Monthly Archives: January 2022

Connecticut Marijuana Business License Applications Will Be Accepted Starting Next Month, Officials Announce – Marijuana Moment

Posted: January 5, 2022 at 9:06 am

Key Rhode Island lawmakers say they are nearing an agreement on a marijuana legalization bill that they plan to introduce within days. But one part of the deal might jeopardize support from the governor.

Legislators have been in talks for months to reconcile competing legalization proposals that have been brought forward by the House, Senate and governors office. Many issues have been resolved over the course of negotiations, but the question of who should be in charge of regulating the programan existing agency or a newly created bodyhas been a sticking point.

Lawmakers are now signaling that the best route to satisfy both sides would be to create a compromise approach where a state agency like the Department of Business Regulation (DBR) and a new independent cannabis commission would each play a role.

House Speaker Joseph Sherkarchi (D) said in opening remarks at the start of the 2022 session on Tuesday that lawmakers have spent months analyzing the complex issue of marijuana legalization.

The House and Senate intend to soon have a draft of legislation ready, which will serve as a framework to begin a robust public hearing process, he said. We may not be the first state to legalize marijuana, but our goal is to do it in a way that is best for all of Rhode Islanders.

The speaker said in a recent interview with The Boston Globe that lawmakers have come together on a framework that will probably be introduced in mid-January. That will likely include a proposal to create a hybrid model for regulating the market.

But Gov. Dan McKee (D), who proposed having DBR itself regulate the cannabis industry in legalization legislation he filed last year, hasnt yet signed off on the hybrid idea, Rep. Scott Slater (D) told Marijuana Moment.

That said, if we put a bill that most people are behind, the lawmaker doesnt expect a veto.

I think we should have a bill soon, Slater, who filed a bill to end cannabis prohibition last year, said.

Sen. Josh Miller (D), sponsor of one legalization proposalthat was approved in the Senate last year, told Marijuana Moment that he agreed that lawmakers should have a bill very soon with a structure very close to what the speaker described. Millers legislation had proposed creating a new cannabis commission to oversee the market.

Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (D) said in his session opening remarks on Wednesday that the bill the body passed last year included substantial measures to rectify the wrongs associated with the decades-long policies of prohibition.

He noted that Senate leaders have been working in recent months with the House on a deal that maintains the core principles of our proposal.

Because of those efforts, he said, I anticipate the General Assembly will legalize cannabis this legislative session.

Shekarchi told The Globe that the forthcoming negotiated bill could still be changed even after its introduction.

But that doesnt mean thats the end, he said. Thats the beginning of a processa very robust, public, transparent process where Im sure the bill will continue to change and evolve.

Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 800 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they dont miss any developments.Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.

The speaker previously said that hed be open to a compromise on regulatory structureand hinted at the possibility of a hybrid model.

Another issue related to how many marijuana business licenses also appears closer to resolution. Millers bill proposed as many as 150 cannabis shops, whereas McKees plancalled for 25 and Slater wanted just 15 in his separate House bill. Miller said at an event in October that were probably down to more in the 30, 40 range as part of a deal.

Negotiatorsalso recently reached an agreementto place a temporary moratorium on approving additional cannabis cultivator licenses. Some have protested adding cultivators beyond the existing medical marijuana licensees because they say theres already a sufficient supply to meet demand in the adult-use market.

Ruggerio, for his part, said in September that lawmakers are very close to reaching a dealon a marijuana legalization bill

We sent legislationwhich we think is a very good piece of legislationover to the House before we left in June, the senator said, referring to the legalization bill that his chamber approvedin June. They are working on that legislation with some of the House people at this point in time.

Another thing that remains to be seen is whether the negotiated legalization bill thats ultimately produced will satisfy advocates and progressive lawmakers, some of whom have rallied behind an agenda for reformthat emphasizes the need for bold social equity provisions.

While each of the competing bills contain components meant to address the harms of marijuana criminalization, the coalition led by Reclaim Rhode Island has said theyre insufficient. Advocates and supportive lawmakers have laid out specific items that they want to see incorporated such as setting aside half of cannabis business licenses for communities most impacted by prohibition.

We cant reverse the harm of the war on drugs, but we can start to repair it by passing automatic expungement and waiving all related fines, fees and court debt, Rep. Karen Alzate (D), chair of the Rhode Island Legislative Black and Latino Caucus, said in September. This bold legalization plan offers us the chance to turn a new leaf for the Ocean State, and its time we take it.

Ruggerio said he does feel that the legalization bill that was approved in the Senate contained very strong social justice provisions and the expungements provision is as close to automatic as practical.

He also said in July that hesnot disappointed the House hasnt advanced legalization legislationyet and that what we really wanted to do was send it over and have them take a look at itwhen his chamber passed its cannabis reform measure.

A coalition of 10 civil rights and drug policy reform advocacy groupsincluding the Rhode Island chapters of the ACLU and NAACPhad demanded that lawmakers move ahead with enacting marijuana reform in the state before the end of 2021. But that did not pan out.

Lawmakers have noted that neighboring states likeConnecticut and Massachusetts have enacted legalization, and that adds impetus for the legislature to pursue reform in the state.

Shekarchi, meanwhile, said in July that he doesnt intend to let regional pressure dictate the timeline for when Rhode Island enacts a policy change. Social equity, licensing fees, labor agreements and home grow provisions are among the outstanding matters that need to be addressed, the speaker said.

The House Finance Committeeheld a hearing on Slaters legalization measurein June.

The governor previously told reporters that while he backs legalization it is not like one of my highest priorities, adding that were not in a race with Connecticut or Massachusetts on this issue.

I think we need to get it right, he said, pointing to ongoing discussions with the House and Senate.

The House Finance Committee discussed the governors proposal to end prohibitionat an earlier hearing in April.

Both the governor and the leaders legalization plans are notably different than the proposal that former Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) had included in her budget in 2020. Prior to leaving office to join the Biden administrationas commerce secretary, shecalled for legalization through a state-run model.

McKee gave initial insights into his perspective on the reform last January, saying that its time that [legalization] happens and that hes more leaning towards an entrepreneurial strategythere to let that roll that way.

Shekarchi, meanwhile, has said hesabsolutely open to the idea of cannabis legalizationand also leans toward privatization.

In late 2020, the Senate Finance Committee began preliminary consideration of legalizationin preparation for the 2021 session, with lawmakers generally accepting the reform as an inevitability. I certainly do think well act on the issue, whether its more private or more state, Sen. Ryan Pearson (D), who now serves as the panels chairman, said at the time.

Meanwhile, the governor in Julysigned a historic bill to allow safe consumption siteswhere people could use illicit drugs under medical supervision and receive resources to enter treatment. Harm reduction advocates say this would prevent overdose deaths and help de-stigmatize substance misuse. Rhode Island is the first state to allow the facilities.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also held a hearing last year on legislation that would end criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of drugsand replace them with a $100 fine.

Illinois Sets Marijuana Sales Record In December, With Nearly $1.4 Billion Sold In 2021

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Politics and the pandemic – another year of Covid-19 – RNZ

Posted: at 9:05 am

By Peter Wilson*

Analysis - When Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in January that 2021 would be the year of the vaccine it didn't seem to raise much interest.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arrives at Auckland Zoo on 1 December to announce a support package for Auckland, hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic last year. Photo: 2021 Getty Images

Kiwis were enjoying a complacent summer, there hadn't been a community case since November.

It was all going to change, in ways she could not have foreseen.

As RNZ's timeline shows, the first community case of the year was detected on 24 January, a woman who had travelled extensively in Northland.

That was followed by outbreaks in Auckland, clusters which were vigorously traced, ring-fenced and isolated.

Auckland was put into a level 3 lockdown, and then in March went down to level 2. The outbreaks were serious enough for Australia to suspend quarantine-free entry for New Zealanders.

Despite this, the first full year of Labour's majority government began well. The elimination strategy was working, the team of five million understood it and most of them supported it.

Managed isolation facilities were taking in infected travellers, nearly all of them returning citizens or residents.

Supplies of the Pfizer vaccine, reported internationally to be one of the most effective against Covid-19, had been secured although delivery was going to be spread across the coming months.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said mass vaccinations should start mid-year.

Frontline workers and older people were vaccinated first but opposition parties began criticising the slow rollout for the general population.

Ardern and her ministers insisted there was no great rush, the country was learning from others and, unlike others, was not ravaged by the virus so did not need the vaccine as badly.

In April the quarantine-free bubble with Australia opened but it was paused the following month because of outbreaks across the Tasman. It popped in July, and was never reinflated.

Mass vaccinations began in late July but the take up was slow and opposition pressure mounted. There was still did not seem to be any sense of alarm in the community.

There was relentless criticism of the way the Maori rollout was being handled. They were lagging behind the rest of the population.

In her end-of-year interview with RNZ Ardern accepted the government could have done more to assist community-led vaccination efforts but defended the decision not to prioritise all younger Mori.

In August everything changed. The first case of the Delta variant arrived in the community, linked to a returnee from Australia. Somehow, it had escaped from the Crowne Plaza MIQ facility.

Photo: RNZ

Ardern ordered a level 4 lockdown for Auckland and the Coromandel lasting four days, and three days for the rest of the country.

It didn't contain Delta, something no other country had been able to achieve, and cases spread in Auckland and to other centres.

Complacency had now been completely dispelled and there were queues at testing stations and vaccination centres.

Parliament was suspended as the vaccination rollout came under even more intense scrutiny.

National suspected the government had been slow to order the vaccine, something Hipkins denied, but there was no denying other developed countries had started much earlier.

The elimination strategy was becoming untenable, it wasn't working because Delta was too easily transmitted.

The government was reluctant to give it up. The strategy had delivered a huge election victory, but it didn't have a choice.

In subtle ways, the messaging began to change. "Zero tolerance doesn't mean zero cases" was creeping in, and in October, Ardern changed the game: "It's clear that long periods of heavy restriction has not got us to zero cases," she said.

There was still no admission that elimination had been scrapped.

Judith Collins, then National's leader, called on Ardern to "tell the truth ... the elimination strategy is clearly dead".

The government then began introducing steps within the alert levels, trying to relieve the pressure on Auckland which by then had been in various states of lockdown for months.

There were reports of confusion, the rules weren't clearly understood.

On 22 October the government revealed what was going to replace it - although it still said the aim would be to stamp out the virus where it appeared in small clusters.

The traffic light system was explained to the country. Lockdowns would be replaced by red, orange and green settings with red the most restrictive.

It would start when all the 20 DHBs had reached 90 percent full vaccination rates, a highly ambitious target. Ardern and Hipkins were careful to say the decision on when to switch the traffic lights on would be a "pragmatic" one.

That turned out to mean before all the DHBs had reached the target, most were still some way off.

The Auckland business sector was putting huge pressure on the government to end lockdowns and give it some certainty about the future.

An almost deserted Queen Street during Auckland's last lockdown. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen

It did that on 29 November, announcing the new system would start on 3 December. Auckland and several regions with low vaccination rates would start at red, the rest of the country at orange.

Two weeks later it was announced Auckland and the other red regions, with the exception of Northland, would move to orange on 31 December, just in time for New Year. Businesses fumed over the delay but it appeared to be generally well received.

Cases of the Delta variant had increased to daily numbers which would once have caused immediate lockdowns, but were now barely noticed. Hospitalisation rates were steady and only a handful of people were in ICU.

Around mid-December Auckland cases began to decline - the vaccine was working and the city had rates above 90 percent.

Ardern told RNZ: "It was the year of the vaccine and to finish with rates in the mid-90 percent mark for first dose, 85 percent for Maori, over 90 percent for Pacific, I'm really proud of what New Zealand's doing."

She was right to be proud, what had been achieved during the year had been remarkable. In her last speech in Parliament before the adjournment Ardern said New Zealand had been through two years of Covid-19 and 44 people had died - minuscule when compared internationally.

Voters, however, were not showing their appreciation. The change from elimination to living with the virus hurt the government although it's unlikely it could ever have sustained, under any circumstances, the levels of the last election.

Polls showed Labour's support trending down and its ratings for the way it was responding to Covid-19 also changed, with fewer approving and more disapproving.

They showed Labour was unlikely to again win an election on its own, but could still form a government with the Greens.

The year ended in a vastly different way to its beginning. Omicron, the scary new variant reported to spread even more quickly and easily than Delta, turned up in MIQ.

It was ravaging other countries and around the world new restrictions were being imposed.

In his last briefing before Christmas, Hipkins announced sweeping changes to the response, tightening up MIQ and bringing forward booster shots to four months after the second dose from the original six months.

The government also pushed back quarantine-free entry for returning New Zealanders to the end of February, causing an immediate outcry from those who had confidently believed they would be able to come home on 17 January without having to secure a slot in MIQ.

Hipkins also announced children would start being vaccinated on 17 January, before school started.

The measures, he explained, were designed to keep Omicron in MIQ - there were 22 cases at the time - and buy time while more was found out about the new strain.

He gave an assurance that if it did break out lockdowns would be the last resort. The first response would be to put regions where it had appeared into the red setting.

Chris Hipkins Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Throughout the year Covid-19 was a massive distraction. Because of that, radical initiatives announced by the government came under far less scrutiny than would otherwise have happened.

It announced that DHBs would be replaced by a single national health authority, a huge undertaking. Of no less enormity was Three Waters, the plan to take control of water infrastructure held by councils and put it under four entities.

Some councils were appalled by Three Waters - they were initially told participation would be voluntary but that changed to having no choice.

The May budget came and went. It was the first written by a Labour majority government under MMP, and it showed. Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the benefit increases in it were the biggest in a generation and he was "righting the wrongs" of former finance minister Ruth Richardson's Mother of all Budgets.

National and ACT said there was nothing in it for people who earned money.

While Labour suffered from the political impact of the pandemic and ended the year less popular than when it started, National was the opposite although it was coming off a low base.

Judith Collins, who had overseen an awful election result, was erratic and unpredictable. The media seethed with rumours of a leadership coup and former leader Simon Bridges was touted as the one to stage it - something he denied.

Collins, however, was clearly in trouble and in November made what Stuff chose as the worst political mistake of the year.

Her demotion of Bridges because of something he had said five years previously was the last straw for the caucus and there was a vote of no confidence in the leader.

During a week of intense lobbying Christopher Luxon, a first term rookie, emerged with a consensus to replace Collins, and Nicola Willis was chosen as his deputy.

Luxon moved quickly to put his front bench together, giving Bridges the finance portfolio and ranking him number three.

A very successful business leader before entering politics, Luxon said all the right things during two weeks of saturation media coverage.

New National leader Chris Luxon Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

In mid-December, a Taxpayers' Union poll conducted by Curia showed National jumping up 6.4 points to 32.6 percent support, with Luxon's rating as preferred prime minister coming in at 20.4 percent - reported to be the highest for any opposition leader since Sir John Key.

National's gain came at ACT's expense. Its popularity, which had soared during National's traumatic times, was down 5.3 points to 10.6 percent.

Labour showed a very slight gain to 39.5 percent, a long way from the heady pre-election highs but strong enough to govern with the Greens who gained 2.3 points to 10.9 percent.

And Ardern was way ahead of Luxon on 39.1 percent as preferred prime minister.

Despite the bad news that came at the end, ACT had a good year with leader David Seymour often dominating question time in Parliament. There were no loose cannons in his well-behaved 10-member caucus - he was by himself before the election - although none were given much chance to show themselves.

The Mori Party's two MPs, co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi also made their marks in Parliament and backed the vaccination drive.

Most of the news about the Greens came from Climate Change Minister and co-leader James Shaw's trip to Glasgow for the international climate conference, and late in the year the party's other co-leader, Marama Davidson, launched a new programme to curb domestic and sexual violence.

For insights into how they saw 2021, read RNZ's Focus on Politics: An end-of-year chat with the minor party leaders.

*Peter Wilson is a life member of Parliament's press gallery, 22 years as NZPA's political editor and seven as parliamentary bureau chief for NZ Newswire.

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Bidens petty intolerance over Capitol riots will be politically costly – Sydney Morning Herald

Posted: at 9:05 am

It was a turbulent end to a tumultuous presidency. On January 6, 2021 Insurrection Day the United States Capitol building was invaded by white supremacist terrorists armed with stun guns, pepper spray, baseball bats and flagpoles in an effort to overthrow the American government. The world watched in dismay and disbelief. Scott Morrison was distressed. Jacinda Ardern was devastated.

Rioters break into the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. Credit:AP

Never before have so many people from so many places cared so much about Congress.

The riots were, indeed, deadly: five people died last year on Capitol Hill. But only one was killed: Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot at point blank range by a plainclothes police officer as she climbed through a door that had just been shattered by invaders. The officer was cleared of any wrongdoing. He later claimed that he saved countless lives.

Its rare to be shot for trespassing, even in America. But thats the past, and perhaps its time to move on. Joe Biden already seemed to think so, nearly a year ago. Citing Abraham Lincoln in his January 20 inaugural address, he pledged to put his whole soul into bringing America together, uniting our people, and uniting our nation.

He believed this was possible if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts; if we show a little tolerance and humility.

US President Joe Bidens inauguration speech pledge to unite the country has failed to materialise.Credit:Patrick Semansky

Tolerance is, after all, exactly what the United States showed to the million or so southerners who literally took up arms against the federal government in the 1861-1865 Civil War, all of whom were pardoned. Meanwhile, more than 700 people have been charged with crimes in connection with the events on Capitol Hill. Thats right: more people are being prosecuted for January 6 than for the Civil War. When Biden read Abraham Lincolns second inaugural address, he apparently missed the part about with malice toward none; with charity for all.

Still, trespassing is trespassing, and most of the Capitol insurrectionists have been charged with the heinous offence of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. Who knew that was illegal? After seven months of watching mostly peaceful protesters seize control of city centres with few apparent consequences, maybe the insurrectionists thought they could get away with a bit of parading on what is, after all, public property.

Instead, the man who propped his foot on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office (it turns out that it wasnt actually her desk) was arrested, jailed, and denied bail. He was labelled a looter and charged with stealing government property (an empty mailing envelope). An appeals court eventually overturned the decision of the lower court not to allow the 60-year-old man with no prior criminal record to post bail, but not before he had spent four months in prison.

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The Republican Party Is Now the Party of January 6 – Vanity Fair

Posted: at 9:04 am

The January 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol failed to overturn Donald Trumps election loss to Joe Biden, but it could ultimately prove successful as a galvanizing point for the radical right. In the year since the attack, the rioters have been embraced as martyrs by many in the GOP; Trump allies have made their cause a loyalty test for lawmakers; and insurrectionists methods have grown more sophisticated, with legislators using the Big Lie to enact voter suppression laws across the country and extremists taking their efforts local.

Its going to be a fight, but this is a fight that must be won, former Trump strategist Steve Bannon said on his podcast last spring. Were going to take this back village by village.

In its immediate aftermath, the Capitol attack put the radical right on its heels. According to an Atlantic Council report out Tuesday, domestic extremist movements faced increased scrutiny following the riot, with social media cracking down on dangerous users and content and an ongoing parade of arrests of those who stormed Congress as it sought to certify Bidens victory. But, as the report also found, the right-wing extremist movements didnt go away amid all that pressure. Theyve simply adapted, finding or creating new platforms to spread their message; focusing on the grassroots level; and insinuating themselves into the mainstream of Republican politics. The domestic extremist landscape was battered by January 6, the reports author, Jared Holt, told NBC News. But extremism is dynamic and fluid. It is always trying to adapt to fit the container that its in.

Such adaptations could make the January 6 extremist movement even more insidious; its easy to spot insurrectionists when theyre taking the Capitol by force, but harder, perhaps, when theyre entering with a lawmaker ID badge. Congress is already home to something of an insurrectionist caucus, with figures like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, and Lauren Boebertthree of the 139 House members who tried overturning the electionusing their national platform to spread conspiracy theories, erode faith in the democratic process, and threaten political opponents. The party has largely swallowed Trumps election lies, with 71% of Republicans telling pollsters that the ex-president was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. In the same Ipsos/ABC News poll, 52% of Republicans said the Capitol rioters were actually protecting democracy, a warped version of the events of January 6 that fits with what CNN's Donie O'Sullivan recently heard from Trump supporters.

As the Atlantic Council report makes clear, extremist groups involved in the January 6 attack are not only working at the national level: Theyre getting involved in local politics, starting nonprofits and PACs, and hosting conferences featuring elected officials like Gosar. In some ways, this reflects the ways in which the outburst of violence last year scattered the coalition of far-right movements that came together to attack Congress. But it may also represent the maturation of those movements into a more effective political force.

We figured out that going to the Capitol and working that particular piece doesnt do anything, because these legislators have already made up their mind, Denise Aguilar, who spoke at a right-wing event in Washington D.C. on January 6, told NBC News last month outside a California school board meeting she was attending to protest vaccine mandates. Its all about local legislation, your school districts, your city council board of supervisorsThese people live in our community. They work here, and theyre going to have to face us every single day.

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Why The Republican Party Isnt Concerned With Popularity – FiveThirtyEight

Posted: at 9:04 am

After Mitt Romney lost the 2012 presidential election, the Republican National Committee published what became known as the GOP autopsy report, an effort to identify and address the partys ongoing political weaknesses. But eight years later, after losing another close race, the GOP appears wholly uninterested in reviewing or reforming its agenda. In fact, despite capturing the presidency, the Democratic Party has been far more interested in developing an attractive issue agenda. There is only one political party that is terrified of losing an election because it looks too extreme, said Seth Masket, a FiveThirtyEight contributor and political scientist at the University of Denver. Theres a huge party asymmetry.

But despite the fact that the GOP is quite unpopular and that much of its current agenda such as overturning the Affordable Care Act or advancing restrictive immigration policies does not appeal to a majority of voters, the party is in an enviable position heading into the 2022 midterm elections and beyond. What is to make of this glaring disconnect?

On the one hand, the GOP is fundamentally opposed to the type of legislation that tends to garner widespread public support: generous social-welfare policies. Most Americans want a single-payer health care system, paid parental leave and a higher minimum wage. But most Republicans are ideologically opposed to these policies either because they do not believe they are the federal governments responsibility, or because they think that these policies will ultimately prove counterproductive. A Pew Research Center survey from May 2021 found, for instance, that more than three-quarters of Republicans said that the government was taking on too many roles that were better left to private citizens and businesses.

But the biggest reason why the GOP may not be pushing more popular policies is that recent history suggests its unnecessary. Former President Trumps startling 2016 election victory showed that an unpopular candidate with little interest in public policy can still win. For conservative activists disappointed in the outcomes of Romneys and the late Sen. John McCains campaigns, the lesson of 2016 was that political candidates with personal baggage or extreme political views are no longer a liability.

The current structure of the Electoral College and the U.S. Senate also allows Republican candidates wider discretion in eschewing popular legislation. For instance, former FiveThirtyEight reporter Perry Bacon Jr. argued last March that the GOPs structural advantages over the Democratic Party has allowed legislators to pursue more conservative policies than the average voter prefers. And as Laura Bronner and Nathaniel Rakich also wrote at FiveThirtyEight, Republicans have done this while often being in the minority: Republican senators have not represented a majority of the population since 1999 yet, from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2015 to 2021,Republicans had a majority of members of the Senate itself. That means that, for 10 years, Republican senators were passing bills and not passing others on behalf of a minority of Americans. Furthermore, gerrymandering, particularly in state-legislative races, insulates Republican members from popular sentiment.

Recent work in political science offers another plausible explanation. In an increasingly polarized political system, individual issues may matter less than partisan identity. In other words, partisan loyalty to ones own team is paramount. So instead of voting on issues, Americans appear to more readily adopt the views of party leaders. In a 2019 interview with The New York Times, Stanford political scientist Shanto Iyengar suggests that this is diminishing the relevance of political issues: There is a growing body of work showing that policy preferences are driven more by partisans eagerness to support their party rather than considered analysis of the pros and cons of opposing positions on any given issue.

There is one crucial caveat to all of this. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 1973 opinion that established a constitutional right to abortion, the issue of abortion may provide the most critical test to the GOPs ability to defy political gravity yet. Even if Americans have conflicting views on abortion, few believe it should be completely illegal. Which is why a ruling that overturned Roe would put tremendous pressure on Republican elected officials to fully embrace the most extreme position the complete illegality of abortion. It would almost certainly become a campaign issue in 2022, and Republican elected officials would be forced to defend a position that is broadly unpopular.

The first and overriding goal for national political parties is to win elections. So if Republican candidates keep winning elections without offering an agenda that garners widespread public support, there is no reason to expect the party to change. The party is already poised to make gains in 2022 without putting forward a governing agenda. What would force the GOP to reevaluate? It would take a sustained series of election losses, said Masket. They would need to lose elections they didnt expect to lose.

Even then, though, its not clear whether a course correction would be the end result. If the GOP is able to keep convincing itself that election losses are due to voter fraud and/or electoral malfeasance, there is no reason to expect the partys agenda will change anytime soon.

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Cheney: Republicans who stuck by Trump ‘will not be judged well by history’ | TheHill – The Hill

Posted: at 9:04 am

Rep. Liz CheneyElizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyCheney: Republicans who stuck by Trump 'will not be judged well by history' Jan. 6 panel to seek Hannity's cooperation: report The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Altria - Jan. 6 Capitol attack back in spotlight MORE (R-Wyo.) said in an interview on Tuesday that her fellow Republicans in Congress who have stuck by former President TrumpDonald TrumpMissouri state GOP lawmaker resigns for Florida consulting job Trump to attend fundraiser for midterm candidates Biden meatpacking reforms lack punch, say critics MORE following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack "will not be judged well by history."

Haley Byrd Wilt, associate editor ofThe Dispatch,asked Cheney how the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 plans on providing a clear picture of the Capitol attack that is widely accepted by people across the political spectrum whenthe panel appeared to have little support from or involvement with the GOP. Cheney is one of only two Republican lawmakers on the committee, along with outgoing Rep. Adam KinzingerAdam Daniel KinzingerCheney: Republicans who stuck by Trump 'will not be judged well by history' McCarthy says Democrats using Jan. 6 as 'partisan political weapon' Five takeaways from polls marking Jan. 6 anniversary MORE (R-Ill.).

Cheney pointed out that HouseMinority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin McCarthyCheney: Republicans who stuck by Trump 'will not be judged well by history' Twitter's Marjorie Taylor Greene ban fuels GOP attackson 'Big Tech' Democrats' loose talk of 'disqualification' still dangerous MORE (R-Calif.) had ultimately made the decisionnot toappointpeople from his party to the committee. McCarthy withdrew his appointments after Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiHillicon Valley Twitter's Greene ban boosts GOP attacks Cheney: Republicans who stuck by Trump 'will not be judged well by history' Capitol Police chief says he doesn't expect security threats on Jan. 6 anniversary MORE (D-Calif.) rejected Republican Reps. Jim Banks (Ind.) and Jim JordanJames (Jim) Daniel JordanJan. 6 panel releases Hannity texts, asks for cooperation Cheney: Republicans who stuck by Trump 'will not be judged well by history' This week: Congress returns to anniversary of Jan. 6 attack MORE (Ohio), who he had named, as appointees.

Cheney told Wilt that the picture of Jan. 6 that the committee currently has is that Trump "summoned" the rioters to Washington, D.C., and "told them to marchon the Capitol."

"I think[Trump's] actions and the actions of those people who continue to defend president Trump will not be judged well by history," Cheney said. "And so part of our committee's responsibility is to get the facts for history, to make sure people have all of those on which to make judgements going forward."

Cheney recalled that immediately after the attack, Republicans were unified in their condemnation of what had occurred. However, she saidthat many of her GOP colleagues now seem to be "willing to minimize and whitewash what happened,"though she added that "they won't be successful."

Reflecting back on Jan. 6, 2020, Cheney told Wilt that she remembers being "very angry."

"In the chamber, I remember the disbelief that it could possibly be happening. I remember, certainly, Representative Raskin telling me that there was a Confederate flag flying inside the Capitol. And just the disbelief that we were there at the heart of our constitutional republic and that we had a violent mob attempting to break into the chamber," said Cheney.

Earlier this week, Cheney said that Trump was "at war with the rule of law" and warned that he may likely repeat the very same claims that incited rioters to break into the Capitol during the upcoming one-year anniversary of Jan. 6.

"I think that if what he has been saying since he left office is any indication, former President Trump is likely again this week to make the same false claims about the election that he knows to be false and the same false claims about the election that he knows caused violence on Jan. 6," said Cheney.

"If he makes those same claims, he's doing it with complete understanding and knowledge of what those claims have caused in the past," she said.

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CBS guest: Republican sweep in 2022 midterms one of the greatest global threats – Fox News

Posted: at 9:04 am

Media top headlines January 4

In media news today, comedian Patton Oswalt gets mocked for a lengthy apology after taking a picture with Dave Chappelle, Howard Stern slams Oprah Winfrey for hosting dinner parties amid COVID surge, and Governor DeSantis responds to media criticism that he was missing in December.

A CBS guest said Tuesday the 2022 midterm elections posed one of the top risks to the entire world and a landslide Republican victory would effectively delegitimize the 2024 presidential election.

Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer said on "CBS Mornings" that the upcoming elections were the "most important" midterms in American history.

"We have January 6 coming up in just a day," he said. "As you know, since the profoundly challenged elections of 2020, no lessons have been learned at all in the United States. The country is much more divided The United States has an election process that is increasingly broken, increasingly delegitimized. In the midterm elections especially, if you have a significant win for a Trump-led Republican Party, means that 2024 is going to be seen as illegitimate and potentially a constitutional crisis. In the world's most powerful country, it's hard not to rank that high on your list."

DEMOCRAT FORMER MAYOR WARNS LEFT OF 2022 ELECTION WIPEOUT: DONT WANT TO GO THE WAY OF BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO'

"It's deeply worrying," CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil agreed.

With President Biden's approval rating languishing and the historic struggles the White House's party has in a president's first midterms, Republicans are hopeful in 2022 they'll take back the House and the Senate, where Democrats currently cling to small majorities.

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Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., recently became the 24th House Democrat to announce he wouldn't seek re-election in November, a troubling sign for his party. Republicans need to net five seats to take back the majority for the first time since they lost the House in the 2018 midterms, while they need to net one seat to take the majority in the 50-50 U.S. Senate.

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Opinion | The Republican Party Is Succeeding Because We Are Not a True Democracy – The New York Times

Posted: at 9:04 am

Majorities of the people, not the Electoral College, should be able to pick the president and decide who controls the House and Senate. All who make their lives in the United States including the incarcerated, people convicted of felonies and noncitizens should be allowed to vote.

This might sound alarming to inland Republican voters who imagine themselves besieged by a permanent coastal majority. But in a working democracy, there are no permanent majorities or minorities. Forging partnerships in a truly democratic system, inland conservatives would soon find new allies just not ones determined to break democracy itself.

Some of these changes probably require amending the Constitution. Hard changes have come through constitutional amendment before: Shortly before World War I, activists successfully pressed state legislatures to ratify an amendment giving up their power to choose U.S. senators. Maybe we can revive mass movements for amendments, starting with one that would make the amendment process itself more democratic. If the public supports a constitutional amendment to limit money in politics, restrict gerrymandering or enshrine a core abortion right, a committed majority should be able to say what our fundamental law is by popular vote, rather than having to go through the current, complicated process of ratifying amendments through state legislatures or dozens of constitutional conventions.

This may sound wild-eyed. But it would not always have. James Wilson, one of the most learned and thoughtful of the Constitutions framers, believed that as a matter of principle, the people may change the Constitution whenever and however they please. This is a right of which no positive institution can ever deprive them. Even Madison conceded that if we thought of the Constitution as a national charter rather than a federal arrangement among sovereign states, the supreme and ultimate authority would reside with the majority, which had the power to alter or abolish its established government. It is hard to deny that, since 1789, the Constitution has become a national charter in the minds of most Americans.

Do we really think that establishing fundamental law is too much for us, something only revered (or reviled) ancestors could do? More likely we are afraid of one another and the decisions majorities would make. Thinkers like Madison associated democracy with majority tyranny, but history tells a different story. Even our terribly flawed legacy is rich in examples of majoritarian emancipation: New Deal programs, the Civil Rights Acts and the Voting Rights Act and Medicare. Majorities can change the world for the better, when they have the chance. Giving one another that chance, over and over, is how equals share a country.

But are we willing to give, and take, that chance? Maybe more than fearing majority tyranny, we suspect that the country is already too divided and mistrustful to make basic choices together at all. One thing Democrats and Republicans share is the belief that, to save the country, the other side must not be allowed to win. Every election is an existential crisis. In our current political climate, any proposal to democratize the system would immediately be coded as partisan, and half the country would reject it from the start. In such an anxious and suspicious country, the current system can be seen as a kind of peace treaty. Maybe that was what Mr. Biden meant when, just after taking his oath of office two weeks after the Capitol riot, in a Washington guarded by 26,000 troops, he praised the resilience of our Constitution.

But the Constitution is not keeping the peace; it is fostering crises. Far from being resilient, it is adding to our brittleness.

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Opinion | The Republican Party Is Succeeding Because We Are Not a True Democracy - The New York Times

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Latinos can help the Republican Party grow in Tennessee | Opinion – Yahoo News

Posted: at 9:04 am

Not long ago, Democrats were giddy with demographic trendlines projecting a massive growth in the Hispanic population nationwide.

The thinking: as the country becomes minority-majority, Democrats will firmly control all branches of government and Republicans will become extinct.

But a funny thing is happening to Democrats on the way to cash their political paycheck. More and more Hispanics are voting Republican.

And as the Latino community continues to grow in Tennessee, both political parties should take note of these trends and work hard to win over this growing voting bloc.

For Republicans, this means stepping out of their comfort zone and going into places with large Hispanic populations. In Middle Tennessee, there is a sizable and vibrant Latino community in Nashville and the surrounding areas.

Large Hispanic churches are not only providing Latinos a place to worship, but also a place to organize and make their voice heard in the civic process.

I recently had a chance to see this firsthand when I attended a service at Casa de Dios, a church in Middle Tennessee, where Gov. Bill Lee was their guest speaker. At the service, Lee talked about the work he is doing for all Tennesseans, and Latinos attending the service talked directly to the governor.

This is exactly the type of civic engagement that we need from Latinos and from elected officials in the state.

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Besides having a seat at the table of policymaking, Tennessee Republicans also must do a better job identifying, training and recruiting conservative Latinos to run for office. Latinos are opening up businesses, running nonprofits and serving in churches and local communities from Knoxville to Memphis and everywhere in between.

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A Latina voter at a voter registration event held by the North Carolina Congress of Latino Organizations.

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These are folks that Republicans should be talking to and sharing their vision for the state and country with.

Recent polling and electoral results confirm that Latinos are a not a monolithic voting bloc, but instead open to hearing a pitch from both political parties. Ruy Teixeria, a Democratic analyst specializing in the Hispanic vote, recently sounded the alarm for Democrats, writing: They [Latinos] are instead a patriotic, upwardly mobile, working-class group with quite practical and down-to-earth concerns. Democrats will either learn to focus on that or they will continue to lose ground among this vital group of voters.

Sign up for our newsletter.: Read compelling stories for and with the Latino community in Tennessee.

Teixeria is right. In fact, a recent Wall Street Journal poll found that Hispanic voters are now evenly split between the two parties. The article went on to note that Republicans have made rapid gains among a crucial voting demographic that has long favored Democrats.

For Republicans, these trendlines are encouraging, but they dont necessarily mean that its automatic. They will still need to campaign in Latino communities and invest in sustained and long-term Hispanic engagement to secure their votes.

Nationally, Democrats need to understand that there is a large swath of voters who are not interested in defunding the police and value the sanctity of life. Instead of casting off these voters because they are clinging to guns and religion, Democrats should welcome them into their party.

A lot can happen between now and November, but both political parties have been put on notice. Republicans need to double down on reaching out to Latino voters, and Democrats should reject the radical progressive wing of the party so that they dont turn off moderates, independents and, yes, Latinos.

Raul Lopez is the executive director of Latinos for Tennessee, an organization committed to promoting and defending faith, freedom and family to the Latino community in Tennessee.

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This Republican can be Rhode Islands next governor. But he might run for the wrong office – The Boston Globe

Posted: at 9:04 am

And unless they can get their act together in a hurry, Republicans are at risk of their weakest showing in a race for governor since 1992, the year Bill Clinton won the presidency and Democratic Governor Bruce Sundlun rolled to reelection over Elizabeth Leonard.

It doesnt have to be this way at least not when it comes to this years governors race. GOP party chair Cienki could pick up the phone today and recruit a popular, battle-tested candidate with enough name recognition and support to vault the party from being an afterthought to a serious contender.

His name is Allan Fung.

The former Cranston mayor just completed his first full year out of politics in almost two decades hes a law partner at Pannone Lopes Devereaux & OGara LLC but he clearly misses the game. Hes been talking to friends and supporters behind the scenes about running for state treasurer, which might be easier to win, but would undoubtedly be less fulfilling.

Fung was term-limited in 2020, and he left office as popular as ever.

He built the citys rainy day fund above $20 million, which sounds boring but proved that it doesnt take steep tax increases to balance budgets. He led the effort to make Garden City the premier shopping center in Rhode Island and that includes Providence Place. Cranstons population even increased under Fung, helping the city pass Warwick for second-largest in the state.

Even the Democrats running to replace him had hardly anything critical to say about his tenure in City Hall. Then his handpicked candidate, Ken Hopkins, easily won a Republican primary and the general election to become mayor.

That wasnt even Fungs biggest win of the year. His helped his wife, Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, unseat House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello in one of the most significant Republican victories in all of New England (US Senator Susan Collins reelection in Maine might be the only exception).

Its easy to sleep on Fung because he lost two races for governor to Gina Raimondo, but she wasnt exactly a pushover. Shes the best fund-raiser the state has ever known, and she ended up getting an interview for vice president with Joe Biden. She settled for US commerce secretary, and shes still getting her name mentioned in stories about running for president in 2024.

This time around, Raimondo wont be walking through that door.

The Democrats have a crowded field that includes incumbent Governor Dan McKee, Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, state Treasurer Seth Magaziner, former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, and former secretary of state Matt Brown. Theyre all impressive in their own way, but none of them have a track record in politics that can match Fungs.

Theres a potential for a moderate-to-conservative Republican or independent to win this race, said John Loughlin, a former Republican candidate for Congress who now hosts a talk show on WPRO-AM. Youve such a huge primary on the Democratic side, and theyre all going to damage each other. By September, well hate all of them.

Patrick Sweeney, an attorney and Republican operative who ran Fungs campaign against Raimondo in 2014, said voters might struggle with a third Fung candidacy, although he noted that it took Sundlun three tries before he became governor.

But Sweeney said the race could be attractive for Fung because he has still has nearly universal name recognition in Rhode Island and a substantial donor base. Add in the idea that Republicans are expected to have a good year nationally, and theres a case to be made for the party winning back the governors office.

Republicans will not have a better political environment than this for another 20 or 30 years, Sweeney said.

Thats not to say Fung would be a shoo-in.

One significant challenge is that he and Cienki have never seen eye to eye. Fungs wife resigned from a spot on the Republican State Central Committee in 2019 when Cienki became chair. When I asked Cienki about the idea of Fung running for governor, all she said was that she doesnt think hes interested in that job.

There are conservative members of the party who think Fung is too moderate, a challenge similar to the one Governor Charlie Baker has always faced with his own party in Massachusetts. Interestingly, Fungs biggest liability against any Democrat would be the photo of him wearing a Donald Trump winter cap at Trumps inauguration in 2017.

Fung wont wow you with a grand vision for the next generation of Rhode Island, but hes a steady leader who gives the Republicans a fighting chance. Hed make a reliable manager of the $1.1 billion in federal COVID funding the state still has to spend, and Rhode Island voters have proved in the past that they like the idea of having a Republican leading the state to balance a Democratic-dominated General Assembly.

But if its going to happen, Cienki needs to get those wheels moving now. She needs to make nice with Fung, do her best to clear the field of any primary opponents, and convince him that being treasurer just isnt very sexy.

For his part, Fung has been sending my calls to voicemail as though Im a debt collector. But Sweeney, his former campaign manager, said Fung will have to decide if this is right moment to take one last shot at running for the states top job.

One thing is for sure, you only get three bites at the apple, Sweeney said. There is no fourth try.

Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @danmcgowan.

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