![Medicinal Marijuana]()
by Art Smith
In my years as a youngster I never thought that we would be seriously discussing whether Marijuana should be considered either for medicinal or recreational usage. And as a conservative, I would have never thought that we would need to spend the time debating the pros and cons without a lot of easy standard lines: "It's a Gateway Drug", "Kills Brain Cells", "Highly Addictive".
But here we are, and frankly, I'm not prepared to just discard the discussion as unimportant or too obvious to spend time on. That would be both a disservice and inconsistent with my belief that positions on policy should be reviewed and when challenged, they should be openly and honestly discussed.
I'm not a doctor, nor have I had the time to study this at such a level of depth as to call myself an "expert" on the topic. But I have discussed this with doctors I know, and I've looked at some of the information currently available (here, here, here and here). I've also been around friends that were regular users of Marijuana, and I even took one deep breath of the stuff (from a pipe) when I was younger. Yes, I inhaled. Didn't like it. And I was a tobacco smoker at the time.
Most of us here in the Midwest tend to just laugh at California for legalizing Marijuana for medicinal use. We could have more or less predicted that dispensaries would become dealers for all who wanted, not just those that actually needed it. And as the debate is building here in Iowa [...]
![Medicinal Marijuana]()
by Art Smith
As we end the President's first year in office, we still struggle with folks on the left complaining bitterly that those of us who share a conservative ilk are out to see Obama fail. Never mind the fact that all I seem to hear during a Republican administration is a cacophony of angry vitriol, outright lies and attempts by Congress to undermine the critical work of the President, and I'll accept the fact that there are many on the right who see nothing but red when they discuss the current resident of the White House. But my goal is strictly to see America -- Americans -- be successful, and that means that I want to see the President be successful as well.
But the President’s speech tonight leaves me wondering. There’s no doubt it brought a sense of euphoria to those in need, to those who continue to promote a liberal agenda. The beginning and end of the speech brought a broad stroke of hope and confidence in who we are as a nation, as any good presidential speech should.
He made some good proposals. Some of which will make Congress uncomfortable to consider. Some of which will be hard to execute. Earmark transparency. Budget freezes. Cutting programs.
He made some popular proposals. Jobs programs. Small Business Lending programs and tax credits. Tax credits on capital investments. Bank investment reforms. Additional taxation of large banks.
And he continued to press for Health Care Reform that Americans don’t want.
I will likely disagree with much of the spending [...]
![Medicinal Marijuana]()
by Art Smith
Not in my wildest dreams would I believe that a US official could be so stupid as to say something like this in the face of unrelenting facts.
And intriguing enough is that it happened on CNN, whose reporting tends to be as supportive of the Obama administration as possible.
Of course, this is coming from the leader of the same department that earlier this year targeted "right-wing extremists" as high-risk for recruiting new members and conducting terrorist activities.
About the only spin one could put on this is that "...the system worked, but it's broke". That perspective behind a statement like this is part of the problem. Saying that everything worked like it's supposed to but it's not supposed to work that way just leaves one wondering how much thought is going into the design of the process that is supposed to be protecting our country.
Clearly the system is broke. To think that someone who has been identified as a terrorist risk like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab could be allowed onto a passenger jet without careful screening is just insane... and there are 500,000 people on the list he was placed on a month ago! As I shared in my piece at the Des Moines Register yesterday, the entire focus [...]
![Medicinal Marijuana]()
by Art Smith
We are going to try and keep it simple on this one.
The bill stinks.
Put aside the fact that it expands Medicare.
Put aside the fact that it establishes coverage mandates (you will be forced to buy health insurance somehow).
Put aside the fact that it is a colossal power grab for an industry that has been well managed by the states for a long time.
Put aside the fact that it will increase taxes.
Put aside the fact that it will dramatically increase the cost of insurance for everyone (and they sold this to us originally as being needed to stop the soaring cost of insurance!).
Put aside the fact that it will wreak havoc on the tax code, balloon the size of the IRS and increase the size of corporate tax management teams (which will increase consumer costs in all industries).
Put aside the fact that this bill is overloaded with earmarks... in a bill that was intended to bring equality in health care.
Put aside all of those issues and focus on the one true deception that will be broadcast throughout the weekend and coming weeks: that the Congressional Budget Office has determined that the bill will have a reducing impact the deficit.
The lie here is that although the Federal deficit will [...]
![Medicinal Marijuana]()
by Art Smith
On The Conservative Reader Report today we will have Kim Lehman, President of Iowa Right To Life and Iowa's Republican Committee Woman to the RNC, on our show along with Shane Vander Hart, conservative uber-blogger from Caffeinated Thoughts and guest blogger on The Des Moines Register's political web page. Our focus today will be all about the Health Care Reform Massacre about to be perpetrated by the United States Senate. The show starts at 3:00 Central on Des Moines Local Live Internet Radio.
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