I feel that most people are rational. If people are honest with you, you can usually understand their perspective when you look at their life experience and values. And you can have a rational discussion.
Right now I don't understand the Republicans, and it's kind of bothering me.
Last week, they actually called for a spending freeze. They wanted the federal government to call some kind of time-out and not spend any money until October.
Honestly, if we followed that idea it would be an instant death blow to our economy. All the employees that would be laid off from state local and federal jobs? Probably around a million, at least. All the construction projects around the country that would come to a halt. Government programs like medicare that would dry up and leave us without a safety net. It really would be like the Great Depression all over again. No safety net, no jobs, no money, tent cities, food riots, the whole miserable package.
And this wasn't some talking point floating around on cable news, they introduced a Bill in the House of Representatives and voted on the crazy thing. AND every Republican voted FOR it, along with 8 Democrats in the house. I'm serious.

Can you find a single economist who thinks that is a good idea? Even at the Heritage Foundation or PNAC? It's completely Insane.
Some Republicans do not agree with this kind of... policy?
David Brooks calls it "Insane"


These Republicans make more sense to me, I can follow their train of thought, even if I don't agree. They are not liberal, they're definitely 'invisible hand of the market' types, but I just think they're critical thinkers, they're logical, so I can understand them.
Sometimes You gotta Change Your Mind
You have to govern based on the facts you have available, and the situation that's in front of you. I think some Party Loyalists are just married to their talking points, they've worked so hard over the years to burn their slogans into our brains. "Big government = Bad" "Tax Cuts = Good" "Big Business = Efficient" "Government = Wasteful"
Those slogans are Old, they originated based on circumstances that no longer exist. You Must adjust to the facts, and address the current situations.
You know Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican.

That reminds me, knock it off with the Socialism please. We were not socialist under Clinton, and we are not a 4.6% tax increase away from becoming Cuba. Ditch the slogans and talking points, get your heads out of the box, and look at the information that's in front of you.
Maybe...
Maybe Nationalizing the Banks is smarter than letting them fail and cheaper than pumping out a few trillion to resurrect them.
Maybe GM wouldn't need a bailout, and neither would anyone else if we abandoned the Employer Based Healthcare system that is bankrupting our companies.
Maybe "Free Trade" never really benefited America, and we should try manufacturing things in our own country again.
Maybe lowering taxes on the rich doesn't create the most jobs. And maybe some government programs are actually useful and should be expanded.
Maybe, just maybe, sometimes you have to try something else. because the facts and the circumstances have changed.
"Ronald Reagan was a great leader and a great president because he addressed the problems of his time. But we have very different problems-and we need very different answers...." We need real solutions.
Actually, yesterday on NPR they were mentioning the costs in this state of jailing a person per year ($45,000!) and a new measure to decriminalize the possession and sale of small quantities of drugs. This is about to happen - I do not know when the legislation will be introduced, but likely a side effect of the Senate going to the Dems will be the passage of a decriminalization bill very soon.
I'm sure there are people that do care that Marshawn smokes pot. I'm not one of them, and everybody pretty much knows my stance on the decriminalization of pot, and even legalization/regulation of it. The government is missing out on an enormous opportunity, particularly with marijuana, since it is such a commonly used illegal drug with no dramatic downturn in use likely to occur. It's potential damage to society is infinitesimal compared to alcohol. I do think that usage would increase, but hardly at a dramatic rate. Worrying about the social ills of dramatic increases in drinking did not stop the repeal of Prohibition. The medicinal aspects of its use are incredibly important in my mind (I trust pot far more than I trust some dubious, overpriced pharmaceutical), and also bringing pot out of the shadows will reduce the criminal element involved.
Turns out Marshawn got charged for the gun in the car. 3 years probation
:::link:::
I have no idea how much it actually costs, because the figures I got from pr-drug/anti-drug groups varied so wildly they were just unreliable. So I went to our government's drug enforcement web site. The numbers I had there were a little too vague. But here is, I think, a good enough estimate.
In NYS alone there are 4680 people serving time for pot. That is a cost of $163,800,000. And that is just for incarceration, there are still costs for enforcement, legal costs, and subsequent costs for families.
Peter raises a good point, Marshawn was in a smoke filled car when he was caught, and that should pose legal problems for him. Unlike Phelps who was just at a party.
James, I love Data! if you find any let me know.
Decriminalization may be the first step, but I think the black market problem is very serious, and would have a huge impact on crime. When I lived on the west side, the only think i worried about was crackheads. Desperate addicts. The violence surrounding drug use and the drug trade is a major reason why good people, and families, have left inner-city neighborhoods.
Making it legal and de-criminalized are not even close to the same thing. With making it not a crime to have small amounts you would still have a lot of the street element I think. Would crime fall some yes it would. But see if you made it legal it would take a lot more of the streets and then violence out of it. You could get tax money and put a certain amount of that into rehab for people who want to quit. Plus you could tax growers and things like that.
I think that there are a lots of reasons why pot is illegal.
-cuts into Tobacco company money (tobacco companies put a lot of money out there)
-Hemp clothes could compete with other fabrics
-Government can't figure out how to regulate it
-War on Drugs is a big Business
I think there is nothing wrong with pot. And I think Phelps is a coward. What he should have said is something like this.
" I'm a young Guy who went to a party, who can say they have never tried drugs at a party, I'm not saying it is ok to do this, and I'm not saying to kids that they should do this, but this is a drug and it is no different than Drinking to get drunk, or getting plastered at a football game" He then should have found some stats on drug use from one of those anti drug campigns and ""ed it as an example that weed is a common place drug and that it isn't a performance enchancer and explain that, doing that is cheating and wrong. But what he did was some fake "I'm Sorry". He isn't sorry at all, he is sorry someone took a picture and sold it on him.
I don't think there is anything wrong with smoking weed. In some circles it is looked at, as so bad. But in some circles if you said you did drugs and you said it was weed, people would laugh and say that isn't a drug. I think though there is a difference between smoking at home and in a car. In a car that you are about to drive that could wind up hurting some else and that ain't cool at all.
I do think that weed can be a gateway drug. I think you have some people who smoke it and that is fine and they never do anything else. But some people who would never do drugs think, well it is weed there is nothing wrong with it. Then once they try it, it leads to other things. An example I can think of is a "laced blunt" it might be called a WU but not sure about that term. It is a blunt with weed and than that had cocaine in it also.
I think the big problem with drugs is that people don't want to admit that drugs are a very personal thing. Person A will try something and will get addicted and will steal from family to get high, and Person B will smoke up only during a concert or at a party.
I am trying to find stats on the number of people serving time for offenses related to pot so we can estimate how much a year we are spending on prisons alone, leaving aside enforcement and legal costs to the state. But god damn, it is so tough to find verifiable numbers.
I think it is more reasonable to push that it be de-criminalized rather than legalized. While I am not sure I want the government to tax/regulate pot, it seems stupid that our jails are filled with people who are not really a danger to anybody at all.
I agree about marijuana being more of a gateway drug simply because of the source. But that isn't to say alcohol or cigarettes aren't. They are as well gateway drugs but I think less than marijuana because they are legal.
I am certainly not opposed to legalizing and taxing it. I do think there would be more widespread use of it and we may see health effects similar to that of cigarettes. Although I can't imagine anyone smoking an entire pack of joints in a day. I do believe that would be along the lines of "smoking yourself retarded". But eventually it would probably gain a similar stigma that smoking cigarettes do.
With all of that said I'm certain it will be a cold day in hell before its ever legalized.