H.R.499 - Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013

[RainDog]

Last edited Fri May 30, 2014, 04:57 PM - Edit history (1)

http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/499

Where it stands: Latest Action was 02/28/2013. Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

Who sits on that subcommittee?

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Chairman; Rep. Louie Gohmert, Vice-Chairman

Rep. Coble
Rep. Scott
Rep. Bachus
Rep. Pierluisi
Rep. Forbes
Rep. Chu
Rep. Franks
Rep. Gutierrez
Rep. Chaffetz
Rep. Bass
Rep. Gowdy
Rep. Richmond
Rep. Labrador

IN THE PAST bills have been sent to committees who will let them die there. Lamar Smith, of Texas, stated outright that a bill addressing marijuana reform would never leave his office. That's exactly what he did when he was head of the Judiciary Committee in the past. He's now moved on to "deal" with global climate change.

It's such a pity that people elect such people to office - they really, really have no place in a modern democracy - they're like segregationists still blocking the doors to schools - they've just moved on to be equally reactionary to provide impediments to the U.S. government when its citizens want to address issues such as global climate change and marijuana prohibition.

The 2013 session of the House ended with this bill stuck in a committee vice-chaired by one of the most seemingly idiotic members of the House, Louis Gohmert. The two Republicans who chair this subcommittee are ideologues.

The chair, Sensenbrenner, had an important role in the impeachment of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, acting as one of the House managers. He introduced the USA "PATRIOT" Act to the House on October 23, 2001.

Sensenbrenner receives high marks from the National Taxpayers Union, a non-profit organization that supports low taxes. I have to ask - this organization must not care about the TRILLIONS of dollars that have been wasted on the War on Drugs. How meaningful or worthwhile is such an organization if it highly rates someone who wants to pour money into no-bid military contracts with no oversight because of the war on cannabis (because THIS is where the majority of arrests happen)? This group, like most other right wingers, only care about taxes when they go to support social safety net issues to help level the playing field in the U.S. What a joke. Grover Norquist was the former executive director.

Isn't it interesting that one of the biggest advocacy groups for lower taxes ignores one of the biggest wastes of taxes in the U.S. since Reagan declared war on drugs - and, honestly, what a stupid idea in the first place.

Gohmert, of course, is part of the duo Bachman-Gohmert Overdrive, who previous hits include comparing the man now running Egypt, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to George Washington for holding firm against the Muslim Brotherhood, while proclaiming the U.S. is a theocratic state, in spite of Washington's explicit words to the contrary in his letters regarding the founding of his nation.

Hey, Gohmie - why don't you pay attention to an issue the majority of Americans want to change, in spite of your and other Republicans' resistance to THE WILL OF THE AMERICAN VOTER.

Co-Sponsers of the Bill / Date Cosponsored

Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3]* 02/05/2013
Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]* 02/05/2013
Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-13]* 02/05/2013
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]* 02/05/2013
Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-10]* 02/05/2013
Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2]* 02/05/2013
Rep. Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-17]* 02/05/2013
Rep. Moran, James P. [D-VA-8]* 02/05/2013
Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]* 02/05/2013
Rep. Rohrabacher, Dana [R-CA-48] 02/06/2013
Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] 02/06/2013
Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] 03/18/2013
Rep. Swalwell, Eric [D-CA-15] 03/18/2013
Rep. Hastings, Alcee L. [D-FL-20] 04/12/2013
Rep. Grijalva, Raul M. [D-AZ-3] 04/12/2013
Rep. Capuano, Michael E. [D-MA-7] 05/20/2013

Contact Gohmert and Sensenbrenner to ask them why they want to waste taxpayer money on failed policy - policy that our own Congress admitted was a colossal failure in 2011. Three years later, one bill later, a majority that grows week by week that supports ending the war on cannabis --- and yet these two can't deal with legislation.

I'd call that ineffective leadership and governance.

[msongs]

1. and what kind of leadership is Nancy Pelosi showing on this issue? nt

[RainDog]

2. LOL.

why don't you ask her?

Honestly - this is a sort of a ridiculous statement when the post explains the process by which these bills, over and over, are suppressed by members of the Republican Party.

You want to drag in a false equivalence by asking about Pelosi? The Democrats are wearing their big boy and girl pants on this issue and have created bills to deal with all phrases of currently outmoded law relating to marijuana prohibition.

But, sure, if you want to ask about Pelosi, I suppose that makes sense in false equivalence world...

[RainDog]

3. But, to answer your question - she supports the Polis bill

Her position is more pro-marijuana than Rand Paul.

http://www.politicususa.com/2013/03/25/nancy-pelosi-pro-marijuana-rand-paul.html

On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called for lighter penalties for marijuana offenses but is opposed to legalization. Paul said, “The main thing I’ve said is not to legalize them but not to incarcerate people for extended periods of time. So, I’m working with Senator Leahy. We have a bill on mandatory minimums…I don’t want to encourage people to do it. I think even marijuana is a bad thing to do. I think it takes away your incentive to work and show up and do the things that you should be doing. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t want to promote that but I also don’t want to put people in jail who make the mistake.”

Compare Sen. Paul’s answer to what Nancy Pelosi told The Denver Post about her position on legalization, “I support the leadership of Jared Polis, who has been a leader on this issue as well as other members..I understand some of the Republican members support the law now that is passed, even if they didn’t before. But in any case, to answer your question, what is my position regarding the states that have medical marijuana or recreational marijuana as the law of their states: I think that has to be respected. I think tax and regulate. In order to do that, there has to be a level of respect for the fact, that if you are going to have recreational marijuana, someone is in business to do that and they have to have tax treatment in order for them to function as a business.”

Let me make this clear, the Democrat has taken the state’s rights position that Republicans like Rand Paul are always claiming to embrace. The Libertarian Republican who claims to be protecting individual freedom doesn’t want Americans to have the freedom to smoke marijuana without risking criminal prosecution.

The reason why Pelosi is stuck with limiting her policy actions to supporting the state movement to legalize/decriminalize marijuana is because the Republican Party at all levels of government opposes legalization. Republicans are still ideologically fighting the War on Drugs. This is why Rand Paul has placed his national political ambitions ahead of embracing a true position of freedom on the issue of legalization.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. Thank you for that reminder.

[RainDog]

4. Rand Paul's statement, btw, is another racist dog whistle

The Republican Party just can't seem to function without making racist statements meant to fluff the jerk offs who vote for them.