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Thursday, 02/26/15DC mayor stands up for voters on legal pot, defies congressional GOP
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Citations for the February 27, 2015 TRMS
Tonight's guests:
- Frank Thorp, NBC News Capitol Hill producer
- Chuck Todd, political director for NBC News, moderator of Meet the Press
- Tony Messenger, St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial page editor
- Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent
Tonight's links:
Decryptomaddowlogical #110
Last night we heard from Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who feels that the votes of 70% of her constituents to legalize marijuana should be honored despite the objections of some Republican members of Congress who technically have authority over the District. To Mayor Bowser, the votes of her constituents are not just a ...
Friday's Mini-Report, 2.27.15
Today's edition of quick hits:
* The Senate easily approved a clean bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The House responded with Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) plan for a three-week extension, but House Republicans ignored their ostensible leader and killed Boehner's bill.
* With fewer than seven hours remaining before the DHS shutdown, it looks like the House is confronted with two options: the Senate bill or nothing.
* Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) with some words of wisdom for his fellow Republicans in Congress: "Hopefully we're gonna end the attaching of bulls**t to essential items of the government." Hopefully, indeed.
* The suspected gunman appears to have killed himself: "A gunman killed seven people in a door-to-door shooting spree across the rural Missouri community of Tyrone before turning his weapon on himself, police said Friday. A ninth person at a home searched during the investigation was also found dead, but apparently of natural causes."
* Ukraine: "International monitors said Friday the conflict in Ukraine was at a "crossroads" as further losses among government forces rattled a two-week-old truce just as it seemed to be gaining traction."
* Financial regulatory reform works: "Global regulators have issued dozens of rules aimed at making the biggest banks safer. That's leading to another result some wanted: making them shrink."
* Someone apparently wants attention again: "North Korea vowed to wage a 'merciless, sacred war' against the United States on Thursday, days before the launch of annual joint South Korea-US military exercises that have incensed Pyongyang."
Georgia Republican clarifies vaccination comments
We talked earlier about Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who made some curious comments at a town-hall meeting last week when asked about vaccinations.
"I believe it's the parents' decision whether to immunize or not. And so I'm looking at [my] wife -- most of our children, we didn't immunize. They're healthy. Of course, home schooling, we didn't have to get the mandatory immunization."
Today, the Republican congressman decided to follow up with a statement intended to clarify his beliefs.
"My family's choices surrounding healthcare have been misinterpreted as a statement against immunization. I believe it is a parent's right and responsibility to make all healthcare choices affecting their family. The advancements of healthcare science throughout our history have saved countless lives around the world, and as a member of Congress, I fully support our scientific community."
The fact that Loudermilk followed up with a general endorsement of science is a good thing, I suppose, but the clarification doesn't entirely help.
.@airandspace curator of science fiction memorabilia reflects on Leonard Nimoy's passing http://t.co/l9kz8bcJzO pic.twitter.com/5exBPXITG4
— Smithsonian (@smithsonian) February 27, 2015
Rubio blasts ISIS strategy he supports
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is clearly aware of the fact that many of the Republican presidential candidates are current or former governors. But the Florida senator believes he would have an important advantage over his GOP rivals.
"The next president of the United States needs to be someone that has a clear view of what's happening in the world, a clear strategic vision of America's role in it and a clear practical plan for how to engage America in global affairs," Rubio said. He added that for governors running for the White House, international affairs will be "a challenge, at least initially, because they don't deal with foreign policy on a daily basis."
On the surface, that's not a bad pitch. Indeed, presidential candidates from the Senate have made similar arguments against governors for many years. But listening to Rubio's remarks this morning at CPAC, the trouble is that his own views on foreign policy need quite a bit of work.
"ISIS is a radical Sunni Islamic group. They need to be defeated on the ground by a Sunni military force with air support from the United States," Rubio said."Put together a coalition of armed regional governments to confront [ISIS] on the ground with U.S. special forces support, logistical support, intelligence support and the most devastating air support possible," he added, "and you will wipe ISIS out."Rubio's remarks solicited applause from the mostly college-aged audience, as did the senator's claim that "the reason Obama hasn't put in place a military strategy to defeat ISIS is because he doesn't want to upset Iran," during sensitive negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.
Given Rubio's interest in the issue, and the months of research and preparation he's completed, I'm genuinely surprised at how bizarre this is.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) February 23, 2015
Friday's Campaign Round-Up, 2.27.15
Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* In a tragic development, Missouri's State Auditor, 54-year-old Tom Schweich, died yesterday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Schweich was widely seen as a top contender in Missouri's gubernatorial race next year.
* Asked yesterday for his views on net neutrality, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) punted, saying only, "I think on that ... the guiding principle should be freedom." By all appearances, the governor did not seem to know what net neutrality is.
* Hillary Clinton hasn't officially announced her 2016 plans, but her campaign operation has begun to fill key staffing positions. A former congressional aide, Amanda Renteria, who ran an unsuccessful congressional campaign last year, will reportedly be Clinton's political director.
* It's not just CPAC week for Republicans; the Club For Growth's annual winter conference is also being held this week. Among the likely presidential candidates who'll reportedly appear at the closed-door event: Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Mike Pence, and Gov. Bobby Jindal.
* Just two days after saying he might run for the Senate in 2016, former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) brought some clarity to his plans this morning. "In response to various questions: I will not be running for the U.S. Senate in 2016," Akin said in a statement.
* How much does Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) hate his likely successor, Sen. David Vitter (R)? Asked about their relationship, the governor told a reporter this week, "If you turn [your recorder] off, I'll tell you what I really think about him."
GOP lawmaker pondered Eric Holder's arrest
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), currently wrapping up his first full month as a U.S. congressman, is already well on his way to making a name for himself.
For example, at his first town hall meeting last week, the Georgia Republican fielded a question about vaccinations. Loudermilk, looking at his wife, told his constituents, "Most of our children, we didn't immunize. They're healthy. Of course, home schooling, we didn't have to get the mandatory immunization." Loudermilk, by the way, is the chairman of a House Science subcommittee.
Oh my.
Just as amazing, though, was the Georgia lawmaker saying that some House Republicans had discussed the prospect of Attorney General Eric Holder getting arrested at last months' State of the Union address.
"There was a discussion before the State of the Union of, because of holding Eric Holder in contempt, what role will the House play if he shows up on the House floor for the State of the Union because he's been held in legal contempt of U.S. Congress," Loudermilk said. "And there was a discussion, 'Will the Sergeant-at-Arms arrest him?' But they checked with some of the attorneys and they said some other things were going on."
He didn't specify what those "other things" might be that prevented the arrest of the nation's chief law enforcement officer.
Loudermilk added that he's concerned about the Muslim Brotherhood having "White House access."
The other part of Christie's 'record' on abortion rights
At CPAC yesterday, Laura Ingraham asked New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) a common question about his presidential ambitions. "Where does social conservatism and Chris Christie live together?" the conservative media figure asked. Ingraham noted there are plenty of "strong social conservatives" in the 2016 field, and asked, "How do you compete?"
The governor replied:
"I just stand on my record. I mean, I'm pro-life. I ran as a pro-life candidate in 2009 unapologetically, spoke at the pro-life rally on the steps of the statehouse. The first governor to ever speak at a pro-life rally on the steps of the statehouse in New Jersey, and vetoed Planned Parenthood funding five times out of the New Jersey budget."
Planned Parenthood, of course, has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. In fact, Christie should probably ask President Romney about the political utility of attacking the non-profit health organization*.
But even putting that aside, when Christie says he can appeal to social conservatives by standing on his "record," that's probably more complicated than he'd like to admit. The governor boasted yesterday that he "ran as a pro-life candidate in 2009," but it was necessary to clarify the year because Christie has not always run as a candidate opposed to abortion rights.
For much of the 1990s, Christie was unapologetically pro-choice -- and he used to brag to voters in his early elections about the personal donations he'd made to Planned Parenthood.
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About The Rachel Maddow Show
Launched in 2008, “The Rachel Maddow Show” follows the machinations of policy making in America, from local political activism to international diplomacy. Rachel Maddow looks past the distractions of political theater and stunts and focuses on the legislative proposals and policies that shape American life - as well as the people making and influencing those policies and their ultimate outcome, intended or otherwise.
