New year, new laws. Trevor Noah used his first Daily Show of 2018 to offer a quick summary of one of the least exciting parts about New Year’s Eve: New Year’s laws. (Or rather, make that the most exciting part if you’re in California, where recreational marijuana became legal on the first day of 2018.)
It’s a welcome change, according to Noah. In fact, it’s been amazing for Californians’ health: “Did you know that in the past 24 hours California’s glaucoma rate has dropped by 98 percent?” But if there’s one group to feel sorry for, it’s the black and Latino weed dealers who are already in prison for what is now a legal venture. “They set up the weed business, they created the market, and right now, they are watching all these white guys getting rich while they do time for being ahead of their time,” said Noah.
Marijuana legalization wasn’t the only constructive midnight change, though some states’ changes were more impactful than others. Laws that came into effect as the calendar ticked over ranged from the inconsequential (jaywalking rules) to the monumental (raising the minimum wage) to arguably odd (pet custody arrangements). Finally, pets will go to the parents they deserve.
But it wasn’t all good news: The biggest and most sobering New Year law to come into effect was the new Republican tax code. The changes will save the rich thousands of dollars, as well as making changes to the estate tax that will allow wealthy couples to pass on even more of their money to their privileged children. (Imagine the awkwardness, though, of hoping a relative hangs on until after midnight so that their estate falls under the new tax code. “Grandpa, please, don’t die,” joked Noah. “For 10 more minutes.”) Many others, meanwhile, were likely using the end of 2017 to figure out their finances in order to save as much as possible.
As Noah points out, Trump and his wealthy acolytes—“the Americans he’s really serving”—certainly weren’t scrambling to save their much-needed dollars: The man who spent weeks telling his base that the GOP tax plan would be terrible for he and his fellow rich people spent his New Year’s Eve at Mar-a-Lago, where he reportedly told the assembled crowd that “You all just got a lot richer.”
“We just need Trump to start holding all his press conferences at Mar-a-Lago,” added Noah. “Since it seems that’s the only place he really tells the truth.”
