SS wasn't designed to be a Ponzi scheme, and it's not supposed to be run like a Ponzi scheme, yet...

The Christian right ruled (or at least held sway) over America for over 8 years, yet they make up only 28% of the population.

The insurance companies and a few of their lackeys, namely a handful of congressmen and lobbyists rule (or at least hold heavy sway) over America even though they number few. With all things considered, a far smaller percentage than the 28% mentioned above, yet they still set healthcare policy for the U.S.

American healthcare via middlemen insurance companies is a "paradigm" that doesn't work for doctors who are undercut on their fees and services, and it doesn't work for the average American who still pays enormous premiums, deductibles and co-pays and who then pays AGAIN when something isn't covered or is only partially covered.

The only ones who benefit are the INSURANCE COMPANIES. Something's gotta give. Something is GOING to give. Change is a comin' insurance people!

My father lived thru prohibition in the 30's and said it DID NOT work. He said everyone was brewing alcohol in their backyards, garages and bathtubs, and some of the stuff was dangerous, even lethal, and criminals "controlled" the market. He said it was a dangerous time (if you stumbled across someone's still you could easily be killed) and that when prohibiton ended, EVERYONE (but the gangsters) breathed a giant sigh of relief, and the gangsters and their violence quickly faded away.

My father also stated that marijuana and heroin prohibition didn't work and you could see proof of that with these criminal drug lords and huge, powerful organizations like the DEA having such vast power and resources. My father's solution was to legalize (and tax) pot for 21 year old adults, "Since it's like having a couple of beers", and to legalize heroin for registered junkies, terminal cancer patients, and those in extreme pain, WITH A DOCTOR'S PRESCRIPTION. Meth, cocaine, extacy etc he didn't feel should be legalized until more studies were done, but he believed rehabilitation through work programs and halfway houses was the way to go for addicts/abusers of these drugs.

I agree with my father's views. BTW, I am a baby boomer who used to smoke pot (and sampled just about everything else) who voted for George McGovern and was a long-haired liberal greenie, but now I only drink a few glasses of red wine a week (and wear my hair short) but my politics remain the same. My father was a WWII veteran and Nixon/Regan (VERY conservative)republican, who nonetheless condemned the Vietnam war and who also drank a few glasses of wine a week.

The moral of this rant is that common sense CAN cross political lines and CAN PREVAIL, if we the people LET IT, or should I say, DEMAND IT.

"Last year, working with the Cato Institute, I went to that country in order to research the effects of the decriminalization law"

PFFFFFFFT!!

WHOA...sum good $HIT mannn.....

Atta boy Glenn!

Won't work per se because if you legalize then "tax the hell out of it" (so that for example, the tobacco companies and gov't can make a $$$ killing) the gov't will also have to make it legal for the private citizen to grow a couple of plants for personal use, and since MJ is a WEED, with a little water and sunlight VIOLA!

This is the reason legalization hasn't come to pass, the powerful lobbies (like the tobacco lobby) figure they can't make the windfall they would like, and the gov't wouldn't get the tax windfall either.

Get this; I saw a special on TV where they showed the MJ of Mendocino County, and people were growing HUGE MJ plants in their backyards, and everyone in town knew about everyone else growing MJ including the cops! WTF?! Supposedly the local and/or federal cops will only bust you if you are a "factory farmer" (100 plants or more). I'm moving to Mendocino County!!

idiots go OUT OF THEIR WAY to piss off the environmentalists!

As far as the Belugas, they NEED PROTECTION. Isn't it OBVIOUS PALIN(?), You IDIOT!!

As far as the wolves, if a certain number "need" to be "harvested" then sell tags for $10,000.00 apiece with 2 conditions (with the tag proceeds going to Alaskan poor folk);

1. The hunter must go after his prey alone and on foot.

2. The hunter must go after his prey using only a black powder firearm or bow.

Now, let the human, er, I mean, WOLF hunt begin!

And this is what IS happening.

When will people wake up and realize the ultra-wealthy and their minions, the U.S gov't(republican OR democratic) don't give a sh*t about them, and the best thing they can do is to UNITE with their fellow citizens. The gov't and politicans in general have a vested interest in keeping us ignorant and divided, and the more we are divided the worse it gets, the less power we have, and the more power the elite and the gov't have.

We should ALL be PISSED that their plan is (and has been) working so well!

It's "socialism" when average citizens are helped; it's "patriotism" when defense contractors, oil companies and wall street are helped.

Why doesn't faux talk about FASCISM/CORPORATISM, which is much more insidious/problematic?

Oh wait, they ARE the insidious problem. My bad.

Obama's actions will ultimately come around to a very liberal and judicial way of thinking (and acting) to satisfy his base. People of color are counting on Obama and he knows it.

In the long run he won't let them down.