Remember the “Contract with America” where Newt Gingrich tied a ribbon on policy that was bad and made it look good? Or how the “Inheritance tax” which relatively few people were subject to- became the evil sounding “death tax”?
Well, the chance to do something right- got a bad name in a big way from the Republican Senate leader in Ohio:
Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, called for establishing a “drug prison” where inmates with drug-abuse issues would receive treatment services.
“I anticipate that there would be an increase in the cost up front but I think in the long run we’re going to save money,” Faber said.
via Charter schools in spotlight [1].
Why a “drug prison” Keith? Why not a rehabilitation center for drug abusers who’ve turned to crime to support their habits?
Many times people begin their path to drug abuse purely by accident- an injury at work, and next thing you know they are addicted to a painkiller. Drug abuse is a mental health issue first and foremost. The crimes committed by drug abusers are often nothing other than survival skills to feed their habits. Our prisons are overflowing with people who are more dangerous to themselves than others- glad you just figured it out.
Now, figure out a better name as well as a better solution to deal with this sad epidemic. Prisons aren’t working, nor is our “criminal justice” system built to deal with people just looking for a quick fix to an addiction.
Since European countries have heroin assisted treatment. How about a Dependency Assisted Facility? You could call it a Chemical Assisted Facility Encampment which would make it CAFE! It would be a whole lot more cost effective to decriminalize the drugs and put the money used in law enforcement’s “war on drugs” into treatment, but we have already had that discussion. Several times …..
Or how the “Inheritance tax” which relatively few people were subject to- became the evil sounding “death tax”? (David Esrati)
…well, dear David, perhaps the reason it was called the death tax was that it became due after one’s death. And if the state sweeping down like a blood sucking vampire at a family’s darkest hour to claim half of a deceased’s life’s work ain’t evil, it’ll do until the real evil shows up. And evil ain’t less evil, dear David, just because it happens to just a small sample of folks. The death tax was devastating to the American institution known as the family farm. The state presented the death toll to the asset rich but cash strapped agriculturalist family, who often had to literally “sell the farm” in order to fulfill the taxman’s demands. As a sidebar, before Ohio repealed the death tax, the state and locality where the deceased resided split the ill-gotten and underserved gains. So Oakwood decided to become the assisted care mecca of southern Ohio. Now that the death tax is no longer, Oakwood is strapped with a demographic which is low on revenue and high on service. Serves ’em right. The drug problem, however, can be solved in five minutes. All the state has to say is “the dog and pony show is now officially over. Adults are henceforth free to ingest, inject or imbibe anything they want without state intervention or interdiction. Just one reminder; Charles Darwin was right and hell ain’t half full…..’
Talk of Lost Farms Reflects Muddle of Estate Tax Debate:
“Even one of the leading advocates for repeal of estate taxes, the American Farm Bureau Federation, said it could not cite a single example of a farm lost because of estate taxes.”