What can Minnesota's political leaders do to avoid another budget mess in the future?
Posted at 5:00 AM on July 20, 2011
by Jon Gordon
(57 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics/Government
The Minnesota Legislature worked through the night and into the morning to pass budget bills that would finally end the shutdown of state government. Today's Question: What can Minnesota's political leaders do to avoid another budget mess in the future?
Comments (57)
1st. Any legislator who signs a pledge like Norquist's, is brought up on charges for selling their seats, like Blagojevich.
2nd. Candidates should know that after they are elected, they must make the shift to representing everyone and no just their party.
3rd. Day 1 of the next shutdown results in no pay or benefits to lawmakers, with no backpay when it is settled.
For starters, they can have public radio that doesn't respond to the end of the shutdown by hosting a debate between two partisans who agree with each other. Would it have been useful to include a legislator who doesn't think borrowing money from the public schools is the same thing as balancing the budget? That might have actually been interesting, as opposed to the worthless bluster that was the first hour of Midday today. It was a pretty sad day for MPR. In fact, I'd say it was shameful. I'm seriously reconsidering my monthly contribution.
If you didn't notice, this was actually kind of a big deal, MPR. It was actually kind of important to Minnesotans. We deserved better discussion than what you gave us.
Just visiting but I find it interesting that both Wisconsin and Minnesota the center for Socialism are having budget problems even with the tax base you have My propert taxes in Colorado are at least 70% lower then my friends here in Minnesota. But it is a great place for free-loaders to live. Offer the best welfare program and they will come. Wyoming offers little or nothing and they do not come and they are not about to change it.
bill
I say they should take a good close look at the recommendations made by the recent Carlson/Mondale task force. The people in that group are some skilled, experienced no-nonsense Minnesotans that have the best interests of this state in view on a long term basis.
The people who are hired to work for the government are advised that they are working for everyone in the state, and to enforce the rules impartially whether the people are jerks or geniuses. Those who are elected to work for the government should hold themselves to that standard and realize they represent the jerks who didn't vote for them as well as the geniuses who did. When trying to represent their constituents "some of this and some of that" probably represents them all more than "only this and never that."
We voters may do better to vote for people who will work with people, even those they disagree with, than to just vote for people who will represent their (who's) views no matter what.
Don't vote for anyone who refuses to negotiate and compromise. We don't need "kids who don't share toys" running our state.
Stop voting for people that would rather build a good business environment than build a good people environment. Business thrives in a good people environment but not necessarily the other way around.
Avoid the mess by solving the problem of the illusion of lack. Legalize recreational/medical marijuana and industrial hemp. The smart Minnesotans seem too happily brainwashed, wake up and lead the way my Midwestern friends!
First -- the budget "deal" must be ready before the legislative session begins - and no pay or per diem or expense reimbursement until the budget bills are passed. In this manner the legislators would know how much money they can spend.
Second -- if the legislators and the governor cannot agree on the budget and the normal session ends - they do not get pay or per diem or expenses.even if they are called back for a special sesson.
Third -- No party desigations once they start the session for legislators or governor etc. They are not paid by their parties. They are paid by the tax paying citizens of this state and they are responsible to the citizens of this state.
Fourth -- No loyalty oaths to the parties - this is a free country / state and the legislators and governors MUST represent the citizens - not their parties. Loyalty oats (writtten or verbal) should be illegal. And if this does continue and each legislator must be loyal to their party bosses - then we only need one person per party. This would reaaly lower the cost of our government.
Fifth -- No legislation / law can be passed without that legislation / law having something showing where the money to back this law will come from. If the legislator or governor cannot state where the money is to cover this, then it cannot become law. Remember the governor and letislators are responsible for spending our money. So MAKE them responsible - with their names up front.
Sixth -- the budget meetings between the governor and legislators are to be televised -- No editing by the news networks. This would speed up this process.
Both sides have to give. It's called compromise. But that will never happen if we continue to vote for those tea party candidates. Compromise is not in their vocabulary.
Kim,
It appears that half or more of the shutdown problems were from lack of state employees to process regulations and permits to business..that says tons about the too big government we really don't need.
uh.... you saying we don't need agencies and laws to regulate what companies and people can legally do inside our state?
Nobody wants a "nanny state", as fear-mongers like to term it, but I by nature people are greedy and sinister, and I would like to think that we have set in place by our taxes a system that can watch over us. Sometimes it may not be perfect, but it's damn sure better than without.
Leaders?
Problem is we did not have leaders.
Leaders understand the problem after careful looking and then look at all the options and pick the best.
Our Legislative branch dilly dallied with constitutional amendments, rather then ZERO in on the problems at hand with just LIVING!
Its like arguing about the proper name of a flower as the boat goes over a water fall with everyone on board.
We need rules and guidelines on ethics of conduct that MUST be followed. Ones that allow for clear logic, and less 'political' bending.
Clearly better understanding of Roberts Rule of Order is needed.
Also this is a issue of the people not paying attention to the details of the discussion, not hard to understand when considering both the way the Media covers and how the leaders conduct themselves.
Balance in discussion is needed, open access to information is mandatory, and better eduction about media manipulation.
We had a revolt in the election last fall from people who knew they just hated what was happening STILL and not know why. Now it seems after seeing the legislative branches election change was a mistake they are NOW paying attention.
We also need a recall option in Minnesota.
Lance,
Again there is critical thinking, or the lack of it, poking holes in gross generalized statements like what you just said. If you think about it, that over simplification does not tell the whole story.
Just the vastness of the American education system compared to someplace like Luxembourger makes an apples to apples comparison almost impossible. What we spend on busing students due to suburban sprawl and rural area probably equals many small countries total educational budget.
If you look at what we spend per pupil compared to GNP or per capita income, we are about right in the middle of all industrialized countries.
We need to think of education as and investment, and come up with statistics depicting ROI. That's a lot harder to do, but at least it would give some useful and factual information.
So please don't regurgitate political talking points to me and expect me or anyone else to buy it. That's how we all a can avoid a mess like we're in right now.
It appears that half or more of the shutdown problems were from lack of state employees to process regulations and permits to business..that says tons about the too big government we really don't need. As long as we don't educate ourselves to the candidates we will keep electing fools.
For example: As a great writer once said,
" Having just shed the shackles of monarchy, the Founding Fathers were loath to establish a government with an all-powerful chief executive. To prevent it, they created a government divided into three equal branches. Their idea was that each branch would check the other in order to limit government’s growth. But Congress has abdicated its responsibility, the Federal judiciary has become the oligarchy Thomas Jefferson warned about, and the result is we now have an imperial Presidency." No wonder small and large business say that they FEAR the President's control? America elected a President and MN elected a Governor , both having NO real executive business work experience and thus no clue.
It appears that half or more of the shutdown problems were from lack of state employees to process regulations and permits to business..that says tons about the too big government we really don't need. As long as we don't educate ourselves to the candidates we will keep electing fools.
For example: As a great writer once said,
" Having just shed the shackles of monarchy, the Founding Fathers were loath to establish a government with an all-powerful chief executive. To prevent it, they created a government divided into three equal branches. Their idea was that each branch would check the other in order to limit government’s growth. But Congress has abdicated its responsibility, the Federal judiciary has become the oligarchy Thomas Jefferson warned about, and the result is we now have an imperial Presidency." No wonder small and large business say that they FEAR the President's control?
Try some real honesty in the accounting.
All of this talk about how if government were a family at the kitchen table doesn't fly when the proposed solution to hard times is raiding the kids college funds and proposing to not pay the mortgage for a few years.
These sorts of accounting tricks wouldn't fly in a corporate scenario. They shouldn't be allowed to happen in government either.
David, the U.S. spends more on education per capita than any other country except Luxembourg, and our results do not reflect that. Additional education funding is not the answer.
We do have far too many governmental programs doing things that should remain in the private sector. Spending needs to be reduced to reasonable levels. The tax base needs to be expanded so we all share in the pain of Minnesota's high taxes.
Minnesota leaders need to consult with leaders in other states. Some states don't even have a state income tax.Minnesota could learn from other states.If you tax the rich, there can be a "brain drain" in which the best professionals choose to live in other states or they can just pass the cost of higher taxes to the rest of us. Lawyers and orthodonists can raise their prices.Also, my experience has shown me that schools with more money aren't always better schools.I have heard some reporting on this, but MPR doesn't seem to be strong in this area.It could be a union bias. We all need to be better informed if we are going to improve government..
America is based on the short term I think. Sad as that may be. The founding fathers really did try to come up with a long term plan, as not to be bogus, but capitalism really seems to be based on the short term. I used to work for a large American financial institution based here in Minneapolis. The short term thinking, not to mention the cronyism, the backstabbing, an false moral facade the company put on gave me such a disdain for corporate america I left and will never look back. No one ever gave any thought to anything past the next quarter. If this is what the GOPers are fighting so hard for, they can have it. The waste in that company is the same as any waste in our government systems. Probably worse. Privatizing and outsourcing won't solve anything. It'll just shift the waste along. The same people calling for outsourcing government functions are the same people who award no-bid contracts to companies like Halliburton and their others cronies' companies. The outsourcers' just raise their prices as high as their captive customer can bear, then they raise it a little more.
Instead we take from the schools, but of coarse that makes sense. If we had good schools then children would grow up with the ability to think critically. If people thought critically they wouldn't buy the teaparty/GOP/right wing bullshit, not for one second. Instead they worry about non-issues, like guns, fetuses, and who marries who. Very few even want to try to understand the economy. It's to hard and Americans are not that bright.
There is something to low taxes being good for the economy, but we all can agree that spending money is the best thing for the economy. We've all seen that when the government builds a bridge or a school, real Americans build it. I build it. I get a paycheck and go out and buy some stuff, which gives someone else a job, and they go out and buy some stuff, etc,etc etc. When we instead bail out the banks and other financial institutions, my 401K might not loose as much as it could have, but that's about the extent of it. By the time I see any of that money it'll be worth a few cents on the dollar compared to it's value today. I have to wait for that money to trickle down to me. These short term ideals today might not raise my income tax, but the weakened state of the dollar is a tax too.
The great state of Colorado has loosened the Cannabis laws and the sky did NOT fall .. Instead ,,the Governor has a new source of tax and registration fees , that has been a huge help to the state to bring the budget short fall under control .. I also think that Industrial cannabis will create 10s of 1,000s of JOBS and 1,000s of uses of the close cousin to medical cannabis that has low intoxicating value.. It can be used for Bio fuel,,Bio mass, fiber ,,food and even raw materials for car building as well as Residential and commercial low carbon impact building materials ..Like HEMPCRETE..framing lumber .flooring,,insulation and 1,000 of other uses.. Henry Ford had a hemp car in 1943.. now Canada has a hemp car to be available next year to the world.. Get on board and let Cannabis be the magical solution to the states growing need for workers and new taxes..China is building a hemp car also.. The U.S. is falling behind the car industry because of our Cannabis laws.. Allow Medical and industrial Cannabis and balance your budget.. Thank You Jeff Kabik ,,,Chairman of The United States Marijuana Party of Maryland..
"The whole concept of making people dependant on a government program so they have to vote for you has to stop."
Right. Much better to subject people to economic servitude under an oligarchic plutocracy.
STOP SPENDING!
Government is growing faster than the economy in both good times and bad.
The whole concept of making people dependant on a government program so they have to vote for you has to stop. TERM LIMITS.
@Jeremy
Jeff Spicoli: What Jefferson was saying was, Hey! You know, we left this England place 'cause it was like bogus; so if we don't get some cool rules ourselves – pronto! - we'll just be bogus too! Get it?
Fast Times at RHS:-)
∑
DTOM
1. The leaders should pass a law that says they do not get paid if they don't pass a budget. If they refuse, the voters should insist.
2. The people of the state should make sure that Tea Party candidates (or any other brand of dogmatic candidates on either side) are not elected in the future. Legislators who would rather see the state go under rather than compromise on one of their pet ideas should not be in office.
Though Chris overstates the case, there is a good point to be made. Americans have a long and unfortunate history (spanning many generations, not just the boomers) of short-term thinking and failing take into account the effects decisions today will have on people who will be born in the future. We are a greedy, self-centered, narcissistic people, and we keep electing politicians who pander to that. It used to be that this pandering took the form of promising overly generous social programs. Lately, it's "I wanna let you keep more of your money," which really means, "I wanna let you shirk your social responsibility by paying less in taxes." We, the people, need to grow up.
Abolish all political parties. The ballot can have only names, no I's, R's, D's, G's or any of that. And with the elimination of political parties, let's dispense with party conventions and nominees. Let's open the ballot to let anybody run who want's to. We will still have conservatives, liberals, libertarians, etc. But let's vote for people, not parties.
Which leads to...
Institute ranked choice, (or instant run-off), voting. This will insure that the winning candidate really does reflect the majority of the vote. I'm sorry but 51% is not a majority. Require the winning candidate get a Super Majority, say 75% of the votes.
Reform tax laws by eliminating the income tax and all it's attendant loopholes and other accounting shenanigans. Generate revenue with a consumption based tax.
We need some kind of election reform that makes it harder for hyper-partisan zealots to get elected. Rank-choice (aka instant runoff) voting would work. So would nonpartisan primaries, where all the candidates run against all the others, and the top two vote getters, even if they're from the same party, face each other in the general election. Anything that encourages candidates to appeal more to the center than the extremes would be better than what we have now.
@ Chris "What is the incentive to stay in this country let alone this state? Also, if you really think you are going to protect the rich, social security and medicare you are dreaming!"
You are welcome to leave the country at any time ... let's us know how well you do somewhere else.
Many of us baby boomers have paid into the system created by both Democrats and Republicans alike. I for one will not live long enough to even recover the principle.
As for taking care of my self, I see a far greater number of obese young people that 60 plus and BTW at 62 I can still run a sub 1 hour 10K. Can you?
You are make gross generalizations that frankly are unfair and not true.
Chris, we baby boomers are not the cause of your problems here. When we were born, they had to stack us in the hallways because there wasn't enough room in the nursery. When we entered school, we had 40 kids in our elementary schools because they forgot to build schools. In college, we stood in line for hours at the U of M because there was 54,000 of us going there. We still used the Quonset huts as classrooms, built during GI Bill years. In the 1980's our Payroll taxes were raised to pay for our Social Security benefits in the future. Don’t blame the Baby Boomers. Blame it on the Tea Party, and the No Tax Ever Pledges. The Baby Boomer generation is not your problem. The Rich are your problem. Income inequality is your problem. Wage stagnation is your problem. Outsourcing jobs is your problem Declaring corporations people is your problem. Cutting education funding is your problem. Finally, Right wing fanatics leading our country is all of our problem
Nothing can be done. Morons will always keep electing morons. But fortunately when these short sighted actions destroy the schools, infrastructure, ecology and ultimately the economy, and any reason to live here, those 7000 millionaires will still move away Then raising their taxes a smidgen won't be an issue. It'll be like living in the deep south, no industry, job job, crappy roads, horrid school, etc. But hey we'll have low taxes AND crappy winters!
I don't know how you can move anything forward when you are dealing with people who have all signed a petition to vote NO to everything the opposition tries to pass.
I feel the GOP has turned into a Cult and have forgotten why they have the job they have.
I hope none of them are voted back in in the future.
They are destroying our State of MN.
First to all you compromisers out there. We spend too much in this State already!.
We need our leaders to justify each expenditure. There are programs upon programs for everything from birth to death. These are unsustainable. Stop the madness. Encourage citizens to make responsible decisions in their own lives so the government doesn't have to rush in to rescue them at every turn.
We as citizens aren't innocent either. If we use a government service do we truly need it. Do we hold our elected officials accountable for waste? Do we question expenditures as necessary? Do we take care of our health so taxpayers don't have to subsidize our care?
They need to pass a law that will not let the state to shut down. BTW I will not vote for my state senator or representative again.
I think they may need to make an amendment to the constitution stating that no money shall be borrowed to balance the budget. Since they apparently found a loophole in the the amendment requiring them to have a balanced budget.
As a person my 20's I am really getting sick of having to pay all the bills from the generations before me! If I hear another person talk about how bad they feel for kids I am going to puke, actions speak louder than words.
25% unemployment for people under 25, higher and higher tuition ie student loan debt (state now funds 18% of the U), fighting 2 wars for YOU, paying for those wars (to China), paying for the debt of this country (14 Trillion and climbing), paying for medicare and Social security (get real), and for those of us who do have jobs, we have the lowest starting salary of any other generation before us. In addition to all of this we now have to pay the debt of our state.
What is the incentive to stay in this country let alone this state? Also, if you really think you are going to protect the rich, social security and medicare you are dreaming!
Dear babyboomers, when is it enough? Do you need the shirt off of my back too? Oh, what's that you lost value in the home that was too expensive for you, oh well here's a tax break paid for by cuts to higher ed... oh you need some help paying for your healthcare because you never took care of yourself, well we can pay for that, lets just cut research and development or borrow money from our biggest competitor China. Does that make you feel better? Of course not, what else do you need??
Would like all elected officials to be paid for performance. In this case, they have a very clear performance expectation - create and pass a budget by the end of the legislative session - that they did not meet. They should have all salary, per diems, etc. withheld until they perform their responsibilities.
If we are serious about making democracy work then we need to start at the beginning of the process. Election days should be official state holidays. This would enable more citizens to vote and avoid the oligarchy, government by the few, we now have. In ancient Athens on days when the assembly was in session, citizens found skipping their duty to vote were painted with a red pigment to advertise their nonparticipation. If we adopted this today, we truly would become a “red state.”
Be replaced.
Sorry if this repeats, I'm not sure if I hit the right button.
Politicians should not sign silly political pledges that serve as a lobotomy against real governance and decision making. These political pledges limit the representatives' ability to actually do what is right for the people of Minnesota.
Not sign silly political pledges which serve as a lobotomy and limits their ability to actually use their brain and govern and do what is right for all the people of Minnesota.
Adapt the Carlson/Mondale plan
First, enact legislation that allows state government to continue during negotiation (lights out bill) - this would prevent state shutdown during deliberations.
Second, provide that legislators that didn't complete their work by the end of the legislative session would not receive pay or per diem expenses. In the state of Oregon - I believe legislators that fail to pass a budget are subject to midemeanor penalties.
Third, start thinking about redoing the tax base. Expand the sales tax to more items and reduce the sales tax amount. Provide for a tax on purchases made on the internet. Allow liquor stores to open on Sunday.
Fourth, close tax loopholes and actively pursue tax cheats.
Amend the Constitution so that a budget cannot be balanced via spending and payment deferring. That would then leave that option off the table in future years, which it will need to be since this solution is going to cause a lot of pain two years from now.
I think members of the public believe that a "balanced budget" means money coming in needs to be the same or greater than money going out, unless of course money from the previous budget created a surplus and you do not need as much income in the next budget. So borrowing to balance just doesn't make sense.
Another option would be for the public to actually step up and recall their representatives if they so much as mention that they won't compromise.
The political leaders can't do it, because they're not the real leaders. The shots are being called by extremists in their bases-- especially the Republicans, but the Democrats too, to a lesser degree. It's up to voters. When politicians can get elected by promising not to compromise (e.g., by signing Grover Norquist's pledge), it shouldn't surprise us when they don't compromise. We, the people, have to stop voting for candidates who pander to the extremes.
This isn't over yet. Dayton don't fold, don't agree yet.
Reduce spending.... means cutting, eliminating programs; not just reducing the amount given to those programs until they are ineffective or inefficient.
Increase revenues... means more income; and since taxes are the are prime source, then produce a structure that will equalize the tax base. Yes, increase tax on the wealthy portion and decrease taxes on those with fixed incomes. Revamp the revenue principles and process.
How much did we save / spend with this shutdown?
The media should remind the public that precinct caucuses will be held on February 7th of 2012 and citizens should be encouraged to attend. People want good effective government but most people refuse to participate in the grass-roots efforts to select the candidates to represent them. By choosing to ignore this process, the public has noone to blame but themselves for having elected representatives that take non-compromising extremist positions.
1) Enact legislation that prevents a lawmaker to earn a salary during a shutdown. 2) In the event of a shutdown, law provides for a recall election. 3) IRV - and allow a few Independence Party members to offset "majority" and force legislators to do what's right...not what their party's ideology mandates. Look where that got us.
I hear that Mississippi is rather nice in the winter...
@ Mike
The thc guy must "wake and bake" with a cup of joe and a puff.
The time lag from the time previewed/posted and actually posted can be confusing and lead to uncertainty of whether or not the action has been completed. I'm sure another five or ten minutes often results in a wish for a delete button for double (I've even seen triple) postings.
As far as cannabis goes, it's the elephant in the room yet it's the also solution to the current economic and ecological crises. As the history of culture and cannabis is reviewed and considered, threads to our modern mess are exposed. There really needn't be any taxes in a society based on plenitude.
Competition and compromise can be much more co-operative and creative when the meanings "to petition together" and "to promise together".
Ezekiel 34:29 "And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the ignorant any more."
This group of legislators won't have to worry about it......voting them all out next time around......they showed a level of immaturity that hasn't been seen in many years. Sadly, we're seeing the same type of immaturity on the federal level as well.
Require that the budget be taken care of first by the legislature. No bills covering any other area can be considered until the budget is done, and no non-budgetary items can be connected to the budget bill.
Unless the legislators learn how to compromise and govern for the common good, it will be up to us voters to elect people who can.
It's simple,
Listen to each other and ALL their constituents.
Remember they are responsible for all.
And COMPROMISE!
Seriously if they had taken these simple steps they would have agreed to a budget long before anyone started talking about a government shut down.
Completely rewrite the tax codes so that each of us pays the same rate, broaden the tax base, eliminate most of the exemptions and deductions, strictly enforce tax law. The rate could be reduced. Same for business.
The thc guy (for some undetermined? reason) forgot he had posted his comment already.
Vote/speak for the re-legalization/decimalization of Cannabis/Hemp/Ganja/Marijuana, the world's most useful and versatile plant. We need never to have a shutdown again.
Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere! - George Washington, First U.S. President
We shall, by and by, want a world of hemp more for our own consumption. - John Adams, 2nd U.S. President
"The best hemp and the best tobacco grown on the same kind of soil. The former article is of first necessity to the commerce and marine, in other words to the wealth and protection of the country. The latter, never useful and sometimes pernicious, derives its estimation from caprice."
-Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President, Jefferson's journal entry / March 16, 1791
"Those who, while they disapprove of the character and measures of a government, yield to it their allegiance and support are undoubtedly its most conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious obstacles to reform."
Henry David Thoreau
Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded. - Abraham Lincoln
"However, the connection of hemp as a crop and marijuana seems to be exaggerated. The drug is usually produced from wild hemp or locoweed which can be found on vacant lots and along railroad tracks in every state. If federal regulations can be drawn to protect the public without preventing the legitimate culture of hemp, this new crop can add immeasurably to American agriculture and industry." - Popular Mechanics, 1938
Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?
- Henry Ford
“Marijuana never kicks down your door in the middle of the night. Marijuana never locks up sick and dying people, does not suppress medical research, does not peek in bedroom windows. Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.”—William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008)
The anti-marijuana campaign is a cancerous tissue of lies, undermining law enforcement, aggravating the drug problem, depriving the sick of needed help, and suckering well-intentioned conservatives and countless frightened parents. - William F. Buckley, 1983
Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marihuana in private for personal use... Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marihuana. - Jimmy Carter, U.S. President: Message to Congress, August 2, 1977.
"If adults want to take such chances (with marijuana) that is their business." -Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President
"I think that most small amounts of marijuana have been decriminalized in some places, and should be. We really need a re-examination of our entire policy on imprisonment...Our imprisonment policies are counterproductive." - Bill Clinton, 42nd U.S. President
After two years of doctor-and-patient testimony, the D.E.A.s chief administrative law judge, Francis L. Young, ruled that 'marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substance known to man'. - Nick Jones
“Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.” - Bob Marley.
The war on drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our nation's marijuana laws. - Barack Obama, January 21, 2004 debate
"We can each resolve, every last one of us, to do the maximum that we can, in each of our given circumstances and by making opportunities, and this then becomes our personal contribution towards ending the worldwide prohibition of cannabis." - Jayelle Farmer
"I think we consume far more dangerous drugs that are legal: cigarette smoking, nicotine and alcohol. I feel they cause much more devastating effects physically. We need to lift the prohibition on marijuana." - former Surgeon General of the United States, Joycelyn Elders voicing her support for legalization of marijuana
"The war may not be quite over but any stigma still left lingering around cannabis consumption today is largely restricted to out of date and increasingly unenforced pieces of legislation. So indelibly stamped on our culture has cannabis become that it must now rank as the most popular and controversial plant on the planet." - Nick Jones
"Anorexia, emesis, pain, inflammation, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome, Alzheimer's disease), epilepsy, glaucoma, osteoporosis, schizophrenia, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, obesity, and metabolic syndrome-related disorders, to name just a FEW, are being treated or have the potential to be treated by cannabinoids." Dr. Mechoulam (Cannabinoid Researcher since 1960 - present) PMID: 18286801
"THC induces the Cancerous cell to make a fatty substance called ceramide, which prompts the cell to start devouring itself, noncancerous cells don't make ceramide when they come into contact with THC. The healthy cells don't die."
-Biochemists Guillermo Velasco & Manuel Guzmán, Complutense University
"THC is Antimitogenic or Antiproliferative (inhibits Cancer cell division), Antiangiogenic (inhibits the growth of new blood vessels in Cancers), Proapototic (encourages old cell death before mutating then leading to Cancers) & Antitumoral (counteracting or preventing the formation of malignant tumors; anticancer). Those appear to be the mechanisms that might account for these Antitumoral effects of THC."
- Dr. Donald Tashkin, UCLA
“People who make a personal decision to smoke marijuana should not be subject to prosecution.”—U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D), February 26, 2011
The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world. - Carl Sagan
Vote/speak for the re-legalization/decimalization of Cannabis/Hemp/Ganja/Marijuana, the world's most useful and versatile plant. We need never to have a shutdown again.
Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere! - George Washington, First U.S. President
We shall, by and by, want a world of hemp more for our own consumption. - John Adams, 2nd U.S. President
"The best hemp and the best tobacco grown on the same kind of soil. The former article is of first necessity to the commerce and marine, in other words to the wealth and protection of the country. The latter, never useful and sometimes pernicious, derives its estimation from caprice."
-Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President, Jefferson's journal entry / March 16, 1791
"Those who, while they disapprove of the character and measures of a government, yield to it their allegiance and support are undoubtedly its most conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious obstacles to reform."
Henry David Thoreau
Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded. - Abraham Lincoln
"However, the connection of hemp as a crop and marijuana seems to be exaggerated. The drug is usually produced from wild hemp or locoweed which can be found on vacant lots and along railroad tracks in every state. If federal regulations can be drawn to protect the public without preventing the legitimate culture of hemp, this new crop can add immeasurably to American agriculture and industry." - Popular Mechanics, 1938
Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?
- Henry Ford
“Marijuana never kicks down your door in the middle of the night. Marijuana never locks up sick and dying people, does not suppress medical research, does not peek in bedroom windows. Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.”—William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008)
The anti-marijuana campaign is a cancerous tissue of lies, undermining law enforcement, aggravating the drug problem, depriving the sick of needed help, and suckering well-intentioned conservatives and countless frightened parents. - William F. Buckley, 1983
Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marihuana in private for personal use... Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marihuana. - Jimmy Carter, U.S. President: Message to Congress, August 2, 1977.
"If adults want to take such chances (with marijuana) that is their business." -Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President
"I think that most small amounts of marijuana have been decriminalized in some places, and should be. We really need a re-examination of our entire policy on imprisonment...Our imprisonment policies are counterproductive." - Bill Clinton, 42nd U.S. President
After two years of doctor-and-patient testimony, the D.E.A.s chief administrative law judge, Francis L. Young, ruled that 'marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substance known to man'. - Nick Jones
“Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.” - Bob Marley.
The war on drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our nation's marijuana laws. - Barack Obama, January 21, 2004 debate
"We can each resolve, every last one of us, to do the maximum that we can, in each of our given circumstances and by making opportunities, and this then becomes our personal contribution towards ending the worldwide prohibition of cannabis." - Jayelle Farmer
"I think we consume far more dangerous drugs that are legal: cigarette smoking, nicotine and alcohol. I feel they cause much more devastating effects physically. We need to lift the prohibition on marijuana." - former Surgeon General of the United States, Joycelyn Elders voicing her support for legalization of marijuana
"The war may not be quite over but any stigma still left lingering around cannabis consumption today is largely restricted to out of date and increasingly unenforced pieces of legislation. So indelibly stamped on our culture has cannabis become that it must now rank as the most popular and controversial plant on the planet." - Nick Jones
"Anorexia, emesis, pain, inflammation, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome, Alzheimer's disease), epilepsy, glaucoma, osteoporosis, schizophrenia, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, obesity, and metabolic syndrome-related disorders, to name just a FEW, are being treated or have the potential to be treated by cannabinoids." Dr. Mechoulam (Cannabinoid Researcher since 1960 - present) PMID: 18286801
"THC induces the Cancerous cell to make a fatty substance called ceramide, which prompts the cell to start devouring itself, noncancerous cells don't make ceramide when they come into contact with THC. The healthy cells don't die."
-Biochemists Guillermo Velasco & Manuel Guzmán, Complutense University
"THC is Antimitogenic or Antiproliferative (inhibits Cancer cell division), Antiangiogenic (inhibits the growth of new blood vessels in Cancers), Proapototic (encourages old cell death before mutating then leading to Cancers) & Antitumoral (counteracting or preventing the formation of malignant tumors; anticancer). Those appear to be the mechanisms that might account for these Antitumoral effects of THC."
- Dr. Donald Tashkin, UCLA
“People who make a personal decision to smoke marijuana should not be subject to prosecution.”—U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D), February 26, 2011
The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world. - Carl Sagan
I would like to see the governs race subjected to a runoff election of the top two voted getter's if the top vote getter receives less than 50%. Our 43%Governor received less that the majority of the vote, but was able to shut down the state for nearly 3 weeks costing the state and many state workers hardship and additional cost.
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