Schwarzenegger Offered One Billion Dollars... from marijuana

[Neosutra]

I could be wrong but I think people are misunderstanding the Fairtax. It is a consumption tax, a flat tax on the sale of all new goods and services. It is NOT an income tax.

i know exactly what you are talking about. its a sales tax. it really is a regressive tax. it may appeal to YOUR sense of 'fairness' but it really isn't.

I'm not going to argue fairness, there will always be detractors, but how much better the Fairtax is better than what we have now, that to me is undeniable.

Really? A system that scales how much you give based on your income versus a system that targets the poor and hurts the economy?

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

I could be wrong but I think people are misunderstanding the Fairtax. It is a consumption tax, a flat tax on the sale of all new goods and services. It is NOT an income tax.

i know exactly what you are talking about. its a sales tax. it really is a regressive tax. it may appeal to YOUR sense of 'fairness' but it really isn't.

I'm not going to argue fairness, there will always be detractors, but how much better the Fairtax is better than what we have now, that to me is undeniable.

Really? A system that scales how much you give based on your income versus a system that targets the poor and hurts the economy?

Um...the Fairtax has nothing to do with your income. If the only thing a poor person buys is the necessities of life, then they are not taxed at all. And it makes no sense that it targets the poor LOL. Unless poor people are the only consumers in this country, then how does it? The Fairtax targets anyone who is a consumer, Including people who are not paying their taxes now, they have to eat and buy toilet paper to right?

As far as hurting the economy I think it will be the single greatest economic event to help this country out. Think about it. All of a sudden you will get to keep 100% of your paycheck. No more SS tax, medicare tax, income tax, capital gains tax, death tax, corporate income tax, self-employment tax, alternative minimum tax, the gift tax, etc etc. Thats more money in americans hands i.e. a better economy. A harvard economic professor did a research study and found that on average 22% of the cost of goods and services comes from the income tax. So think about that, most prices will drop about 22% and thats about what the Fairtax would be is 22%. So you have about the same prices and MORE money in your pocket. Just think about the stock market with no more capital gains tax.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

I could be wrong but I think people are misunderstanding the Fairtax. It is a consumption tax, a flat tax on the sale of all new goods and services. It is NOT an income tax.

i know exactly what you are talking about. its a sales tax. it really is a regressive tax. it may appeal to YOUR sense of 'fairness' but it really isn't.

I'm not going to argue fairness, there will always be detractors, but how much better the Fairtax is better than what we have now, that to me is undeniable.

Really? A system that scales how much you give based on your income versus a system that targets the poor and hurts the economy?

Um...the Fairtax has nothing to do with your income. If the only thing a poor person buys is the necessities of life, then they are not taxed at all. And it makes no sense that it targets the poor LOL. Unless poor people are the only consumers in this country, then how does it? The Fairtax targets anyone who is a consumer, Including people who are not paying their taxes now, they have to eat and buy toilet paper to right?

As far as hurting the economy I think it will be the single greatest economic event to help this country out. Think about it. All of a sudden you will get to keep 100% of your paycheck. No more SS tax, medicare tax, income tax, capital gains tax, death tax, corporate income tax, self-employment tax, alternative minimum tax, the gift tax, etc etc. Thats more money in americans hands i.e. a better economy. A harvard economic professor did a research study and found that on average 22% of the cost of goods and services comes from the income tax. So think about that, most prices will drop about 22% and thats about what the Fairtax would be is 22%. So you have about the same prices and MORE money in your pocket. Just think about the stock market with no more capital gains tax.

[simozene]

Hmmm, I didn't mean to completely derail the thread. If we wish to continue our discussion of the FairTax, please do so in the new thread. (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21602)

This discussion can continue talking about the Governator.

[Khamsin]

Well, its not as if the marijuana growers who offered him the check for $1 billion stipulated that marijuana must be legalized to cash the check.

He could still accept the money, and just not legalize marijuana. It seems implied they wanted it legalized, but nowhere do they say they explicitly asked for it in exchange for the money.

Although, if marijuana was legalized, he'd not only have the $1 billion, but also all the tax revenue generated by it.

So I guess its either $1 billion and don't legalize, or $1 billion + tax revenue and legalize.

...



They're not sitting there with a billion dollars cash going "lol hay here's a billion bucks legalize weeeed!"


The billions of dollars they're referring to *ARE* the taxes on legalized weed.


Like alcohol and tobacco.

So they didn't actually offer Arnold one billion dollars?

The Let Us Pay Taxes group has offered Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger one billion dollars to be put toward the budget crisis. The thing is; this money will be coming from a coalition of California marijuana growers and dealers. Whats the Terminator to do? Terminate the crisis with taxes that taxpayers would actually be willing to pay!

David Guard of StopTheDrugWar.org writes that regulation and taxation of marijuana could produce up to six billion dollars in additional tax revenue, according to economic studies linked from their web site LetUsPayTaxes.com.

They never once explicitly mention that the $1 billion was simply hypothetical money that he could be making if he legalized and taxed marijuana. They made it seem like they were actually offering $1 billion. Then they say that if he legalized and taxed marijuana, it could produce up to $6 billion.

[evilbau]

smoke a bowl for california!

*gets pulled over*
'This blunt is paying your salary!'

[Keno]

The prohibition of marijuana in this country is one of the nation's biggest mistakes (NASA being the only thing I can think of that is a bigger mistake). The drug has no chemical addictiveness, is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol products, and has never caused a single death. Even if you take the economics out of it, the drug should still be legalized. Once you factor in the potential taxation, potential reduction in law enforcement costs, potential reduction in jail costs, etc., it makes it even more outrageous that it is illegal.

[Correction]

and has never caused a single death.

Except for all those nice policemen in Mexico:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0816/p01s03-woam.html

What, do the traffickers get amnesty too?

[Khamsin]

The prohibition of marijuana in this country is one of the nation's biggest mistakes (NASA being the only thing I can think of that is a bigger mistake). The drug has no chemical addictiveness, is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol products, and has never caused a single death. Even if you take the economics out of it, the drug should still be legalized. Once you factor in the potential taxation, potential reduction in law enforcement costs, potential reduction in jail costs, etc., it makes it even more outrageous that it is illegal.

Although it does alter perception and impair judgment. That might be the reason it's illegal. Alcohol would be, too, if it weren't for people flat out ignoring prohibition.

[Alleya]

and has never caused a single death.

Except for all those nice policemen in Mexico:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0816/p01s03-woam.html

What, do the traffickers get amnesty too?

Uh...yes. They were killed fighting our drug war, which stems from the drug being illegal in the US. If it was legal there would no longer be a law enforcement problem around it.

[Khamsin]

If they legalize marijuana, they should still prohibit import/export of it to spur the US economy and allow customs drug enforcement officials to keep their jobs!

[Keno]

and has never caused a single death.

Except for all those nice policemen in Mexico:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0816/p01s03-woam.html

What, do the traffickers get amnesty too?

I should have specified: the USE of the drug has never been directly linked to a single death. Sure, people die constantly over the production/selling/exportation/etc. of the drug, but no one has died from smoking it.

If they legalize marijuana, they should still prohibit import/export of it to spur the US economy and allow customs drug enforcement officials to keep their jobs!

That's actually a pretty horrible idea. The customs/DEA agents are a serious money and time sink. Not to mention that when it comes to a free market (assuming we don't keep the price the same and use a difference tax), we will more efficiently produce and distribute the drug than probably any other country in the world. That means that prohibiting exports would hinder the economies expansion because of the lost opportunities at selling the drug, and prohibiting importation of the drug would mean that we don't have a free market for the drug. That means that once again there will be a black market for the drug and we will be back in the same predicament as we were before. If you prohibit the importation of marijuana then people are just going to smuggle it in and sell it on the black market for extremely cheap, because they don't have to pay the taxes that all the legal/domestic sellers do. Then people won't want to buy the legal stuff because it is too expensive and everyone will be forced back onto the black market, which will cause a failure of the domestic industry and a return to the exact situation we are in now.

[Charla]

blah blah blah blah hinder the economies expansion because of the lost opportunities at selling the drug, blah blah blah

I stopped reading there. Please don't try to talk about the economy's expansion until you learn to spell it.

[Jimmayus]

He was responding seriously to a joke comment, let him be ;;