Below Maryland Juice highlights a few more post-election articles and analyses from the latest round of press. Sidebar: Sorry for posting so many JuiceBlenders lately, but much of the current punditry happens to be noteworthy right now. In any case, see our round-up below, which begins with sour grapes from a Maryland Republican:
JUICE #1: GOP CANDIDATE KEN TIMMERMAN CLAIMS THERE WAS CHEATING IN REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN'S RE-ELECTION - On November 6, Maryland's 8th District Congressional incumbent won re-election by over 100,000 votes. Most would say the race between Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen and GOP challenger Ken Timmerman was not even close. But that's not stopping Timmerman from alleging there was cheating involved. Check out the outrageous comments from the BethesdaNow site (excerpt below):
JUICE #2: PUNDIT ANALYSIS OF MARYLAND 2014 GUBERNATORIAL RACE - Gazette columnist Barry Rascovar has an interesting round-up on the candidates for Maryland's 2014 gubernatorial race. Indeed, we've been following the emerging dynamics in the race, and Rascovar provides some context and his take on the candidates. Okay -- more specifically, Rascovar mostly points out the weaknesses of the various candidates. Check out a quick excerpt from his analysis below. The full article is online here.
JUICE #3: O'MALLEY VS. CUOMO ON MARIJUANA - Democratic and Republican politicos around the nation have been re-thinking marijuana policy after two states approved legalized use at the ballot this year. But prior to the election, 2016 White House rivals Martin O'Malley and NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo had staked out differing positions on the issue. O'Malley has threatened to veto even simply medical marijuana in Maryland -- even while it is an uncontroversial issue among voters, who support prescription-use in overwhelming numbers. Last March O'Malley's team told The Baltimore Sun they would likely veto any medical marijuana bills, due to fear of the Feds. Meanwhile, other states (and their voters) are proceeding boldly.
CUOMO BLOCKS PAY RAISES FOR LEGISLATORS DUE TO THEIR HOLD-UP OF POT DECRIMINALIZATION - Days before the November 6th Presidential Election, Cuomo appears to have predicted shifting policy winds (once again). The Village Voice reported that the Governor of New York told legislators he would not help approve pay raises for them unless they approved of his marijuana decriminalization effort (excerpt below):
NO PLANS FOR REFORM IN MARYLAND? - Indeed, New York is proceeding with decriminalization and other states are moving to outright legalization. But in Maryland, our law does not even create a clear vehicle for cancer patients to have access to marijuana. Though legislators want to change that, The Gazette is reporting that right now, there are no clear plans to revive the debate in the next legislative session:
MARYLAND IS AN OUTLIER AMONG DEMOCRATIC STATES - Wikipedia has a map showing how states have proceeded on marijuana (see below). You can see that once again, the west coast and northeast parts of the United States are once again proving to be the kickstarters for progressive reform:
The map above does not show that Maryland is an outlier compared to the United States -- but it does show that Maryland is an outlier compared to Democratic strongholds. WTF?
JUICE #1: GOP CANDIDATE KEN TIMMERMAN CLAIMS THERE WAS CHEATING IN REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN'S RE-ELECTION - On November 6, Maryland's 8th District Congressional incumbent won re-election by over 100,000 votes. Most would say the race between Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen and GOP challenger Ken Timmerman was not even close. But that's not stopping Timmerman from alleging there was cheating involved. Check out the outrageous comments from the BethesdaNow site (excerpt below):
KEN TIMMERMAN (VIA BETHESDANOW): The defeated Republican candidate for Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s congressional seat yesterday questioned the accuracy of Montgomery County polling results, filing a Public Information Act request to obtain electronic voting machine records for last week’s election....
He claimed voters in Montgomery County contacted him with “anecdotal evidence of irregularities during early voting and the Nov. 6 general election at various polling stations in Montgomery and Carroll Counties....”
“It won’t change the outcome of this year’s elections,” Timmerman wrote. “But it could mean there will be less cheating in 2014.”
JUICE #2: PUNDIT ANALYSIS OF MARYLAND 2014 GUBERNATORIAL RACE - Gazette columnist Barry Rascovar has an interesting round-up on the candidates for Maryland's 2014 gubernatorial race. Indeed, we've been following the emerging dynamics in the race, and Rascovar provides some context and his take on the candidates. Okay -- more specifically, Rascovar mostly points out the weaknesses of the various candidates. Check out a quick excerpt from his analysis below. The full article is online here.
GAZETTE: One big unknown is the fate of the current governor.... Should the governor serve out his term Brown might have tough sledding. He’ll still have to defend eight years of sometimes-controversial policy decisions....
Gansler has run a large public law firm but has never had to make decisions on raising taxes, cutting social services or how to maneuver a long list of priorities through a rambunctious House and Senate....
Franchot is a political chameleon. His positions often depend on which constituency he’s trying to impress...
Others are looking at the governor’s race, too, including liberal Del. Heather Mizeur of Takoma Park, who got a big boost from her vocal championing of same-sex marriage....
Another wannabe is Howard County Executive Ken Ulman. He’s been a successful chief in that affulent subdivision but translating that into statewide viability could be daunting. There’s not much of a voter base in Howard for Ulman to build upon.
JUICE #3: O'MALLEY VS. CUOMO ON MARIJUANA - Democratic and Republican politicos around the nation have been re-thinking marijuana policy after two states approved legalized use at the ballot this year. But prior to the election, 2016 White House rivals Martin O'Malley and NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo had staked out differing positions on the issue. O'Malley has threatened to veto even simply medical marijuana in Maryland -- even while it is an uncontroversial issue among voters, who support prescription-use in overwhelming numbers. Last March O'Malley's team told The Baltimore Sun they would likely veto any medical marijuana bills, due to fear of the Feds. Meanwhile, other states (and their voters) are proceeding boldly.
CUOMO BLOCKS PAY RAISES FOR LEGISLATORS DUE TO THEIR HOLD-UP OF POT DECRIMINALIZATION - Days before the November 6th Presidential Election, Cuomo appears to have predicted shifting policy winds (once again). The Village Voice reported that the Governor of New York told legislators he would not help approve pay raises for them unless they approved of his marijuana decriminalization effort (excerpt below):
VILLAGE VOICE: New York State legislators want a pay raise for the first time since 1999. Governor Andrew Cuomo wants young minorities to stop getting screwed by New York's bizarre "public view" marijuana law, and the NYPD's controversial "stop and frisk" policy -- and the governor made it clear yesterday that lawmakers won't get a pay bump until they get to work on decriminalizing "public view" marijuana....
Marijuana was decriminalized in New York in the 1970s thanks to the Marijuana Reform Act, which makes possession of marijuana a ticketable offense, rather than a crime that will go on your permanent record. However, a loophole in the law makes it a misdemeanor to possess weed in "public view...."
The loophole has led to the disproportionate arrests of young minorities (of the roughly 50,000 people arrested each year in New York for low-level marijuana offenses, 87 percent are black or Hispanic), who fall victim to the law because of "Stop and Frisk...."
NO PLANS FOR REFORM IN MARYLAND? - Indeed, New York is proceeding with decriminalization and other states are moving to outright legalization. But in Maryland, our law does not even create a clear vehicle for cancer patients to have access to marijuana. Though legislators want to change that, The Gazette is reporting that right now, there are no clear plans to revive the debate in the next legislative session:
GAZETTE: Sen. David Brinkley (R-Dist. 4) ... said marijuana laws need reforming, but he is not optimistic anything will be done in the next session.... [The] effort to allow medical marijuana to be sold at pharmacies regulated by the state failed this year after a veto threat from Gov. Martin O’Malley (D)....
Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring said the state is moving toward taking a “more rational” approach to marijuana, and the passage of the two ballot issues in other states will help with that.... The voters are moving faster than the politicians on the issue, Raskin said. “This is not dangerous politically to be talking about anymore,” he said....
[Brinkley] said he was criticized by a fellow conservative senator who opposes medical marijuana.... I told him I was just trying to create another cash crop for the tobacco farmers in his district,” Brinkley quipped.
MARYLAND IS AN OUTLIER AMONG DEMOCRATIC STATES - Wikipedia has a map showing how states have proceeded on marijuana (see below). You can see that once again, the west coast and northeast parts of the United States are once again proving to be the kickstarters for progressive reform:
The map above does not show that Maryland is an outlier compared to the United States -- but it does show that Maryland is an outlier compared to Democratic strongholds. WTF?
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