US Politics Mega-thread - Page 2263

On September 04 2015 02:31 Slaughter wrote:
Fox is going to eat this shit up. War on Christianity x100000000000000

On September 04 2015 02:44 Plansix wrote:

Just think of the coverage if it was a Muslim woman objecting based on her religion. Just let your mind wrap around that.

In 2004, [San-Francisco Mayor Gavin] Newsom gained national attention when he directed the San Francisco city–county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, in violation of the then-current state law. In August 2004, the Supreme Court of California annulled the marriages that Newsom had authorized, as they conflicted with state law at that time. Still, Newsom's unexpected move brought national attention to the issues of gay marriage, solidifying political support for Newsom in San Francisco and in the gay community.

Arizona stands to generate more than $60 million in marijuana tax revenue annually, if voters decide to legalize and regulate the plant for adult recreational purposes in 2016.

That's according to an independent analysis released Monday by Arizona's nonprofit Grand Canyon Institute. It found the state would rake in about $64 million per year from legal marijuana taxes, including $51 million that would go to K-12 education and all-day kindergarten programs in the state. That's significantly more than the $40 million in tax revenue for education backers of the ballot initiative projected last month -- a sum that opponents of the measure lambasted as unrealistically high and a local newspaper characterized as "a lie" in an August op-ed.

But at least according to the GCI, a research organization focusing on Arizona's fiscal and tax issues -- one that describes itself as "a centrist think-thank led by a bipartisan group of former state lawmakers, economists, community leaders, and academicians" -- the advocates were being conservative in their estimates.

"The revenue gains do exceed the $40 million espoused by proponents of the initiative," GCI's report reads.

Further, the research group projects that if the ballot measure were to pass, by 2019, once the regulated market was fully established, the state would raise $72 million annually with about $58 million for education alone.

“You can debate whether marijuana should be made legal for adults, but there’s no arguing the fact that this initiative will generate significant revenue for Arizona schools," J.P. Holyoak, chairman of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, said in a statement reacting to GCI's report. "It might not be enough to solve all of our schools’ budget problems, but it will help immensely."

In its report, the GCI says it neither supports nor opposes the effort to legalize marijuana in the state.

On September 04 2015 02:47 Cowboy64 wrote:

I wonder if there was this great concern for following the law when it was a liberal mayor in San Francisco.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Newsom#Early_political_career

On September 04 2015 02:58 Plansix wrote:

Well he didn't defy the courts order once the marriages were annulled. He also didn't directly defy Prop 8 when it was passed and let the legal process take it's course. So a lot less to get worked up about.

On September 04 2015 03:03 Cowboy64 wrote:

Would you have advocated for jailing him if he had continued to issue the licences?

I'm just trying to get a feel for if it's okay to jail this woman because she's a bigoted old coot, or because she broke the law. Forgive me if I have my doubts as to which it really is.

On September 04 2015 03:06 Plansix wrote:

Because it wasn't an offence that warranted jail time? His order violated the state law and the court overturned it. He and his office then complied with the court order. She violated the federal ruling on same sex marriage, the court told her she was wrong. Then she disregarded the court order.

This isn't rocket surgery.

On September 04 2015 03:10 Cowboy64 wrote:

So if Gavin Newsome had continued to issue licences, in violation of state law, would you have supported jailing him for it? I understand that she has continued to break the law, whereas he only broke the law once; my question is: if he had continued to break the law, would you support putting him in jail?

On September 04 2015 03:10 Cowboy64 wrote:

So if Gavin Newsome had continued to issue licences, in violation of state law, would you have supported jailing him for it? I understand that she has continued to break the law, whereas he only broke the law once; my question is: if he had continued to break the law, would you support putting him in jail?

On September 04 2015 03:19 Plansix wrote:
I find the entire analogy to be sort of silly since the main goal of violating the law was to start the discussion about gay marriage and work through the process in the court and political system. His intent was clear and the people who lived in the city supported it.

This case is a clear example of someone pushing against a solved ruled upon issue, like a Governor standing in-front of a public school with a fire ax.