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Dcoffee's Journal

dcoffee
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03/09/2009 15:24 #47998

Wow, things that make you go hmmm..
Category: politics
Religious Right ditching the Republicans? Some prominent leaders apparently ready for something. Watch this video, it might brighten your day.


I'm starting to wonder about the Shrinking Republican party. If more moderate Republicans continue to leave the party and become Independents, who's left in the Republican Party? Fanatics, Extremists, Ideologues.. right? So that means that those are the people will be deciding who the Republican candidates are in the primary elections. Most states have closed primaries where only registered Republicans can vote in primary elections. So... following these numbers, as the Republican party shrinks, the remaining members will be fanatic Rush Limbaugh dittoheads, and other like minded far right folks, right? Seems like the Republican candidates are going to get more extreme and more partisan, and more polarizing because of the people who select them during the primary. Which ends up pushing the party further out of the mainstream, and onto the fringe. Freaky.

Schumer on the Economy...

On the other hand, I watched Lindsy Grahm (R-SC) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Meet the Press Yesterday. These two guys seem smart, and they look like they can have an open discussion and agree on some issues. It was refreshing. click on the "netcast" link to watch the whole thing.

Earmarks...

There's more transparency in the process now, you can look at every earmark and see who suggested it online. And there's about one fifth of the earmarks that there were last year. Plus, these things do create jobs in most cases, so I'm not categorically against "earmarks" so long as people are willing to put their name on them, and make it public.

Nationalize the Banks...

I guess we are waiting for the "Stress Tests" to be complete before we decide what to do with what banks. Schumer says there is no "one size fits all" solution here, and I think that's practical. Let's say CitiGroup is bankrupt, you can let them fail, but that means you'll have to pay out all the FDIC insurance on deposits up to $250,000, that's gotta be expensive. Or you can buy their bad assets, and take shareholder stake in their company, also expensive. Or Nationalization, still not completely sure what this means, something about firing the board of directors, getting rid of the shareholders, and taking the assets into a government trust untill they fix the accounting and find out how much the bank is actually worth. Then they sell it back to the private market. I'm still reading this Stiglitz article about Nationalization

Employee Free Choice Act is Awesome...
We definitely would be a stronger nation with this.

One More... The GOP strategy must be broader than this Make the Democrats less popular... How about fixing your own party sometime too.

Oh, and can I get a Hell Yea for National Healthcare?

02/19/2009 10:52 #47807

Marshawn Smokes too
Category: legalization
Marshawn Lynch got caught in California with some marijuana blunts in the car. And he's one of the Buffalo Bills best players. Michael Phelps can smoke the weed and win 14 gold medals at the Olympics. They're both outstanding athletes. I bet they'll be homeless losers, in rehab, with lung cancer any day now.

Here's the news story



I'm curious to hear your opinions on this. Do you care?


I actually don't think our drug policies are very effective. I don't think the threat of prison will reduce the demand for drugs much. Especially for those under 21 who usually find it easier to get pot than alcohol. I think Treatment and honesty are a better route.

Interesting fact, we have reduced the demand for cigarettes significantly over the years without ever making them illegal.

I also find it interesting that California jails are at double capacity, how many are non-violent drug offenders? Wouldn't it be more cost effective to fund some treatment programs instead?

And what about the Drug War, how much money are we spending on that? And what has it caused? I know there is more violence in Mexico now.

I also think that the black market for drugs is one of the main reasons for violence on our streets. If somebody steals $1000 in drugs from you, you can't call the cops, you have to go vigilante style and take it into your own hands.

I also think the Only reason pot can be called a 'gateway drug' is because you get it from a drug dealer, they probably have other illegal products too. But if you got it from a gas station or a head shop you wouldn't have any access to the harder drugs.

Some people make their money with casinos, or strip clubs, or selling cigarettes, or porn, I'd be embarrassed if that was my profession, but what's so different about a store that sells weed?

I wonder if we'll have to rethink our policies because of the budget problems.


joshua - 03/06/09 11:39
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.
dcoffee - 03/06/09 10:34
Turns out Marshawn got charged for the gun in the car. 3 years probation
:::link:::
james - 02/20/09 15:49
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.
dcoffee - 02/20/09 15:13
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.
metalpeter - 02/19/09 19:28
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.
james - 02/19/09 19:26
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.
drew - 02/19/09 13:24
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.
jbeatty - 02/19/09 11:52
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.

03/08/2009 13:19 #47985

Wondering about the Republicans
Category: politics
I pride myself on being able to see things from another person's point of view. Understanding Republicans or Libertarians, or WTO protesters, or Jehovah Witnesses, or other countries, or people who resort to violence, at one point I even tried to understand Limbaugh's perspective...

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" David Frum, says the party should fight for independent voters minorities and women, instead of worrying about Rush Limbaugh and his audience of True Believers.

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. If he ran today, he'd have Grover Norquist and Karl Rove chasing him out of the country and calling him an anti-American Socialist, who would bring an end to America as we know it.

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.

03/05/2009 17:56 #47964

Healthcare, Now ~~~
Category: healthcare
Hey everyone, my mind has been racing about so many things, I haven't been writing because there's just too much stuff, it would take hours. Business has been picking up for me, that's good, but it means I've been short on hours lately.

image

Here's some new links:
Physicians for a National Healthcare Plan .
Businesses are getting behind it too.
National Coalition on Healthcare
New America Foundation
Center For American Progress

Healthcare....

This is so important to me. I'm tired of superficial debate on this life and death problem.

This is a big issue, I don't know where to begin.

Health Insurance Companies are the problem. It's just a sick and twisted way to make money.

What do Health Insurance companies do? They take your money, and they repay you by trying as hard as possible to deny you treatment. Even if you have Health Insurance they're not going to cover everything you need. Got examples anyone? I think we all do.

They NEVER SEE THE PATIENT. but they know what you need? Sure. all they care about is profit, I doubt they care if you die, except that it cuts off the money you payed them when you were living.

What a waste of money. We spend more per person than any other nation on earth, and we have little to show for it. You know why? because it goes to pay assholes with telephones an computers who try as hard as they can to make excuses for refusing to pay for treatment. I like statistics, One third of our healthcare costs goes to this waste

The most amazing argument I hear against universal healthcare is that "patients don't want a government bureaucrat standing between them and their doctor telling them what to do" oh yea? how bout a for profit insurance company bureaucrat in the private sector who's trying to milk you for every dime? We have hardly any choice about our private insurance anymore, it's more like gambling than trying to find a good product. I'd prefer the government, if only for the fact that I get to elect those assholes, and there's a chance they will actually care what I want. Freedom of choice is a joke. A simpler system would save us all a lot of money overall, and give us more choice about the things that matter.

What choices do you want as a patient? Probably all you want, is to choose your doctor, consent to your own treatments, and get professional medical advice when you need it. Insurance companies do none of these things, they just interfere and make life difficult for both doctors and patients.

Sorry Blue Cross Blue Shield, you serve no good purpose. I want single payer national care.

Does anyone really think that health insurance middlemen make our system better? They don't keep costs down, they push them up by their very existence.

I think doctors and scientists are some of the hardest working, most motivated people you will ever meet, and they are the ones closest to the patients, that care honestly about your well being. Is there a doctor out there that thinks health insurance companies are useful? I really doubt it.

I want some kind of "socialized" medicine, I don't know what people are afraid of. We need a simpler more efficient system like Single Payer National Healthcare. It's really in our self interest as individuals and as a nation.

The employer based system is dead. The reason is simple, it's because our companies are no longer the most powerful and profitable in the world. The system started around the time of unions and WWII. Companies realized it would be cheaper to give health benefits than to increase wages so workers could pay healthcare costs themselves. So we pawned off the cost on them for decades. Now, money is tight for most businesses, and international companies are competitive with US companies, the employer based system will not work, get rid of it.


The cost of providing benefits is killing our companies (GM?). The best thing we could do for our economy is take this burden off their backs, the government could provide it far cheaper than our current patchwork system ever could. It's a simple equation, if you insure the biggest pool of people you save money because the risk and the cost are distributed widely. Plus all the paperwork you save by having a sensible system, without all the middlemen trying to make a profit.

Some things the government just does better. Healthcare is one of them. Because they could simply cover everyone.


If you are reading this,
then I know you care, Call your congress people and state reps. You can find out who they are and get their contact info by looking under my 'FavLinks' on the right.

Physicians for a National Health System
Check them out for great info.

PS is any of this controversial? besides the profanity, it seems like common sense. I don't understand how politicians could oppose such a thing.



joshua - 03/06/09 11:24
Nah, I enjoyed it. If you wrote it any other way I'd be disappointed!
dcoffee - 03/06/09 09:03
wow, sounds like I wrote this thing in a fury of rage, I should tone it down or something. I guess it's my fault for writing in such a hurry.

02/16/2009 16:12 #47763

Ideological Blockage
Category: politics
image

It's obvious at this point, the Republican Party is in permanent campaign mode, still. Their primary concern is regaining power and making the Democrats look bad. They are most concerned about elections, about their own political future, not about doing what they honestly think is best for the country.

Case in Point, Arlen Specter, Republican Senator who listened to his conscience and actually voted for the bill. Arlen believes that some of his Republican colleges are glad the bill passed "without their fingerprints on it". From an interview after the vote, "My Republican colleague said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' I said, 'Are you going to vote with me?' And he said, 'No, I might have a primary....'" (translation, he might offend the Limbaugh's of the world, and they'll try to smear him in the Primary election) you can listen to the actual audio there too. (Another Example: Dancing about obstruction. ) there's plenty of examples.


I think we can take it as a fact, the top concern of at least SOME Republicans is reelection, and their internal calculations told them voting against the bill would work out better for them. (others may just have nonsensical thought patterns :) which allowed them to believe their convoluted arguments against it, like spending doesn't stimulate the economy, and the New Deal didn't work. Sorry, but you have to wonder) anyway

If your top concern is reelection, or the survival of your party... Governing, and serving your constituents, becomes your second priority, along with everything else.

How can Obama beat the math and bring the change to Washington that he promised?

First you get the public on your side, then the politicians follow. Work from the bottom up, outside of Washington. If Congress is worried about reelection, go straight to the people who elect them.

I think Obama's press conference, and his town hall meetings were very effective. And the underlying reason is that he looks like he is fighting for the public, meanwhile congress looked like it was fighting amongst itself.

The reason for Obama's 70%-80% approval rating is his working class hero image, and his promise to bring the public into the government.

Obama left Washington, and met with people at his town hall events. He heard our concerns, and he basically promised solutions. Manwhile back in Washington, the Democrats followed his lead, to make sure those promises were kept.

I watched Obama on TV, and I called my Congressman. I wanted more School funding and state aid, but with a pre-condition of strict oversight, because I know state governments are corrupt too. I wanted the housing tax credit provision eliminated, or focused on less expensive homes so it would be useful to my neighbors who don't make $150,000 per year, and whose homes sell for $70,000. Not sure if my voice mad it to negations (Higgins was there) but my concerns were addressed.

The point is, People hear Obama speak, and they agree, then they call their congressman. That's how you get the job done. Bring the heat from the street.

The Irony, Obama is kind of a Washington outsider with a bold list of changes. As president, he is the leader in Washington. But Washington has stubborn traditions, that don't die easily. He seems to do well when he's fighting from the outside.

Symptom: Ideological Blockage
Solution: Leave Washington
dcoffee - 02/17/09 21:21
Vincent, I don't expect the market to get optimistic real soon. Actually, if the financial powers weren't feeling the pinch, I don't think we'd be changing anything. If those in power were insulated from the tragedy, they'd be free to do nothing.

Jason, you definitely help me improve my understanding. I love it. When I wrote, I did qualify my comments, by saying that SOME Republicans are most concerned about winning elections, and less concerned about doing what's best. And my resentment is focused at the Republican Party, not so much individual republicans. I know some have been fiscal conservatives all along, even through the big spending Bush years (though many voted with him). And I know that people can disagree, and still work together, IF! they don't have a hidden agenda. Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, Libertarians, they can negotiate in good faith and agree. Happens all the time. Something about Washington makes that more difficult.

And I agree with you, Congress should have had at least 48 hours to look at the conference report, especially after it was unanimously agreed to in the house. I should have had 48 hours to look at it and bug my representatives. In fact I emailed Schumer and told him so at about 10:30 the day of the vote. I also want simpler bills in congress, less riders.

PS I voted for Chris Collins.

jason - 02/17/09 09:17
I have a question - what makes you think that only the Republicans that voted for the bill voted with their conscience? That means there is only one "conscionable" decision to make, which is for me the definition of ideological orthodoxy.

If I were them I'd have a little piss and vinegar in me too. I don't get to shape the bill, I don't get any hand in it whatsoever, I don't get to even read it, and yet I'm an asshole for raising a stink about things or voting against the dog shit bill? No! What they're being told is, Fuck You, vote for the bill anyway or you're being partisan. There is no logic in that whatsoever.

I'm not even against the Democrats strong arming a bill through. They earned that right, but what they want on top of that is to claim that, again, they aren't doing what they're actually doing. They want to act like hard asses and yet not be portrayed as hard asses, which is easy when you have fanboys like Frank Rich.

And NONE of this is Obama's fault, really, he's trying as much as he is capable, I know he is but he simply can't control the animals in Congress. I will give Obama credit that he did at least reach out a little bit. He comes out of this smelling like roses.

The thing that makes the Republicans look really bad, and you've touched on this already, is the perception that they are offering no alternative, the "party of no" like the Democrats used to be. But if your starting position in a negotiation (where there is actual give and take) is that you aren't going to listen to the person across from you, the negotiation is sort of a sham.

Lastly, here's the thing that really kills me - the idea that people who don't share values with, and would never vote for or support a Republican Party candidate expressing outrage that said Republicans didn't vote their way. I don't believe any Democrat when they smile and tell me Arlen Specter's a good man because that Democrat is going to turn right around and work as hard as they can to get a real liberal elected in his place, the instant they get the opportunity. I guess I don't see the outrage or the praise as authentic, but I could be wrong.
vincent - 02/17/09 09:01
Well it looks like the markets are tanking on the very day that he is signing it into law. What does that say about the market's confidence???

dcoffee - 02/16/09 17:52
Frank Rich Summs it up :::link::: "The G.O.P. doesn’t recognize that it emerged from the stimulus battle even worse off than when it started. That obliviousness gives the president the opening to win more ambitious policy victories than last week’s. Having checked the box on attempted bipartisanship, Obama can now move in for the kill... This G.O.P., a largely white Southern male party with talking points instead of ideas and talking heads instead of leaders, is not unlike those “zombie banks” that we’re being asked to bail out. It is in too much denial to acknowledge its own insolvency and toxic assets."