I think Gov. Markell may be high on something, maybe he has been testing the product he has been “PUSHING” so hard to have the state of Delaware sell to its citizens.
Gov. Markell announced Thursday that he would be asking legislators to open a single “compassion center” as he likes to call them, to dispense the medical marijuana that he and others “PUSHED” so hard to legalize here in the First State.
While one “compassion center” is better than the three originally planned for Delaware, one in each county, it is still a bad idea in my humble opinion. And would anyone like to take a bet that the single “compassion center” will be located in Wilmington? Of course the one thing Wilmington needs is another source of any kind of drugs. Not to mention, what are the people who supposedly would benefit from medical marijuana, but live in Sussex County, to do? Will they have to travel to Wilmington? Or send a surrogate? Of course they would not be allowed to receive it in the mail, since that would violate even another federal law.
Look I could go into all of my concerns about the legalization of medical marijuana, how I believe that this will only create another black market source of drugs. How long will it take drug dealers to find a way to obtain this product and then sell it on the street to our children. And of course history shows that medical marijuana is almost always followed by complete legalization.
I have made these arguments in the past, and many find them to be of no consequence. But let me ask this question, should the Governor be spending so much time and effort on this “SOCIAL” issue when there is so much else to deal with in Delaware?
Of course Delaware is dealing with all of the usual economic issues that the rest of the nation has been dealing with, housing, education, unemployment and any number of other issues that affect the broader percentage of citizens of the state. But no, the governor chooses to spend time and effort and money on turning the state of Delaware into a glorified drug dealer.
Now add onto all of these other pressing issues the fact that the state of Delaware is about to go on the hook for over twenty million dollars when Fisker Automotive goes officially into bankruptcy, something this humble blogger predicted back in August 2012 in my post titled “Markell’s Fisker Folly, Fraud? Or Failure?”, originally posted on my own blog “Politically Frank”, and reposted here at “Delaware Right”, http://www.delawareright.com/markells-fisker-folly-fraud-or-failure/ please read this post and see how the Fisker failure was a foregone conclusion based on the history of the people involved.
So is “Gov. Nero” fiddling while the state is burning? Is Gov. Markell using this marquee announcement to deflect attention away from the impending announcement of Fisker’s bankruptcy?
I believe that we can expect more of this type of “wag the dog” from the governor, I think that this governor has been the weakest governor that Delaware has seen in quite some time. While he has not been the embarrassment that Gov. Minner was, Gov. Markell has done nothing but overseen the unraveling of Delaware’s social fabric, while allowing the economic well-being of the state and its citizens to slide further and further into the abyss of failure. Fisker is the shining jewel in the crown of failure that Gov. Markell has created for himself.
The Gov’ sees that marijuana prohibition has worked as well as alcohol prohibition.
Delacrat, I know it may be hard for you to follow here, but this post is not about the merits of legalizing pot, it is about the total lack of any economic policy on the part of Gov. Markell, and the use of this and other social issues, such as homosexual marriage and the bathroom bill, and gun laws, to distract from that fact. Now I don’t know if you missed the point, or whether you are simply playing along to help the Governor distract the people.
Tuxamus Maximus doesn’t have much , if anything, to offer on this subject but will read and learn opinions. Not sure why delacrat’s answer doesn’t fit the subject matter. The Gov was elected fairly and he tried to make something happen. This a bit staying mad over milk that was spilled long ago. Thinking like old white men has got to stop because the world, and Delaware, are changing.
Yes the Govenor has floundered and pissed away a ton of cash/ see fisker fiasco/ and done nothing of note to improve the recovery climate for folks or business.
As for the distraction on medical pot, it is a worthy distraction IMHO. Having had to bear witness to far to many people with terminal illness I feel it is our job as compasionate humans to provide these patients with what ever we can muster to ease their pain.
I do not think it will make much of an impact in the ocean of illegals allready assulting our youth, on every other market including the black market.
WP, we could get into the questionable benefits of medical marijuana, as weighed against the negatives, along with what the actual long term reasons are for passing such legislation, i.e. the future passage of legalizing pot completely. But my point here is that Gov. Markell has used this along with other social issues to distract from the total lack of an economic policy.
It is not simply MM, but the accumulation of such issues and legislation. Again, gay marriage, bathroom bill, and gun laws.
Sorry, I too missed that this post was about economics and not about weed.
Let me outline why, if this post was about the failure of Markell’s economics, it didn’t work on persuading anyone over to your view.
One, it is reasonable to assume, that because Delaware is not booming, that none of us are satisfied with the results. That is just how we are.
Two, if instead the Republican candidate had been elected, would things now be better? If so how? What did the Republican offer here in Delaware in 2012 that was different from what the National Republicans offered from 2000-2008 which didn’t work at all.
Three, though we today castigate the current Governor for Fisker, why is it that we all thought it was a great idea when we had a plant suddenly close up on us, and Markell lasso’d a tenant to come in? Hindsight is always better than foresight, but I would have made the same bet as Markell in that moment of “oh my gosh what are we going to do”, and I know most of you would have as well. If Fisker had operated as well as its rival Tesla, the Boxwood Plant acquisition would have been a huge win. Therefore the problem wasn’t really with Markell and his judgment, it was with Fisker’s management and their judgment. Furthermore, had Hurricane Sandy not flooded and burned out their entire inventory of North American vehicles, it is possible that something positive still may have come about. Maybe so, or maybe not. No one can say.
Four. Delaware is so small, that even if our state said “no corporate taxes period”, no one would move here. Differential state-tax rebates are a small amount compared to the costs of transportation, labor,and one’s availability to potential customers. A business looking to invest in Delaware, would not move here to lose $40 billion in revenue off its top, because he could save $40 million in taxes over our competitor, Christie’s New Jersey. Again, it brings up the point, what can someone do differently, except jawbone they’d do something different? And then, who would make up the difference in taxes those companies would not be paying if we went that route?
Five, social issues and economic issues are completely disconnected. Gender bending, gun bending, and marriage bending, all have their own protractors and detractors. Both are spread across the economic spectrum. Social issues tend to be driven by the personal tastes of those elected. I’m sure the governor may have done some personal lobbying, but these issues with the exception of a speech, were completely handled by the General Assembly while he, Markell, was busy working on the economy.
Six. Who or which Republican, could outdo Markell on the sales pitches being made to companies across the Globe? Certain not Carney, Schwartzkopf, Biden,or Blevins. Neither could Levine, Lee, Lavelle, Bonini, or even Copeland do a better job in making a pitch for using Delaware.
If this sounds like an apologist for Markell. I’m not. It is the viewpoint of a realist. For if you blindly continue on the current track,… complaining about the social issues you don’t agree with but with which most of the voters do, … or complaining about economic growth being slow, but offering no alternative that hasn’t already been tried and found deficient,… you are going to have more of the same each time voters trudge to the polls.
You need to write off the past, ignore it essentially (it will quickly be forgotten) and capture the voter’s imagination with something new. For example, something along these lines could work: The current governor has focused on appeasing large corporations. Perhaps too much so. Most economic growth comes from small businesses. Therefore the Republican Party differs from the governor in that we have a plan to allow all small businesses who make facility improvements or expand their business, be allowed to write off ALL labor used for that construction, as a credit on their taxes owed.
You one, cut taxes without saying anything, and two, you push those who want to expand their business to do so, and three, it hires those out-of-work swing voters who ply the construction trades, who if they are working generally side Republican on social issues…
That is how you put together an offense.
Kavips, let me start with Fisker, if the Governor of Levin had done even half the research on the investment team Advanced Equities that I did there would have been red flags enough to see that Fisker was doomed from the start. But hey I guess they just didn’t have time, right?
I agree with you that the focus has been too much on the marquee big corporations, rather than the small business people.
Your proposal is a good one, however, this does not change the point of my post, not who is right or wrong on the social issues, but that they have been used as a smoke screen to hide the lack of direction on economics by this administration.
You can say that the legislation was all the doing of this or that legislator, but are we to really believe that Delaware is the only state in the nation where the governor is not the leader of his party and its agenda?
We have had too many years of Democrat rule that has lead us to this point to say that Republican policy has lead us here. We have energy policy that raises the cost of doing business for small and large alike. We have ever growing regulations from non-legislative secretaries like DNREC that restrict expansion of business, including what was once the number one industry here, farming, and again raises the cost through fees and fines. We have a diminishing return on tax revenue, because as taxes and fees go up, people and businesses leave, reducing the revenues, and what answer do we get from the Governor and the Democrats? More gambling!
Kavips, it may not be a matter of what would a different administration have “DONE”, but what could a different administration have “UN-DONE”.
But certainly this focus on gay marriage, gender identity and gun bills did nothing to spur economic growth, it may have actually had the opposite effect. Do families what to move their children to a state where their daughters have to share a public restroom with a “confused” young “MAN”?
As for Gov. Markell’s working the world to bring jobs here, how has that been going? His last trip to Israel with Levin was nothing but a vacation to the Holy Land and everyone knows it.
I really have to,congratulate the commenters in here
Kudos for being in disagreement but civil- it seems a certain element, when removed from the equation ,allows the adults to have meaningful discussion .
And that is what needs to happen
WATERPIRATE- I absolutely agre with you…..ANY medication that bring relief to those that are terminal or need it should be lawful and allowed
I even personally go one step further into Euthinasia….but I digress. Many of these issues are personal choices made between patient and doctor…..if we can have the death penalty out of vengance,then why not Euthinasia out of compassion.
I generally equate the current debat on pot to the old temperance issue. Banning booze didn’t do much for long , I mean there is an Irish pub in Kuwait and one in Qatar ……they are not serving kefir either.
I am not liking the economic policies of the current administration , not a little bit and have not …….the social one….well back when I was young- black people could not use the same water fountains or toilets as whites.
Think on that a bit. Do u really ever look at the urinal next to u….urinal etiquette demand ones eyes stay on one own xxxx……personal item..
Anyway. Just two cents for today.
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