Writing in The Huffington Post, Reason.tv Editor Nick Gillespie and Reason Editor Matt Welch make the case that Prop. 19 is "the single-most important issue that will be decided on November 2." Excerpt: If Prop. 19 passes, it will force, at long bloody last, an honest reconsideration of failed prohibitionist policies throughout the United States. In fact, given the drug war's influence on our foreign policy in Latin America and central Asia, Prop. 19's reverberations would even be felt far outside our borders. [...] The $50 billion in direct costs of drug prohibition at all levels of government doesn't begin to capture the costs in social disruption, crime from black markets, foregone tax revenue, and more. The 858,000 mar1juana-related arrests made each year -- many involving minors, non-violent offenders, and those possessing insignificant amounts -- accounts for more than half of all drug-related arrests and takes a huge toll on the criminal justice system and lower-income communities at every level. No one seriously questions that the drug war disproportionately impacts minorities and that most "drug-related" crime is in fact a result of the black market status of drugs. Mexican drug gangs may be violent but there is no reason to believe that Mexican mar1juana merchants would be any more violent than Mexican mango merchants. [...] And because the young voters most passionate about legalization skew heavily Democratic (despite professional Democrats being reliably awful on the issue -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein leads the No-on-19 campaign), it is conceivable that Jerry Brown will be re-elected California governor because of the turnout Prop. 19 generates. That lesson will be on the minds not only of Democrats desperate to gin up any enthusiasm, but also pro-legalization Republicans eyeing the 2012 nomination, including Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. [...] It may start in California, but the legalization of mar1juana will also mean that schoolkids in Oklahoma won't have to pee in a bottle in order to be on quiz bowl teams and online vendors of bongs won't be prosecuted in Western Pennsylvania and medical mar1juana patients in Florida will be able to concentrate on their cancer rather than their legal defense. It means covert farmers in Kentucky and Texas and Washington who generate billions of dollars worth of crops will fully enter the economy. It means that federal and state prisons all over the country will have room for violent prisoners. It means that cops will be deprived of their favorite means for shaking down "suspicious" low-income minorities, and it means that all Americans, even those who never use mar1juana, will be more free.
I hear ya, and I imagine that an urban city like NYC lends itself more to the mindset you're talking about than a suburban city like Houston.
yup of course they don't want federal govt help. What they really want is for the Federal govt to just stop taking.
I don't think those two ever had a chance.. Don't know about Marco Rubio but I listened to him speak a few times on Fox, CNN or whatever it was and listened to parts of his victory speech. He seems like a breath of fresh air. Again I'll have to do some research on this guy. ONly thing I didnt like was his super religious side during his victory speech. But hey if thats his thing that's cool as long as he's not going to impose his religious views on the rest of us which I dont think he will.
the people they kept off the ballot did. (possibly some of that 'untraceable' money came from smart democrats? ).
until they need it. but that's another issue. its so funny, people keep saying they want the government out of their lives and yet at the same time they want obama to fix the economy
If you want an explanation for yesterday's results, you don't have to look much farther than this. The other major factor was Democrats not being able to pass a larger stimulus package to knock down unemployment another couple of percentage points.
I think these last two elections (2008 and 2010) have perfectly demonstrated the absolutely r****ded nature of US politics.
Ugh, what an ugly day to wake up to politically. Strangely, I'm in a state of schadenfreude for the Democrats' losses in the House. The reason they lost was because of bickering and divisions amongst their own ranks. They wasted two years, and underestimated the dark, ugly side of America that lurks beneath the surface. The one that lives in a state of fear, ignorance, hatred. The much needed reforms in health care, infrastructure, and finance will be shut out in a political gridlock. The GOP will blame the Democrats for controlling the Senate so by 2012 we'll have a GOP president, GOP House, and GOP Senate. 2000-2008 all over again This election has left me very jaded..
Well, kind of. More of a "Meet the new boss. You just fired him and hired this other guy, but now you don't think the new guy is doing well either, and we only have these two incompetent bozos to choose from, so..."
this is great news. No matter how many millions they waste on investigating if Obama stole office supplies from a non-profit it chicago, it will be great for the USA because they will be to busy to screw up the country. See the late 90's. I think dem president and gop house is perfect combo. Break out the veto pen 'bama! Let the country fix itself
You forgot to bold this part... The unemployment rate that’s hovered at or above 9.5 percent for 14 months is crowding out any positive news, said Bruce Oppenheimer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Almost every family has a close member effected. Even people with jobs are afraid for themselves of someone close. And people without a job don't care about the stock market or tax cuts for the middle class which they are no longer a part of. Dems need to wake up. The problem is they think all is well and that they have some numbers to prove it. Meanwhile, they try to hide the most important number (9.5) under the rug and ignore that lump instead of addressing it. Blame who you want but Dems had control of all 3 areas over the past 2 years. It hasn't gotten better. They still control 2 areas. Lets see if they wake up for the next 2.
Right, which is pretty much the cycle of modern american politics. I've busted out your sig in conversation a couple of times recently.
I addressed that in my comment before the article. No doubt, the unemployment rate played a huge role in the election results. But if the electorate wasn't so massively misinformed, the Democrats would have still lost seats, but not on this scale.
