^Truth. Logic is not really part of democratic politics. Only the logic of what gets and looses votes and interests is relevant, American government is all about balancing various interests with the goal of maintaining political power.
They're actually US attorneys assigned to California.
They are US attorneys local to California, the federal government defines US attorneys as "the chief federal law enforcement officers in their districts, responsible for federal criminal prosecutions and civil cases involving the United States Government. The Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys provides support and oversight for the 94 offices across the country." -
http://www.justice.gov/usao/
They are technically federal employees but their jurisdiction is entirely confined to their state and AFAIK all of them are from California, having worked there previous to being appointed as US attorneys. They are representatives of their state in that sense.
Like it was said before he may not have ordered the raids but he can fucking step in and stop them. You talk like they are already done with the raids and nothing can be done but they still going on and obama hasn't done jack shit. These are federal officers sent by u.s. attorneys. Whether you want to admit it or not Obama can certainly step in and stop. Hell if he just publicly condemned these actions they would stop. You think that federal officers can just do what they want if the commander in chief doesn't approve?
Ok, but the reason the raids are happening is widespread fraud. Which is certainly an issue. The medical system was supposedly created to help people with medical problems but at least as many people abuse the system as use it, getting a recommendation is piss easy. It's a giant scam being run on the feds, you can't expect them to support it forever. Why should Obama step in in support of a system that is totally broken? There are moral reasons, but no political reasons whatsoever.
He hasn't spoken for or against the raids. This is the smart political move to make, he isn't backing what can be seen as an infringement on the rights of Californians, and he isn't backing a broken, dishonest system (the "medical" marijuana system).
Californians should have voted to legalize and I bet this wouldn't be happening. The issue isn't medical marijuana being provided, they aren't raiding in opposition to the principal of medical marijuana. The issue is that most of the people who go to dispensaries do not have serious medical problems that weed helps, they just want to get high. The federal government is not ok with this, because it is a scam. These raids would not be occurring if it wasn't for widespread abuse of the system. At least, that is what the California US attorneys directly responsible said. Remember when the vote on legalization was up in California and one of the big arguments against it was that anyone could get legal weed already and taxes would increase? That is what pisses the feds off, that even though weed is not legal (and Californians wanted it to stay that way), it is easy for anyone at all to get weed at weed stores that are everywhere in Cali. The medical system there is a sham set up that does help many people with medical problems but mostly just sells weed for people to get high on.
Can anyone name a single politically good reason Obama should stop these raids, or even speak on them? He would risk losing a lot of votes regardless of what side he takes. Like I said before, there are moral reasons but those reasons don't factor into political decisions. He has no reason to say anything about the raids and I imagine that he will continue to stay silent about it. Morally I agree that he should speak out against them, but I can't expect him to and I can understand why the Califnoria US attorneys want the medical system to stop, or at least to start actually catering only to medical needs and not stoners.
You think that federal officers can just do what they want if the commander in chief doesn't approve?
Yes, they can, most federal officers do not have to seek approval from the president for their actions. They can't do whatever they want but they have a lot of freedom and the president does not oversee most federal programs.
I see no reason why simple public condemnation of the raids would make them stop. The DEA does not answer to the president, even though they are part of the executive branch. The administrator of the DEA reports to the deputy attorney general. The president can consult but as far as I know he does not have the authority to direct DEA operations, similar to FBI and CIA operations. They are an independent agency, essentially. I recall reading that the only oversight over the DEA is by congress, who has reports of DEA actions submitted to them after the fact. Not sure on it though, government structures are pretty confusing and labyrinthine.
Contrary to popular belief, the president is not the end-all be-all high power in American government, and his word is not law.
