While the Indiana House was at a stand still due to the House Democrats’ labor supporting exile, the Indiana Senate moved a lot of paper. A couple of the more contested issues:
SB 575 – eroding teacher collective bargaining options. Passed the Senate, 30-19. It was a losing effort, but I was pleased to see my Senator was one of the few Republicans voting “nay.”
SJR 10 – More mucking about with the constitution and union busting. In this case, a constitutional amendment requiring a secret ballot vote for organizing a union at a place of employment to the extent allowed by federal law. Passed by a vote of 32 – 16.
SB 328 – A whole bunch of anti-abortion provisions – the doctor has to tell the patient a lot of stuff to make the woman feel bad about what an awful thing she’s doing; there is increased bureaucracy for a medical provider, and the state department of health has to have abortion information on its website. Passed 39 – 9.
SB 192 – Directing the criminal sentencing study committee to study issues related to marijuana, such as whether it should be illegal and, if so, at what amounts and whether medical use of marijuana should be permitted. Passed 28-21. Passage of this one really surprised me.
Out of time for now.
I’m not that surprised about SB 192. There is first of all a big segment of Republicans who are libertarian-leaning. Second, it’s because increasingly accepted even among Republicans that the so-called War on Drugs has been a failure. Of course this is only a study committee…but it’s a positive step.
Agree with SB 192… wish it would go farther and just decriminalize it, for so many reasons. I think using drugs is stupid. I also think criminalizing the use of drugs is stupid.
Thanks to those brave Senators for passing SB 192. It’s about time. The other Senators need to realize this is 2011 not 1950. Thank you Masson for your blog.
SB 192.
Libertarians may not get elected to state offices, but they affect public policy, nonetheless. Every time a Libertarian engages in an election debate, his/her thoughts are conveyed forcing others to consider their views.
Oh, yeah, why without the Libertarian party I’d have never even heard of marihuana.
C’mon, drugs have been on the back burner of Libertarian politics longer than Irish stew. Dollars to free-market, artificial-chocolate-flavored doughnuts says the Indiana Senate taking up the question of legalizing pot means one thing: there’s some big money ready to be spread around over five-ten years to make it happen. q.v. Beer Baronage, Fireworks, and liquor sales in grocery stores. Principles? Really? I thought you guys followed politics.
Off topic suggestion for future post:
“Indiana’s crappiest politician web sites”
My nomination is:
http://www.trailertrashpictures.com/jimbanks/
Exactly why Mr. Banks would allow his web site to default to “trailertrashpictures” is beyond me.
Seems to be going viral on the Internet. Hopefully whoever “designed” this cheesy looking site will make the changes.
Doughouse . . .
Libertarians have wisely refrained from specifically citing marijuana. However, their consistent, persistent preaching on personal freedom has an across-the-board impact.
Hey Bart, where did the “trailertrashpictures” link come from? Quick Google search shows Jim as having a website at: http://www.jimbanks.us/
Doug,
I was visiting Sen. Bank’s site and one of the links took me to the host domain (trailertrashpictures.com/jimbanks).
My best guess is the designer uses trailertrashpictures.com for all his “creations” (think Frankenstein) then forwards them to other domains.
This is an easy fix, but it indicates the designer is slighting Sen Banks. It also suggest the designer is a rank amatuer; probably a volunteer pre-teen.
Also, I just visited the site and some of the more obvious screw up have been fixed.
Apparently the GOP (or Sen Banks) contacted the designer.
The site still lacks the tell-tale signs of quality design, eg, it boring. But at least the cheesy drop-shadow graphics are gone.
I don’t know who the GOP is using to design their web site, but my suggestion would be that the state party hire a high-quality graphic designer and dump whoever is producing this finger-paint quality “trailertrash”.
Oh, and a wise decision it was, too, BART, de-emphasizing the principles which made the party unique–drug decriminalization and military non-adventurism, which a sizable portion of the population supports–for the more prudent course of incontinent tax cutting, legalized robber baronage, and an unlimited supply of automatic weapons, which voters couldn’t already get from the Republican party. And, as a result, you’ve gone, in just thirty short years, from 1.1% of the national vote to 0.4.
Okay, look, just a little leg-pull; I never argue with someone who thinks Ayn Rand was a philosopher. But for the life of me I’ll never understand that “wisely refrained”. To accomplish what? Not make the party more influential or more successful, certainly. When has that ever worked? Whaddya do when you get there? Suddenly spring it on a populace you never mentioned it to before?
re SB 192:
1. The War on Drugs is a failure. Let’s find alternatives, like treatment for those who can’t handle it, instead of incarceration.
2. Gallup and Rand polls show that 73-75% of the US population want medicinal marijuana legal. Elected officials are to do what the public wants not have their own personal agenda.
3. 15 states, Guam, District of Columbia and over a dozen countries have legalized for medicinal purposes. They took the time and looked at the evidence. It must work or they wouldn’t have said yes.
4. Marijuana does not kill brain cells it actually kills cancer cells. We were lied to. Google the “Heath-Tulane study” and the “Madrid Report.”
5. Marijuana & Driving, lied to again. Google and look at the studies conducted by New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, Great Britian, Australia and others. Drivers on marijuana are actually more cautious drivers. Driving on marijuana is comparable to .03-.08 bac which is perfectly legal.
6. Colorado has already received close to $10 million a year in application fees. That does not include taxable sales that could be collected. Approximately the same dollar amount collected in Michigan.
7. Personally, I would rather smoke a puff or two to alleviate pain immedialtely instead of taking Vicodin and waiting 30-45 minutes for it to start working and then get hooked on Vicodin.
8. The reasons behind criminalization are now known to the public. It was only made illegal due to racial hatred and corporate greed. Google or YouTube “Anslinger and marijuana.”
9. “The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that Criminal Justice expenditures for Indiana (Police, Courts, and Corrections) amounted to about $2.4 billion in 2005. That year marijuana arrests accounted for 6.2% of all arrests, resulting in an estimated cost of $149 million.” Dr. Gettman. There are far more important things to spend our money on than putting marijuana smokers in jail.
10. Educate yourself. There is way too much evidence that shows it is not the Cheech & Chong drug like we were led to believe. That is what the study is for. To educate. Let’s don’t stay in the dark.
Doug, who is your State Senator you refer to?
Dog,
You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who is familiar with “libertarian” who is not already savvy to their position of drug legalization.
I don’t think they will need to spring it on them.
One of my favorite Indiana Libertarian theorists notes that when drugs are outlawed they are out side the law where they cannot be regulated. He chides law enforcement for referring to them as “controlled substances.” They are NOT being controlled.
Kudos to Rebecca. Excellent insights.
His state senator is Ron Alting.. as I wish mine were.