 1676, the PACT Act, would prevent tobacco smuggling and ensure the collection of all tobacco taxes, according to its authors.

But a WashingtonWatch.com user points out in the wiki article for the bill, “Honest, law-abiding online tobacco companies would suffer financially, and many people would” – well, you can read it for yourself. Go to the page for the bill and click “view article” or “read more.”

Log in yourself (with an account you create here), and you can edit the article further to refine the points there, or offer fair counter-arguments.

The nitty-gritty of the fiscal year 2010 spending process is getting under way. By the beginning of the new fiscal year October 1st, Congress is supposed to pass twelve appropriations bills, spending the money in the U.S. treasury on all the operations of the government for the year.

Last week, the House passed the H.R. 2847, the Commerce/Justice/Science spending bill. It spends about $680 per U.S. family on operations of the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and science-related agencies like NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Bills to fund the Department of Homeland Security have been introduced in both the House and Senate. The House bill, H.R. 2892, and the Senate bill, S. 1298, would both spend about $460 per U.S. family to fund the department.

And bills to fund the legislative branch – Congress itself – have also been introduced in both houses of Congress. The House bill – H.R. 2918 – spends about $38 per U.S. family on the operations of Congress. The Senate bill, S. 1294, comes in at about $33.

As you can see from the budget process timetable, Congress is well behind on the annual spending bills – the House Appropriations Committee was supposed to have reported all the spending bills by June 10th, and the House is supposed to finish work on all the bills by the end of the month. But it’s still ahead of schedule compared to other recent Congresses.

The Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill (H.R. 2847) has a cost estimate – and it’s heading for the House floor today, or at least this week.

The bill would spend about $685 per U.S. family on operations of the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and various science-related agencies.

Two bills introduced in Congress this week are apparently meant to save automobile dealers from hardship in the auto industry.

H.R. 2743 and H.R. 2750 both say they would “restore the economic rights” of automobile dealers.

What’s an “economic right”? Unclear.

But here’s the key line from H.R. 2743 (and there’s similar language in H.R. 2750):

. . . an automobile manufacturer covered under this Act shall restore the franchise agreement between that automobile dealer and Chrysler LLC or General Motors Corp. that was in effect prior to the commencement of their respective bankruptcy cases and take assignment of such agreements.

That would drive a truck – an American-made truck – through the bankruptcy process that is supposed to get the auto manufacturers back on their feet again. Restoring contracts that made the auto industry unsustainable will prevent the auto industry from becoming sustainable. But, hey, if you call it “economic rights” – everyone should have their economic rights, right?

Auto dealers should have our sympathy – just like everyone who’s getting the driveshaft in the auto manufacturer bankruptcies. But I’m not sure about these so-called “economic rights.”

Here are the current votes on H.R. 2743 and H.R. 2750. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki articles about the bills.

Two new bills on Internet gambling were introduced yesterday.

H.R. 2267 would provide for the licensing of Internet gambling, provide for consumer protections on the Internet, and “enforce the tax code.”

H.R. 2268 would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to regulate and tax Internet gambling.

Once the bill text is available, we’ll be able to see the similarities and differences between the two bills. It’s up to you to decide if either or both are a good idea.

And here are the current votes on the two bills. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki articles about the bills.

Introduced yesterday: H.R. 2175, which would prohibit as indecent the broadcasting of any advertisement for a medication for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

That’s right, no talking about E.D. remedies on the public airwaves. The children are watching, and they’re listening too!

But there are other sympathetic interests to think of. Won’t this deprive poor Bob Dole of a source of income? He at least used to be a pitch-man for Viagra.

Only after wading through the obvious jokes do you start to wonder if this might be contrary to some constitutional provision, like the Third Amendment . . . Nope, that just bans the quartering of troops in houses during peacetime.

Wait! Yes! The First Amendment! (skipped right over it)

The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.” I’ve carefully combed the rest of the amendment and I find no exception for erectile dysfunction advertisements, but maybe someone in Congress has found one.

Here’s the current vote on H.R. 2175. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.

The Washington Post reports today that President Obama will lift some of the restrictions on travel and commerce with Cuba.

A decades long embargo on Cuba has been a fixture of U.S. policy toward the island nation, but it can’t be said that the embargo has done much to undermine the communist government there.

A couple of bills in Congress address the Cuba embargo issue.  H.R. 874 and S. 428 are both called the “Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act.”

Here are the current votes on the two bills. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki articles about the bills.

Lead in children’s toys was a big story last year, and it might have caused Congress or regulators to go overboard in an anti-lead crusade. Because now Congress is considering a bill to relax the anti-lead standards for “secondary sales, repair services, and certain vehicles.”

Lead is bad for kids, but you don’t have to insulate kids from all contact with lead – just the forms that will hurt them. You could make the society worse off if you go too far and protect kids from lead in forms that don’t do them harm. That’s like putting a heavy coat on ‘em on a warm day. So . . . let’s get the lead back in!

(In truth, I know next to nothing about this issue, so welcome corrections and more information in the comments. Politely, please!)

Here’s the current vote on S. 608, which would amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 to exclude secondary sales, repair services, and certain vehicles from the ban on lead in children’s products.