Feinstein’s First Move As Co-Chair of No on Prop 19 Campaign Is To Spout Nonsense
By: Jon Walker
September 1, 2010
California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein must really love the senseless, failed war on marijuana. Not only has she come out very publicly in opposition to Proposition 19, which would legalize, tax and regulate cannabis, but she also has taken the bold step of actually becoming the co-chair for the No on Prop 19 campaign. In the incredibly sad but fully expected tradition of those individuals actively fighting against marijuana legalization, instead of making a logical argument against legalization based on facts, Feinstein resorted to spouting pure rhetorical nonsense. From the No on Prop. 19 press release via Chris Good at the Atlantic:
“California will not see a single positive result if Proposition 19 passes,” said Senator Feinstein. “It is a poorly constructed initiative that will cause harm to Californians on our roadways, and in our schools, workplaces and communities. I look forward to working with Sheriff Baca to ensure we defeat Proposition 19 in November.”
I would like to inform Sen. Feinstein that even the State of California would disagree with this nonsense. The California State Board of Equalization concluded that a similar marijuana legalization law would generate roughly $1.4 billion in direct revenue for the state, which also happens to be experiencing a serious budget shortfall.
I would also like to bring her attention to the Legislative Analyst’s Office official analysis of Prop 19.
Hundreds of millions in new tax revenue, millions saved on law enforcement, reduced prison overcrowding and prevention of dangerous criminals being released early all sure sound like “positive results” to me.
Unlike the dishonest Diane Feinstein, I don’t think I need to resort to over-the-top rhetorical nonsense to make the case for my position. I have the intellectual decency to acknowledge there might potentially be some negatives from ending the prohibition against marijuana, but I’m prepared to argue that after weighing both positions, I believe that the net positives for our society would far outweigh the potential negatives. Similarly, the negative consequences of our country’s experiment with alcohol prohibition fair outweighed any of the positives that resulted from the 18th amendment.
Read the full article at:
http://elections.firedoglake.com/2010/09/01/feinsteins-first-move-as-co-chair-of-no-on-prop-19-campaign-is-to-spout-nonsense/