DL Open Thread: Saturday, May 20, 2023
Debt Ceiling Blues, Featuring The Profound Shittiness That Is Chris Coons:
So, are Democrats negotiating on the debt limit? “The president is,” replied Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the party.
“My short answer is, no. Because negotiating the debt ceiling means saying, ‘maybe we should consider default,’” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a close ally of Biden’s.
Still, Coons conceded that a budget agreement and a debt hike “need to move at the same time.”
Is he comfortable with that? “I’m comfortable with avoiding default.”
He’s also comfortable at every fundraising buffet and church retreat he attends b/c ‘bipartisanship’. Can you imagine how many news shows he’s gonna be on tomorrow? I won’t be watching. Which reminds me, does anybody watch those shows any more?
All The Weekly Wacky Rethug Shit Together In One Column. Replete with links. And snark. You’ll love it. I did. Can’t improve on perfection.
Did RWNJ’s Yank McCarthy’s Leash? TPM’s Josh Marshall is one of the best ‘informed speculators’ out there. It’s one reason I subscribe. Here’s his take on McCarthy’s brief walk-out:
Kevin McCarthy’s decision to “pause” the negotiations, seemingly out of nowhere, is just that character off stage we’ve been saying was there all along. McCarthy was never empowered to make a deal in any reasonable territory. His House Freedom Caucus masters yanked his leash and that was that. They’ve been signaling for the last couple days that they don’t want a compromise. They want to see the Senate pass their House bill. Maybe they could be had for a bit less than that. But that’s the universe they’re operating in. He was the negotiator; he was the stalking horse.
Agreed. Stop negotiating with terrorists.
NY Rethug House Members Punt On Santos Expulsion. I’m shocked. Not:
Several House Republicans from swing seats in New York said there’s not enough votes to kick fraudster Rep. George Santos out of Congress ― after they blocked a vote that would have put exactly that question to the test.
These five New York Republicans — Reps. Mike Lawler, Anthony D’Esposito, Nicholas LaLota, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams — joined the rest of their party in preventing an up-or-down vote on the expulsion of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), despite repeatedly calling for him to leave office.
While Republicans involved in the effort depicted it as a matter of adhering to proper protocol — or, as in the case of the New York members, pragmatism — their action amounted to punting on the expulsion indefinitely.
The flip-flop artists blame, who else, Democrats:
After voting for the motion to send Santos’ expulsion to the House Ethics Committee, Lawler accused Democrats of playing politics.
“If the Democrats were serious about his expulsion, they would work with us to get a report and referral from the Ethics Committee, rather than offer a political resolution that has no chance of passing the House,” he said in a Wednesday statement.
Phonies, all of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if all five of them (six, counting Santos) lost in 2024.
LBR Supports Fed Descheduling Of Marijuana. Progress, pipples:
Thank you for contacting me about descheduling marijuana. I appreciate hearing from you on such a critical issue that impacts thousands of individuals across our state.
It has been clear for some time that marijuana does not belong on the federal schedule of controlled substances. That is why, last Congress, I voted to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, House Resolution 3617, to remove marijuana from federal scheduling pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act. The bill takes significant steps to right the wrongs of federal marijuana criminalization and establishes a tax structure for cannabis products.
I have also recognized the banking issues facing legitimate cannabis-related businesses due to the inconsistencies in the status of marijuana across federal and state jurisdictions. That’s why, last Congress, I co-sponsored and voted to pass the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act, House Resolution 1996, to require financial institutions to provide legitimate cannabis-related businesses with banking services and to treat proceeds and profit from cannabis-related business as legal and legitimate.
I applaud your leadership on this issue in Delaware, and I am so proud to be in this fight with you. I hope you will continue to keep me informed of the issues important to your offices, as your input helps me to better represent the First State in Congress.
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester
D-Del.
Might as well end on a positive note. What do you want to talk about?
As predicted I loved the “weekly, wacky shit” column, easily the best I’ve read in The Daily Koss. Moving on to LBR: Let us all hail “Descheduling” of weed, it’s been used as a stick to beat the poor plant for far too long, let us also hail the collection of old fools that ranked it the same as cocaine and heroin. A reminder that stupidity is eternal in congress. Coons? We talk about it but be honest, there is no fixing it until we fix the Delaware electorate, which remains inclined to smell the old garbage rather then taking it out to the curb.