So I just finished up watching Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, speak with Dylan Ratigan about his candidacy. Whats most thrilling about this is not the idea that he could win - if he does I promise to shit rainbows - but that issues will have to be discussed because of his presence in the primary.
Think back to 2008 when Ron Paul, then a seemingly crazy old man to the non-political, dominated the political discussion because he not only took the outlying position on the war and monetary policy that, and this is the important part, he could back up with factual arguments. Go back and watch how Ron Paul verbally dope-slapped the likes of McCain, Romney, and more importantly Giuliani.
But the war is no longer a Republican issue (unless they win) and this year, with debt being the major issue on the table I'd love to hear about a few of the largest, undiscussed financial burdens in America: The War on Drugs, and the State Prison System.
The two issues are intertwined, and with Johnson having been an elected official with a platform plank of legalizing marijuana, some incarnation of the issue is going to have to be discussed. Now if I'm being practical, he's going to be dismissed as a lunatic and routinely booed, but provided he comes back with the math and the facts like Paul did, and survives the Iowa caucuses (where I hope he doesn't make a play), then these issue may be forced to be addressed.
The problem with addressing them for most candidates is that for too long this was an issue no one had to deal with because it wasn't ever talked about. The other issue is, 4 of the suspected GOP candidates were governors who are going to have stats from the past they might have to address from the position of spending issues. According to CommonDreams.org "Americans spend $60 billion a year to imprison 2.2 million people — exceeding any other nation...with a 60% recidivism rate." Given the flatness of that last figure, I'm guessing its been rounded.
CD also cites from a report filed in 2006 about the safety and abuse in American prisons. The reports website says the following:
On any given day, 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the United States, and over the course of a year, many millions spend time in prison or jail. 750,000 men and women work in correctional facilities. The annual cost: more than 60 billion dollars. Yet within three years, 67 percent of former prisoners will be rearrested and 52 percent will be re-incarcerated. At this moment, the effectiveness of America's approach to corrections has the attention of policy makers at all levels of government and in both political parties. The Commission and its report, Confronting Confinement, make a unique contribution to this timely national discussion by connecting the most serious problems and abuses inside jails and prisons with the health and safety of our communities.
The bottom line is cost. And while many will cite the 10th Amendment as a shield, or say this is a states-rights issue, the hard reality is that the laws that put these individuals, in many cases, into prison in the first place are federal laws. If these candidates become targets of the Johnson onslaught, the only defense will be to say "that's a states rights issue, so I'm going to strike down the Federal Laws and let the states handle things."
The gamble there is 2-fold: The Tea Party will be listening, and they won't let the issue die. These same folks have been after the Fed since Ross Perot tipped them off in 1992 or Pat Buchanan in 1988. The other problem is the general election and the nullification forces, armed with the financial ammunition are going to actually demand these arguments stay in play, and the opposition forces waiting at the gates in 2016 will be waiting there in 2014, prodding the electorate with those reminders.
No comments:
Post a Comment