Showing posts with label marijuana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marijuana. Show all posts

Monday, September 10, 2012

Obama fails to deliver and Romney will probably never have the chance to… How about Gary Johnson?


When Mr. "Change" has broken almost all promises, and the other candidate is straight up Mr. Wishy-Washy, is third-party the way to vote?


Obama promised change when elected in 2008, and we’ve gotten
 some, but not necessarily the good kind. 

To kick off the Democratic National Convention last week, our national debt officially topped $16 trillion on the 4th. When running in 2008, Obama promised to cut the US’s national debt in half but rather has exceeded it by $5 trillion.
 

We’ve had 42 consecutive months of unemployment over 8 percent since President Obama has taken office. College tuition has also increased 25 percent. What’s the point of going to college now that the chances of finding a job that will make enough to pay back student loans is slim?

Amendments five through eight remain broken by Obama’s decision to keep Guantanamo Bay open. Despite promises to shut down the detention camp, governments’ abuse of authority remains at Guantanamo and is exemplified by the unconstitutional, cruel and unusual torture of held suspected terrorists and their denial of a fair trial.

Do I even need to mention the war in Afghanistan that both Obama and Romney want to keep troops in until at least 2014? Our government needs to stop meddling in the affairs of other countries and stop dictating and controlling how they should be ran. It’s unnecessary, it’s expensive, it’s killing Americans as well as innocent victims, and it’s creating enemies when we could instead develop peace through free trade. Let’s focus on the re-growth of our own country rather then aiding others’ and let’s remove all troops from all 150 non-threat countries where stationed.

Obama promised not to harass medical marijuana providers in 2008 yet more than 60 federal indictments have resulted from raids on nearly 200 dispensaries and growers during his term.
 

Though I can talk all day on the failed promises and negative impacts from Obama, I will give our current president props for one good thing that has come out of these last three and a half years with him in charge.

Obama has openly endorsed same-sex marriage and has fought hard for the equal rights of LGBT Americans and for that, I am appreciative. Some accomplishments on the issue include the repeal of the former “Don’t ask, don’t tell” military policy, the ban of discrimination in the workplace based on gender identity, and the extension of hospital visitation and decision making rights to same-sex couples. Though he hasn’t federally legalized gay marriage, Obama has left the issue up to the states.

However, the bad outweighs the good.
 

Americans have allowed President Barack Obama almost four years to give our country the change it so much needs yet he has been unsuccessful for the most part.

But can the 2012 GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, fix the mess that Obama has bred? Probably not.
 

Romney is an unstable vote and can’t be trusted. He has shifted his political stances on multiple occasions on issues including abortion, immigration, gun control, bailouts, and tax cuts. Like Obama, Romney has gone back on his word several times while being the former Governor of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts state spending increased 24 percent in three years under Romney and $500 million in fees were raised in 2003 despite his promise not to raise taxes. Yet Romney has promised that if elected the next president, he would cut tax rates 20 percent lower than Bush did. It’s hard to trust such a statement from Romney when you take into account his record.

Romney’s campaign hasn’t been focused at all enough on the real issues of America but rather on the fact that he is not Obama.
 

Obama’s campaign hasn’t been too great either. He too has ignored focus on crucial issues and has shifted almost all of attention on women’s rights--specifically abortion, LGBT equality, and healthcare. Though they are important issues to be discussed, they should not be the only.
 

Both Obama and Romney failed to specifically address- and did great jobs avoiding- some of America’s pressing issues such as financial reform and the national debt, immigration, “Romneycare,” social security, and the war with Afghanistan.
 

The race is close with Obama at 49 percent and Romney at 48. We all know that America is run by a two-party political system, but what do we do when the republican and democrat nominees are both complete messes?
 

Guilt would eat me away if I voted for either one of the two head candidates running in the 2012 election. Since Ron Paul is no longer in the race, I have decided to vote for third-party Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson on November 6th 2012. 
 

I agree with Johnson on most issues and although voting for him will not do much, I refuse to vote for Romney and I refuse to vote for Obama.
 

Johnson is the only candidate who will immediately bring troops home from Afghanistan, cut military spending by 43 percent, veto all bailouts, work to legalize marijuana, submit a balanced budget by 2013, repeal the Patriot Act, audit the Federal Reserve, end the Department of Education, simplify and promote immigration, keep the internet free and safe, and to take the government completely out of the bedroom by striving to legalize gay marriage.

LittleMissLibertarian
Miranda Pagan

Friday, August 31, 2012

California’s Medical Marijuana Law & The Federal Government’s Intervention


The discussion of marijuana in the United States is a heated debated. Almost everyone has a stance on the issue, whether being in support or opposition of medical marijuana and the recreational use of the plant. 
Three lawsuits have recently been filed to medical marijuana dispensaries in California. Over 60 dispensaries in just two cities of Orange County have received warning letters threatening criminal charges if not shut down. Though California law approved medical marijuana in 1996, Feds claim states law is being taken advantage of by crooked doctors who do not properly diagnose patients with the recommendation. It is believed that the recommendations are rather being sold to anyone who desires a medical marijuana prescription.
One clinic in LA County, Happy Medical, was shut down after an undercover producer exposed that the recommendation was too easily obtained. Turns out that the ‘doctors’ seeing the patients were actually, no real doctors at all. Rather, the doctors performing the examinations were physical therapists signing off for the real doctor, Dr. James A. Hartleroad, 67 miles away from the clinic. Hartleroad never once saw a patient and pleads his case saying that his physician assistants perform the examination for him. The scandal has nullified thousands of medical marijuana patient’s recommendations. 
It’s widely known how simple it is to receive approval for medical marijuana in California. We’ve all seen the billboards on the busy freeways offering recommendations for low prices. I predict that the federal government will continue to crack down on dispensaries and clinics in California. The question is, should they?
The Declaration of Independence grants American’s their life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Every person’s pursuit of happiness is different. Man should be free to do whatever he desires, eat what he wants, drink what he pleases, and smoke whatever tickles his fancy as long as it does not affect the health and well being of another person. In support of marijuana or not, the government should not have that much power to decipher what man can and cannot do on his own spare time. Allowing the government to uphold these laws takes away our personal freedom. 
I say that it’s time marijuana is federally legalized, regulated, and taxed. Harvard professor Jeffrey A. Miron has done a study showing that the combined savings and tax revenue of the legal plant can bring in as much as $10 to $14 billion a year. Now wouldn’t that help solve our overcrowded jails and prisons as well as assisting our National Debt of $16 trillion plus? I think yes.
LittleMissLibertarian
Miranda Pagan