Sunday, January 4, 2009

What would your top priority be?

As the 2009 General Assembly starts up, the most commonly searched bill on KentuckyVotes.org for the new session is Rep. Bill Farmer's tax reform bill.

It is clear that state government's most immediate needs involve cutting spending dramatically. Changing tax and regulation policies to better encourage growth are certain to get short shrift in the current political environment, but it is encouraging to see some people trying to get the conversation moving in the right direction.

3 comments:

Hempy said...

If Rep. Bill Farmer's tax bill isn't going to implement a tax system based on proportion, there's no way it can be fair. The Kentucky General Assembly (KGA) needs to follow Alexander Hamilton's advice for a tax system. In Federalist Paper 12, he wrote:

"The ability of a country to pay taxes must always be proportioned, in a great degree, to the quantity of money in circulation, and to the celerity with which it circulates. Commerce, contributing to both these objects, must of necessity render the payment of taxes easier, and facilitate the requisite supplies to the treasury."

As far as spending cuts are concerned, neither the Governor nor any member of the KGA seem to be willing to pardon all non-violent marijuana users and save the taxpayers about $270 million a year in incarceration costs.

And stop that endless welfare cow to Toyota of Georgetown. $371 million since 1981. Enough is enough!

If the Governor and the KGA are interested in getting the economy moving in the right direction, then why aren't they employing extraordinary means in hemp's legalization favor?

That would create thousands of agriculture and high tech "green" jobs in Kentucky, as well as manufacturing facilities. There are over 50,000 environmentally friendly products that can be made from hemp.

Alexander Hamilton's 1791 report to Congress said this about hemp:

"This is an article of importance enough to warrant the employment of extraordinary means in its favor."

Anonymous said...

Must be nice to know Gatewood Galbraith reads this blog. Haha

While I don't agree with everything Hempy said, I do have to concur with the continuing tax incentives for Toyota being excessive. At an average of $14 million a year, what they contribute in payroll taxes for Georgetown, state taxes, etc., it is a loss. This needs to be scaled back or at the very least, SERIOUSLY evaluated.

As for pardoning all non-violent marijuana users? Give me a break. How do you justify your numbers (save $270 million a year)? It is WIDELY known and recognized that marijuana is a gateway drug to other, more serious drugs. While I absolutely AM in favor of PERHAPS hemp agribusiness being looked into as a viable crop, it would need to be closely regulated or watched, in my opinion though, because give a grower an inch, he'll take a mile and try to get a side business going.

Hempy said...

The $270 million is what I read about Kentucky's cost of incarceration of non-violent marijuana users.

As far as marijuana being a gateway drug, there's no evidence of that. That's just federal government propaganda. The real gateway drug is the legal drug, and most addictive, nicotine found in tobacco.

If industrial hemp farmers tried to grow marijuana, it would be cross pollinated from the industrial hemp pollen, and for all practicable purposes would be of no value. You'd have to smoke a joint about the size of a telephone pole to have any effect. Even then, it's not likely to be anything more than a headache.

Industrial hemp can cross pollinate marijuana anywhere from 11 to 25 miles away, depending on the prevailing winds. In a state where industrial hemp is grown, marijuana growers would have to locate in greenhouses with expensive filters to filter out the male pollen. Other places for growing marijuana would be in caves or indoors, which would require extensive and expensive lighting.

If marijuana and all things hemp were legalized, there wouldn't be a market for underground, or street sales of marijuana. This would also have a negative impact on the sales of hard drugs such as crack, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines. Alcohol and tobacco are America's most serious drug problems.

Legalized medical and recreational marijuana would be a good source of tax revenue. California takes in about $100 million a year in taxes from the sale of medical marijuana.

In states that have medical marijuana laws, and in countries where marijuana is legal, the number of teens smoking marijuana, decreases significantly.

Marijuana isn't a drug nor is it addictive. Legalized marijuana isn't going to cause a rush by the masses to run out and buy it.

Industrial hemp wouldn't need to be closely regulated or watched anymore than cotton, flax or corn.

Marijuana (THC) is one of many cannabinoids that nourishes the human body's cannabinoid systems. There are other cannabinoids of the hemp plant that also nourish the cannabinoid systems. Different cannabinoids nourish different cannabinoid systems. THC nourishes the cannabinoid system in the front part of the human brain. Presently, there are 60 identified cannabinoids.

However, since American universities aren't allowed to grow, research and test cannabinoids, their potential for impacting human health is unknown.