3.1.19 Maryland Leaders Call for Delegate’s Resignation After Racist Comment
| Maryland Leaders Call for Delegate’s Resignation After Racist Comment Maryland Del. Mary Ann Lisanti (D) is facing a bipartisan call to step down after using a racial slur to refer to a state legislative district. “I believe that leaders in the House need to be able to bring people together — not tear them apart,” Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch (D) said, after stripping Lisanti of her leadership position on the House Economic Matters Committee. Among the people calling for Lisanti’s resignation are state Democratic chair Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, Gov. Larry Hogan (R), and the Maryland Republican Party. According to a 2017 PRRI poll, white Americans express far less concern than black and Hispanic Americans about race-related issues. One-third (33 percent) of whites say racism is a major problem, compared to a majority (54 percent) of Hispanic Americans and two-thirds (67 percent) of black Americans. |
| President Trump Talks With Kim Jong-un Collapse Over Sanctions “President Trump and Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, abruptly ended their second summit meeting on Thursday after talks collapsed with the two leaders failing to agree on any steps toward nuclear disarmament or measures to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” writes Edward Wong in The New York Times. The meeting took place in Hanoi, Vietnam. “Sometimes you have to walk,” Trump said after the conference. “[Trump] said Mr. Kim had offered to dismantle the North’s most important nuclear facility if the United States lifted the harsh sanctions imposed on his nation — but would not commit to do the same for other elements of its weapons program. That, Mr. Trump said, was a dealbreaker,” Wong reports. |
| Tennessee Bill Could Cost State $9.4 Billion “A controversial bill aimed at ignoring the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage could once again place Tennessee in jeopardy of losing $9.4 billion in federal funds,” writes Joel Ebert in The Tennessean. The bill, the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act, would restrict government officials from recognizing any court ruling that affirms same-sex unions, including the landmark ruling from 2015. According to TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, denying coverage to an otherwise eligible person because they are in a same-sex marriage could run afoul of federal law. So if the law passes, the $7.4 billion in federal funding that flows to TennCare could be at risk. Two Department of Human Services programs could also lose more than $2 billion. According to PRRI’s 2017 American Values Atlas, 46 percent of Tennessee residents believe that same-sex marriage should be legal, while 45 percent disagree and nine percent say they don’t know or refused to answer. |