The Politics Thread

228-197, House passes Dream Act. Nine Republicans voted with Democrats in support: Reps. Don Bacon, David Valadao, Fred Upton, Maria Elvira Salazar, Dan Newhouse, Brian Fitzpatrick, Chris Smith of New Jersey, Carlos Gimenez, Mario Diaz-Balart, per @ckmarie

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 18, 2021

 

Let's see what happens with the Senate.

 

Marcia Fudge was confirmed on March 10th by the Senate to be Secretary of HUD (Housing and Urban Development).  She resigned her Congressional seat in Ohio (representing the greater Cleveland region) and then she was sworn in as HUD Secretary.

 

There will be a special election in Ohio to fill her seat in Congress, with a primary in August 2021 and the election in November 2021.

(I guess that Ohio district of Greater Cleveland will be unrepresented until Marcia Fudge's replacement is elected in November?)

 

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Deb Haaland was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of the Interior on  March 15th.  On March 16th, she formally submitted to the New Mexico Secretary of State... her letter of resignation as Congresswoman. Then she was sworn in as Secretary of the Interior.

Deb Haaland's seat in Congress (representing the 1st Congressional District of New Mexico) will be filled by a special election to be held on June 1st.  Instead of a primary system, candidates for the special election will be chosen by each party's state central committee. 

(Apparently the New Mexico 1st Congressional District seat will remain vacant until Haaland's replacement is elected in June.)

 

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I was reading the election laws for both Ohio and New Mexico and noticed that they are have different deadline guidelines.  New Mexico *requires* that the seat be filled within a certain number of days.

 

Edited March 19, 20214 yr by janea4old

2 hours ago, Vee said:

Supposedly there were whispers of VI having gone MAGA in recent years. I really don't want to believe that. What a mess.

 

Meanwhile:

 

 

I don't either. I didn't want to believe Ingo had either, but he's shown himself to be a bit of an ass regardless.

I'm not going to jump to conclusions on VI by association. There's plenty of fundies, right wingers or Republicans in soaps; as long as they don't go full tinhat in public or turn out to be Capitol Hill terrorists or white supremacist adjacent I can generally tolerate it if they keep it out of my face. But Missy Reeves or the Ingo situation OTOH, oof. Anyway, fingers crossed.

1 hour ago, Juliajms said:

I didn't want to believe Ingo had either, but he's shown himself to be a bit of an ass regardless.

Ingo is more than a bit.  He tweeted last year that he'd joined Parler.    

26 minutes ago, janea4old said:

Ingo is more than a bit.  He tweeted last year that he'd joined Parler.    

OMG. Well, I completely stopped paying attention to him years ago when he started talking about "liberals"and defending Trump, so I'm not up to date on how far he's fallen. I did see that stuff with Mo/NLG, which was incredibly rude.

This really is strange. I thought this administration was talking about decriminalizing? Also, isn't there some pro weed banking legislation being considered. I think it's referred to as SAFE, but I don't know the details.

 

 

Biden has always been vocally anti-pot, IIRC. He's also an old man, and not the hippie kind either. VP Harris probably isn't involved in this (I'm assuming), but I don't think her record on this subject is that different. I'm sorry people are being displaced, and it's not good policy, but are they surprised?

Edited March 19, 20214 yr by DRW50

He's not that old!  We were smoking pot in the early 60's.  I stopped because I didn't like how I felt and would rather have a drink.  I have never had a problem with people who smoke it recreationally.  I know that many of my younger relatives do and are now open about it since it's legal here.

18 minutes ago, Ponds said:

He's not that old!  We were smoking pot in the early 60's.  I stopped because I didn't like how I felt and would rather have a drink.  I have never had a problem with people who smoke it recreationally.  I know that many of my younger relatives do and are now open about it since it's legal here.

 

I know that people are living longer and healthier, and I'm not trying to be ageist - I guess to me being nearly 80 is still old, especially in Biden's case.  

I didn't take offense, but I'm knocking on the 80 year old door!  I just wanted to point out that marijuana has been around for ages and ages.

30 minutes ago, Ponds said:

I didn't take offense, but I'm knocking on the 80 year old door!  I just wanted to point out that marijuana has been around for ages and ages.

 

Sorry.   

 

I do agree that a number of people his age have no problem with pot. But it has tended to be a line in the sand for him, and I am guessing he's also getting some pressure from those around him to take a harder line.

20 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

 

Sorry.   

 

I do agree that a number of people his age have no problem with pot. But it has tended to be a line in the sand for him, and I am guessing he's also getting some pressure from those around him to take a harder line.

Who around him would be recommending this? It's stupid frankly. I am so tired of this nonsense about marijuana being a gateway drug. What would he do if Obama was his VP and admitted to smoking pot. Suspend him and ask him to resign?

Edited March 19, 20214 yr by JaneAusten

I don't think it's necessarily Joe's decision.  The federal government still acts on the premise that possession and use of pot is a federal crime.  I think he's just abiding by the laws, no matter how archaic they are.