Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Legalize it

I’m not saying this because I advocate drug use. I’m saying this because it may be the only proposal that could lift Michigan out of its economic depression in less than five years: Legalize Pot.

I’m not talking about some tepid de-criminalization, or herb for hospice. I’m saying flat-out legalization. Grow it, sell it to consenting adults under strict rules, and tax the hell out of it. Use the resulting bonanza to fund the public schools and lower tuition at the state universities.

Let the Feds throw a hissy fit - and when they do ask them just what their offer is when Chrysler augers-in and takes 30,000 more jobs with it, or GM, or whoever. The situation is Michigan is beyond dire and there is nothing the economic development people in Lansing or KZ or Grand Rapids are going to be able to do about it. They couldn’t attract industry when Michigan was alone in the dumps, so why will they be able to do any better when they have to compete head-on with California?

We all know that it’s a bad thing to smoke too much weed, or to smoke it all the time, or to have kids smoking it. On the other hand, no one has ever died of an overdose and if you take the criminal dealers out of the picture, everyone might be better off.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Kevin Green Pukes and Blows

So Wyoming (GOP) State Rep Kevin Green is found passed out in his car with the motor running and has puked on himself - five days before the election - and it only shows up in the paper yesterday?

What the fuck is up with this? Why didn't the Saginaw police release this information so voters could know a little more about the upstanding citizen they were about to re-elect. He says he wasn't trying to cover it up. Right.

And he wants to be House Minority Leader?

Judge Servaas

Thanks to the Press for their Editorial today telling the Judicial Tenure Commission goons to lay off District Court Judge Steven Servaas.

I first blogged about this back in February and it has been a Gilbert & Sullivan farce ever since. Servaas just received 40,000 votes to keep his job and if Smolensky's allies think he should be fired for the most ridiculous and petty indiscretions they are out of their minds.

Providence

It's snowing outside and I can't help thinking that providence was looking out for us this election. I was canvassing just a week ago and it was 65 degrees and sunny. Election week was like summer and I don't think we had a really bad weekend since Labor Day. Sometimes things just go your way.

I have to keep reminding myself that we won and the Bush years are over (except for the bad hangover in my IRA and an economy close to death). We'll recover. The best thing is I don't have to give a shit about what those people say anymore. I can read the NRO for fun because they can't hurt us anymore.

When Obama said "yes we can" towards the end of his acceptance speech, I just totally lost it. It still makes me tear up when I replay it in my mind. It really feels like a whole new day.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Campaign Withdrawal Syndrome

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I'm starting to suffer from Campaign Withdrawal Syndrome.

After being more or less consumed (emotionally and otherwise) in the Obama campaign, I'm having trouble dealing with the return to normal life. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about the Wealthy Street office that is now just an empty shell, with people cleaning up and unplugging computers and taking posters off the wall.

I have to stop looking at the blogs because the news can't ever be as good as it was yesterday - and it's only a matter of time before the shitheads take their knives out and start squabbling about this little detail or that minor flub.

This was a historic event and I'm not sure we'll ever see likes of it again.

It's hard to let it go.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

West Michigan Policy Nightmare

They're Baack!

The West Michigan business elite who attended the Regional Policy Conference in September restated their goals at a meeting of 600 at the Economic Club:

Right to work
Cut business taxes
Less state spending
Encourage preventative health care

The lead speaker was Jim Dunlop, head of Huntington Bank West Michigan. The reason I bring this up is that Huntington just accepted $1.4 billion from the Federal bank bailout fund (a/k/a/ TARP). So this schmuck Dunlop, whose crappy bank just took $1.4 billion of our money thinks taxes should be lower, and government spending should be cut. Oh, and let's finish off the Unions and screw up health care too.

If this asshole wants less government spending, how about his bank gives back the $1.4 billion they needed to bail out their lousy business decisions.