@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar

SeanCasten

@SeanCasten@mastodon.social

Congressman, IL-06. Engineer. Former CEO. Dad. Husband. Occasional piano player.

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SeanCasten, to random
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“In my mind [the US is] a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, & teeming with people of all kinds... And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will & heart to get here.” - R. Reagan

SeanCasten, to random
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EVs - like GPS, heated seats, FM radios, power steering and every other advance in the auto sector - started in high end vehicles and eventually became standard. That's the story. The rest is storytelling. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/03/business/electric-cars-becoming-affordable.html

SeanCasten, to random
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Coal hasn't been cheap for a LOOONG time. I'm glad that the NYT has just discovered this. But please, don't say that environmentalists are only just now making an economic argument. We've been making that point for decades. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/climate/electricity-from-coal-is-pricey-should-consumers-have-to-pay.html

SeanCasten, to random
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The law will “make the United States safer for drug traffickers, for terrorist funders, for child and drug traffickers and those who buy and sell child pornography... I did not know those groups had such proud advocates in Congress.” https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-05-24/with-democratic-assent-house-votes-to-open-loopholes-in-crypto-regulation

SeanCasten, to random
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This week the House voted to prevent DC from allowing non-citizens to vote. I opposed the bill. It was a pure gotcha vote from the majority, but the issues it raises are so interesting that I thought worth a thread this morning. Read along if you want to nerd out with me!

SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. First, if this bill were to become law it would have no bearing outside of DC municipal elections. Voting yes or no is basically a question of whether you think Congress should constrain who votes for school board in a single specific municipality.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. There is no city or state that can set voting rules for federal elections, but lots take different rules about eligibility in state and local elections: several cities let 16 year olds vote for school board or municipal races. Several states let 17 year olds vote in primaries.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. DC is uniquely subject to federal jurisdiction and we have given Congress power to assert all sorts of control over them. (Thus the DC license plate: "taxation without representation"). And note their population is bigger than VT and WY - who each have 1 Rep and 2 Senators.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. TL;DR: this was a small bill that would have no impact on voting in any federal election nor the overwhelming majority of state/local elections in the country. It served only to put fuel on the "don't trust elections if you don't like the results" fire that the GOP has lit.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. But the interesting part - any my quixotic effort here - is because the link between citizenship and voting is actually really worth understanding. If this WAS a bigger deal, what would guide us?
SeanCasten,
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  1. The Constitution, as originally drafted (a) doesn't define what a citizen is (b) largely defers to the states on saying who can vote and (c) assigns representation in Congress based on people, not voters.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. In 1790, Representation in Congress was apportioned based on all 3/5ths of the slaves 0/5ths of the native Americans and 100% of the rest... but only allowed white men to choose who those representatives would be.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. Even that is a bit of an overstatement since our founders, in their immaculate wisdom knew that EVEN white men weren't sophisticated enough to vote for Senators or Presidents.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. And now, almost 250 years later we still don't trust folks to vote for President (see: Electoral College). And we still apportion representation based on a whole lot of people who aren't allowed to vote (children, non-citizens, prisoners, etc.)
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. (To that last point, one of the ways to massively increase your relative power in Congress is to build a large prison in your district in advance of the next Census. It's a racket and racketeers play that game.) But I digress.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. Meanwhile, even as we have added citizenship requirements for federal elections, we still have played fast and loose with who is a citizen. Recall that the Chinese exclusion act said that Chinese who came here legally could not become citizens.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. And while the 14th Amendment says that all persons born or naturalized in the US are citizens, we had previously passed laws that said that NATIVE Americans were not citizens. Consistent hewing to originalist principles, my butt.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. So now imagine you are a state or municipality with large numbers of people who work, pay taxes and consume social services but who cannot vote and/or are not citizens and as such are not proportionally represented in Washington DC.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. Maybe that means a big undocumented population. But it could also mean lots of children. College campuses. Not-yet naturalized refugees. DACA recipients. It's completely rational that you might conclude that your local democracy would be more effective if they had a voice!
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. Which is why we see such diversity of who can vote in municipal and state elections across the country. And I'd argue that's a really good thing. Keeps our democracy vibrant, keeps those local laboratories of democracy humming. And it's why I voted no. /fin
SeanCasten, to random
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Who said it? "I think the Republican party needs to improve it's outreach to women. I care passionately about that. Donald Trump has not helped that effort."

SeanCasten, to random
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Before I head to the floor this morning, a quick thread on cryptocurrency, money laundering and my new bill to temporarily prohibit financial institutions from transacting with funds that use "mixers":

SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. Here's a summary of the bill. But before getting into the jargon of crypto, let's talk about conventional bank rules. https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases/casten-foster-sherman-cleaver-introduce-legislation-to-temporarily-prohibit-crypto-mixers
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. True story: several years ago, a friend of mine sold his car to a private buyer who paid him with a shoebox full of $15,000 in cash. A little weird to be sure. But when he went to the bank to deposit the cash, he learned about anti-money laundering rules.
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. He was smart and refused to give title to the car unless the buyer came with him to the bank. They got there and were photographed and affirmatively ID'd before the bank would take the money. That is required by law. And for good reason!
SeanCasten,
@SeanCasten@mastodon.social avatar
  1. Because - unlike a check, or a wire transfer, the bank can trace the payer and payee when cash is deposited. So, under law, if you transfer over $10,000 there is a lot more documentation required before they will take the deposit. Because money laundering is bad.
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