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Posted on 07/05/2013 3:20:09 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
As Americans obsess over NSA spying, abuse by the IRS and other assaults on our freedom, I can't get my mind off the thousand other ways politicians abuse us.
In their arrogance, they assume that only they solve social problems. They will solve them by banning this and that, subsidizing groups they deem worthy and setting up massive bureaucracies with a mandate to cure, treat and rescue wayward souls.
Their programs fail, and so they pass new laws to address the failures. It's one reason that 22 million people now work for government.
Some of the things they do seem like bigger assaults on our freedom than NSA spying, although we've become accustomed to the older abuses.
Take the drug war.
It's true that some Americans destroy their lives and their families' lives by using drugs. Others struggle with addiction. But if illegal drugs are as horrible and addictive as we've been told, how come the government's own statistics say millions try those drugs but only a small percentage continue using?
Ninety-five percent of those who have tried what we think of as "hard drugs" report not using the substances in the past month.
Columbia University psychology professor Dr. Carl Hart, author of "High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery," says "hard" drugs are not as dangerous as the media make them out to be. For 15 years, he's studied the effects of marijuana, methamphetamine, crack cocaine and more on users.
"The data simply shows that the vast majority of people who use these drugs don't go on to become addicted," he said on my show. "In fact, some of these people go on to become president."
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
John Stossel, whom no one can mistake for a big-government liberal, is right on this. Bas anything positive come from the War on Drugs? If so, is it worth the huge price?
giving kids the idea that drugs are oky is the bad idea
Drug laws should be the decision of individual states, with the Feds only involved if they cross state or national boundries.
SCOTUS and Congress and the pRES_ _ent use many
illegal drugs.
Just like their other criminal activities,
no problem for THEM. Car accident on ambien? NO PROBLEMA.
No Laws for THEM.
No ObamaCARE/DeathCARE for THEM or their families.
NO SEC Laws for THEM.
The corollary?
No protection for Americans from THEM.
You want to see an ugly sick government in action?
Just watch the government prosecution in the Zimmerman trial...
But massive government corruption is not limited the federal government, but the states as well.
Up to their necks.
How does it give them the idea it’s “good”? That’s idiotic, and it reinforces the statists mantra amongst the sheep that everything they do is “for the children”.
One of the primary things people need to get out of their skulls these days to save the Republic is the concept that children are stupid fragile little things until they are 21. George Washington had his first business around the age of 13.
If you reinforce that they are stupid and helpless, they will become EXACTLY that, much to the politicians joy...
because its what libertopians want
Let me state it this way:
Is keeping the War on Drugs worth the damages that it's done the 2nd, 4th, and 5th amendments? Moreover, it is worth the general presumption of guilt (rather than innocence_ it encourages? Finally, is it worth the everyone's a criminal, there are only ones we haven't caught yet
mentality it encourages in law enforcement?
[H]as anything positive come from the War on Drugs?
Lots of feral government employees take home lots of big pay checks.
On second thought, maybe that's not a positive, after all.
Yeah the government sucks at all levels.
Drugs are bad, so are the excesses and failures of our “war” on them which is going as well as Vietnam.
How many .gov wars have EVER been won? literacy, poverty, drugs, terriers?
It’s a joke on we who have to fund’em.
“How many .gov wars have EVER been won? literacy, poverty, drugs, terriers?”
Good point. We had that War on Alcohol during the Roaring 20’s and most know how badly that turned out. The only thing it did right was to end quickly.
I seem to remember the great Australian Emu War. An officially declared war that the Aussies lost.... to a bird.
All that these “wars” have accomplished is to establish more huge .gov agencies, with huge .gov employees, with their Sisyphusian tasks, never to be accomplished or ended.
We need a hard shut-down/reboot of everything here.
imo
I got on live chat with healthcare.gov today. I will have to call back with my other questions such as, “if someone lies about smoking tobacco how would they get caught? Since it’s OK to smoke pot or crack how would you tell the difference? Should I make all transactions in cash?”
[12:49:38 pm]: Thanks for contacting Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat. Please wait while we connect you to someone who can help.
[12:49:42 pm]: Please be patient while we’re helping other people.
[12:49:47 pm]: Welcome! You’re now connected to Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat.
Thanks for contacting us. My name is Amber. To protect your privacy, please don’t provide any personal information, like Social Security Number, or any other sensitive medical or personal information.
[12:51:07 pm]: CALLER
Hi Amber, I have some questions about having to pay more for smoking. Is that for smoking tobacco only? If so, what about chewing tobacco?
[12:53:20 pm]: Amber
Thank you. One moment please while I look that up.
[12:59:27 pm]: Amber
At this time we do not have access to that information. On October 1st all the details of all the plans will be released.
[1:02:05 pm]: CALLER
Well that’s only 4 days away but I will call back
What you said
It is the role of parents and church to tell us drugs (and all sin) are a bad idea. It is not the role of government to evangelize us.
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