War on Drugs - epitome of big government waste

In “Say ‘no’ to pot” Wednesday, Bobby Traeger writes about the potential harmful effects of marijuana as though that alone is reason to keep it illegal. Well then why aren’t alcohol and tobacco illegal, after all they’re both harmful to health and addictive?

Alcohol was illegal in the 1919 to 1933 and look at what a debacle that was. Not only was there a dramatic rise in organized crime, violence and government corruption but Americans lost respect for law enforcement as well. We’re repeating the same process and losing once again.

The “War on Drugs” is nothing more than a big government money waster. Last month the Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that nearly half of all its prisoners were being held for drug convictions. If you believe in small government eliminating the “War on Drugs” should be one of your biggest priorities due to the obscene cost in time and resources for police, prosecution and prisons.

If you’re interested in keeping teens healthy and safe take a lesson from how alcohol and tobacco are regulated and the success of education about the dangers of tobacco. We have successful models to use; let’s stop the insanity of repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

American Taliban Strikes Again

Once again the American Taliban has struck a blow against our Constitution’s protection of religious freedom by promoting the National Day of Prayer on Thursday.

The right frequently makes the claim that if something isn’t specifically stated in the Constitution our federal government shouldn’t be involved in it, yet when it comes to religion and prayer they say just the opposite. The Constitution of the United States makes only two references to religion and both are in the negative. In Article VI it says “…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” In the First Amendment it says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;…”

No where in our Constitution does it say that this is a “Christian” nation as theocratic extremists repeatedly assert. No where in our Constitution or its history is there any evidence that it is based on any of the several versions of the Christian bible.

As Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State reminds us “Americans don’t need to be told when or whether to pray”. Sadly Mayor Castro refused to sign a proclamation urging citizens of San Antonio to celebrate the First Amendment. It is time our elected officials stop pandering to those who would impose an unconstitutional theocracy on the citizens of this great nation and do away with the “National Day of Prayer”.

End to big government boondoggle known as the "war on drugs"

Senator Wentworth’s April 19 Viewpoint goes into some detail on the damage that drug cartels are doing to Texas. He fails to mention the even greater damage the overall “war on drugs” is doing to our society and that of our neighbors in Mexico where there were over 3,000 murders in Juarez alone in 2010.

At last weeks Summit of the Americas in Cartegena, Latin American leaders discussed reform and regulation to replace prohibition, even Canadian Prime Minister Harper conceded at a press conference that the drug war is “not working”.

A wider variety of more powerful drugs is more widely available at lower prices to younger people than they were prior to the “war on drugs”. Any criminologist will tell you that the point of outlawing something is to make it so expensive and so difficult to obtain that people just don’t do it. Based on that criteria; the “war on drugs” is a failure.

The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population while nearly one third of them are there over drug offenses. The cost to arrest, prosecute, incarcerate and probate these “crimes” is staggering.

It is time we recognized that the “war on drugs” is the same kind of counter-productive failure as Prohibition was in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Televangelist Pat Robertson and Congressman Ron Paul both believe that this big government boondoggle should end and so should anyone who believes their tax dollars should be wisely spent.

Liberal isn't a dirty word or insult, it's a badge of honor

What have liberals ever done that conservatives like Dale Wehrle find so offensive? Liberals passed the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. You do like clean water to drink don’t you? Clean air is really nice too.
Liberals made sure that African Americans have the right to vote, passed the Civil Rights Act and ended segregation. Liberals passed the 19th amendment insuring that today’s women have the right to vote.

Liberals created Medicare and complain as you will it is far better than private insurance would be for those 65 and older because insurance companies would either reject seniors outright or charge unaffordable rates because they’re just in it for the profit.

Conservatives voted against all those things.

ACLU stands for American Civil Liberties Union and it isn’t a liberal organization at least not in the way Wehrle seems to think; if it were they would never have supported neo-Nazis’ First Amendment right to demonstrate in Skokie, Ill. or Lt. Colonel Oliver North when his fifth amendment right not to incriminate himself was violated.
The ACLU is “the” organization to turn to when your civil rights are violated. You know, the first ten amendments also known as “The Bill of Rights.”

If you’re offended by liberals and our accomplishments that’s your right under the Constitution, as for me I proudly wear the label “Liberal.” I’m also proud to have been a card carrying member of the ACLU.

LTE on Sen. Inhofe using the bible to pretend that global climate change is a hoax

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) in a recent interview about his new book claimed that the bible says man can’t change the weather and therefore the notion of global climate change is a hoax. Inhofe maintained that only God can change the climate and for us to believe that our actions can alter the seasons is pure “arrogance.” He said: “…The Genesis 8:22 [verse] that I use in there is that ‘as long as the earth remains there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.”

I’m stunned, farmers and ranchers all over Texas have noticed for years that our weather is less predictable and rain doesn’t come at the usual time of year so crops are producing less than they used to. Our oceans are rapidly acidifying and the plant life it used to support is dying off leaving less food for other sea life, so fishing boats are less productive than ever before.

Inhofe continues “The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.” No climate scientist has ever claimed that we’ll stop having summer and winter. All they’re saying is that we’ll get more violent storms, more and deeper droughts in some areas as well as more and heavier rains in others.

If anyone is arrogant it’s Inhofe and those who cherry pick bible passages to support anti-science positions.

Wiggins controversy and opportunity to discuss the ineffectiveness of prohibition

Much has been said here about Mike Wiggins and whether or not he should resign his position as County Judge. Situations like this are often called teachable moments, we should all take a step back and look at the larger issue of whether or not marijuana should be legalized.

Marijuana has been used for 4,000 years, nearly as long as alcohol. Alcohol is 10 times more likely than marijuana to be a factor in an auto accident. Marijuana is addictive to 9% of users as compared to alcohol at 15% and tobacco at 32% so you can’t say it should be prohibited for health and safety.

Recreational use in the US wasn’t widespread until after it prohibited in 1937. Today almost any high school student will tell you they could get it if they wanted it so you can’t say prohibition is protecting our children.

The US wastes $15 billion per year on the “War on Drugs” without reducing availability or demand for marijuana making it the poster child for ineffective government programs. It’s time we regulate it and tax it like the other recreational drugs; alcohol and tobacco.

Albert Einstein once said “…nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.” While it’s past time to legalize marijuana as long as it is illegal as an elected official Mike Wiggins should resign otherwise he reinforces disrespect for government and the law of the land.

Health insurance isn't a gift from employers, it's part of an employee's pay

Bob Shearer’s letter “President Obama has violated his oath of office” claims as others who oppose the President that businesses run by religious institutions shouldn’t have to abide by the same rules as everyone else. Shearer seems to think that health insurance provided by employers is some kind of gift when in fact it is a part of the employee’s compensation package.

The reality is that it’s the employee’s work that’s being compensated and the employer is simply a conduit for insurance premiums. The only reason we even have this convoluted system is that for profit insurance companies offer lower rates to larger pools of customers so it’s to the employee’s financial advantage to participate in the employer’s insurance program rather than buy individual coverage at a higher price.

There are two alternatives to this convoluted mess that would resolve Shearer’s concerns if he really wanted to “protect” employers from paying for medical care they found morally objectionable. Option 1 is to do what many advanced countries around the world do and offer single payer government sponsored program. Option 2 is simply require for profit companies to offer the same rates to everyone in a community so that they can’t cherry pick the healthiest people and leave the sickest with the highest bills.