You don’t have to adjust the settings on your phone – that really is a picture of Senators Cory Gardner (R) and Elizabeth Warren (D) smiling side by side.
Under Gardner’s leadership in the Senate, the two have actually teamed up on a states’ rights issue regarding the regulation of marijuana – which is still a Schedule I drug outlawed by the federal government, along side heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. The two are proposing legislation that would allow states to pass marijuana laws without the fear of federal government intervention, since states that are passing laws, in these cases, are doing so in contradiction to federal law. Yesterday, President Donald Trump expressed support for the measure.
With Massachusetts recently legalizing pot, Warren looked to Gardner’s leadership and experience to draw on some lessons learned in Colorado. Tearing a page out of Gardner’s playbook when our Senator played hardball with the Attorney General earlier in the year, Warren explained, “when state voters have stepped in and when state legislatures have set up rules, we think that is the place for the federal government to recede.”
Gardner framed his argument as an example of Federalism, and explained that the Founders wanted opportunities for states to have the power to experiment with these types of laws, without the interference of the federal government. He stressed that this is not a “legalization bill,” but rather an opportunity to choose your own destiny as the Founders wanted people in the states to be able to do. He also stated his opposition to the ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana, but noted that he believes that if the same language was voted on again, it would pass by a wider margin.
Warren used an example of “crazy fallout” from conflicting state and federal laws regulating marijuana, such as banks not wanting to conduct business with people actively engaged in the marijuana industry. We find that quite interesting that the person who has led the charge to, in her mind, make the banking industry safer, wants banks to wave in cash derived from the sale of drugs.
Why would anyone trust Warren to make any decisions about our banking system when she has made such a mess of it thus far. If her record is any indication of what she may do in the future, it won’t be pleasant for the bank.
While “shocked” was the first impression that we had seeing Gardner and Warren side by side, listening to the interview it became more and more clear that Gardner is expanding his leadership and influence in the Senate, which will continue to be good for Colorado.
Gardner is persuasive, but we suspect this might be as far right as Warren will go. Any further right and Cory might just be nominated for sainthood