Solving the Global Financial Crisis, One Joint at a Time

When the economy is trouble, you need to find a way to make jobs. The best way to make jobs is with government spending - The government has money, that money goes to others and they create jobs and stimulate economic growth.

But while the Republican approach to the economy is misguided at best (and at worst, mildly retarded) they do have one points: It is a scary and dangerous thing to spend a lot of money that you do not have. The Republican alternative, cutting taxes, is a considerably worse idea. But at least they are right that when the government starts spending money they do not have, dangerous things can occur.

So what can they do? The government needs to spend money, but they need to spend money that they have, and they don't have any money. So what are their options?

1) Spend money anyway, take the risk.
2) Don't spend money, take an even bigger risk.
3) Give tax cuts, economy fails, Armageddon comes.
4) Find ways for the government to raise money without raising taxes, and then spending that money.

Clearly number 4 would be best. The Republicans are not fond of the government trying to raise money, but let's face it - if they could find an industry with no competitors that would not push American companies out of business, that would be a great way to make money.

The thing is, that industry already exists, and if it were run by the government it would solve numerous problems at once while earning the government billions of dollars. That industry is the production and sale of marijuana.

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Let's be clear: Despite my extreme dislike of most drug laws, I have never once tried, tasted or held Marijuana. This is not the rantings of an individual that wants to make it easier to smoke his next bowl.

But with all of the studies that have been out and all of the sociological research that has gone into marijuana use, if you still think it is a "gateway drug" or even a dangerous drug at all, you are clearly out of your mind. There is pretty much 0 research that claims marijuana use in moderation is dangerous, with the exception of smoking it because of the fumes you receive from the paper and burnt leaves. It has over a dozen benefits and no real side effects, not including an irrational affection for Phish.

In addition, there are numerous problems that arise from it being an illegal substance. It can help support gangs. It can pay for illegal activities. It can be grown and kept in dangerous ways. In reality, the production and sale of marijuana are where most of the dangers arise, as are the perceptions of it being illicit.

The American government should take control of marijuana sales and distribution. It should open research and production plants to grow safe and powerful Marijuana. It should open stores to sell it across the nation. And all of the profits - all of them - should go into the government solely to support government programs. In other words, what they make they spend on infrastructure and other job creating programs.

What can this do?

1) It is estimated that 25,000,000 people in the United States use Marijuana each year. A single gram of marijuana costs an average of 10.00. That means that if only 1 gram of Marijuana was purchased per year, it would generate 250,000,000 in income. It would not be unheard of for the average person to spend ~$1000 on marijuana each year, garnering 25 billion dollars for the government. And that assumes that more people do not start using it when it is legal.

25 billion dollars may not seem like a lot, especially when compared to a 750 billion dollar stimulus bill, but 25 billion in pure profit that can go straight to investments and job creation every year is a lot of money.

2) Thousands of jobs will be created by the government when they have to pay people to grow, distribute and sell the Marijuana.

3) It will stop the illegal selling of marijuana on the street.

4) Etc., etc., etc.

It creates jobs, it makes the streets safer, it gives the government money to spend on projects that will promote greater job creation - there really is no excuse not to legalize marijuana, and regulating it by the government can help stimulate the economy. Am I wrong?

Tax Cuts for Democrats

Tax cuts are a stupid idea. And John Boner [sic] is an idiot for the reasons he suggests them. But for the sake of discussion, I was considering what kind of tax cuts I would want if I could only choose one. The two choices are:

1) Tax cuts for businesses
2) Tax cuts for individuals

With the current economic crisis, tax cuts for businesses seems like it would make some sense. The more money a business has, the more people they can hire. The problem is that no one is currently spending money. Will that change if more people are hired? Or will the businesses just keep the money for themselves to make up for money they have lost with the bad economy (meaning it neither gets spent nor promotes job growth)?

Individual tax cuts put money directly into the pocket of individuals. The idea will be that they will spend it, stimulate the economy and create jobs. The question here is whether or not they will spend it. I, for one, know that any money I get is going to pay some taxes I owe (self employment is a bitch). I know other people are just going to save the money or pay back their credit cards. Not exactly the boost the economy is looking for.

So each has their pluses and minuses. If I could only choose one, I'd probably choose tax cuts for businesses - and only small businesses, to prevent corporate hording. At least if businesses are making more of a profit again, there is a chance it will boost consumer confidence and spending will once again increase (which will generate jobs). I don't think either is a particularly good plan, but if tax cuts are necessary, small business tax cuts seem like the best option.

Educated Guess

One thing was very clear with this past election: Strictly negative, substance-less platforms are not the perfect political strategy - and may be on there way to a loud, obnoxious and well deserved death.

Rove politics are not dead, but they are severely damaged. They have shown a weak link - and that link is that when the candidate can generate positive news coverage about himself, people tend to ignore - and possibly even respond to - stupid, personal character attacks.

How bad was it this year?

There are a lot of different stats that can be explored, but the best is number is 52.

52% of all individuals that make over 250,000 dollars voted for Obama. They knew there taxes would be raised (the entire Republican platform) and they still voted for the Democrat.

When the Republicans cannot even grasp their own platform, their political style is gone. But interestingly, the far right - the people whose sole claim to fame is that they are generally voted in overwhelmingly by the uneducated racists that vote against their own interest - sees no problem with this strategy and are still spouting it constantly on Fox News.

Part of the reason for this is that the uneducated vote in the uneducated. So a lot of Republican politicians, particularly in the House of Representatives, are complete idiots. Obviously idiots are going to say stupid things. That idiot from Georgia who compared Obama to Hitler is a prime idiot example. What a colossal idiot.

But they are certainly not alone. There are a number of Governors, Senate members and other individuals that are not quite as dumb as those in the House and still using character slams to win their point. In fact, I'd say they represent over half of the Republican party.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

Republican political strategy may still be to demonize intelligence, but there are still intelligent people in the Republican party - people that do not care as much about social issues and simply believe that Republican tax policy is the best way to run the country. Whether these people represent 50%, 40% or 20% of the Republican party, there is no way they are going to be able to stand these moronic political tactics for much longer - especially if the Republicans keep losing elections.

And because of that, I predict that by the 2012 election, the Republicans may experience a huge split in their party if they do not change their philosophies. In fact, if they select another hard right candidate (Sarah Palin), I predict there is about a 50% chance the party splits in two, and some moderate Republican runs as an independent, taking all other moderates with them.

There is no way that intelligent Republicans, however many there may be, are going to be able to stand for these things any longer. Anyone that has... you know... thoughts... is going to have a difficult time believing that the best way to run the country is to make everyone hate everyone else.

When Republicans were winning, it was easy to ignore these tactics in the interest of getting things done. While I do not believe that McCain is a moderate, it is not hard for me to believe that he probably only enacted his character slams of Obama in order to win, and not because it was the right thing to do.

But they are no longer working, and if they are not working I cannot see any way that actual moderates are going to take it anymore, even if it means losing.

Discuss.