White House Press Secretary Tries To Defend Obama’s Opposition

mcduffee420 · 03-30-2009, 05:19 PM

White House Press Secretary Tries To Defend Obama’s Opposition To Taxing And Regulating Pot — He Can’t!

March 30th, 2009 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
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If you thought President Barack Obama’s mocking response to the question of whether “taxing and regulating cannabis would raise revenue and reduce prohibition-associated violence” couldn’t be any worse, just listen to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stumble below.

Kudos to the reporters who held the White House’s feet to the fire on this one. First, Gibbs is asked: “When the President said he doesn’t think that legalizing marijuana would give the economy a boost was he giving a political answer or an economic answer? Does he have numbers to back (his position) up?”

The pained expression on Gibbs’ face says it all as he mumbles that, in fact, he is aware of no economic analyses — as in zip, nada — that support the President’s dismissive position. Naturally, we have numerous credible economic reports proving just the opposite. Perhaps Mr. Gibbs would like to review them here, here, here, and here.

Minutes later, the White House Press Secretary appears even more desperate for a place to hide when a second reporter asked Gibbs to articulate the reasons why the President refuses to consider the issue. Gibbs’ response is priceless.

“Uh, he, he does not think that, uh, uh, that that is uh, uh, [pause] he opposes it, he doesn’t think that that’s the, the right plan for America.”

And there you have it. Wow. Such a vapid response wouldn’t cut it if Gibbs was a third-grader standing in front of his classroom, no less the Press Secretary to the White House!

Keep in mind, both Obama and his press secretary knew in advance that they were going to publicly respond the question of taxing and regulating cannabis. They had at least 24 hours to prepare an articulate, rational, and substantive response. And yet the best response they could come up with was snickers and “uh.”

Are the final days of marijuana prohibition upon us? It sure looks that way from here. But why not write the President and ask him yourself.

norml.com

₪RapSody₪ · 04-01-2009, 04:12 PM

robert gibbs is a career kiss-ass who has no knowledge of basically any political subject. his job is literally to spin questions to make the president look better and intimidate reporters into not asking tough questions. as you can see, he's not very good at it. he comes off as a bumbling fool 95 percent of the time and always has a smug look of "why'd you just ask that question". just when you thought press secretaries couldn't get any dumber after dana perino, they give us this douche.

as for the issue itself, the stats speak for themselves. basically any reputable economist will recommend AT LEAST decriminalization of marijuana if not legalization. but that's not important to the white house, only poll numbers are.

C. Sense AKA L.J. · 04-01-2009, 06:06 PM

why do you want weed regulated? they gon tax the shit out of it...weed bein illegal aint makin u stop smokin it. if u get caught smokin weed uza dumb muthafucka. decriminalizing yea, legalizing it and taxin it? suck my balls...i'll keep it nice and cheap

u see what they doin to cigarettes, imagine what theyd do to weed...

₪RapSody₪ · 04-01-2009, 08:01 PM

marijuana would be LESS expensive if it was legalized and regulated. i don't agree with taxing it any more than i would cigarettes or alcohol, but having it legal and taxed would be much more beneficial than our current system of treating marijuana smokers like criminals. in some states, 3 possession charges can result in a LIFE SENTENCE WITHOUT PAROLE.

you think cigarettes are expensive now, imagine if they were illegal. they would be 15 bucks a pack. prohibition ALWAYS drives the price of a good UP not DOWN, regardless of how heavily regulated it is. that's basic economics.. scarcity always causes prices to rise.

decriminalization would not get rid of the problem fully because the drug trade would still be underground. driving the market underground causes violence and gives rise to drug cartels. just like with alcohol prohibition creating mob bosses from their illegal alcohol proceeds, prohibition of marijuana causes drug cartels to become more and more powerful. the current system makes no sense, economic or otherwise.

mcduffee420 · 04-01-2009, 08:25 PM

yea i can smoke illegally like once a week on a sunday thats about it when my brother or my brother in law come into town n smoke me up n let me keep the roach....otherwise 45$ a bag....with taz a dimebag would be less so id be getting a better deal

Whoo_Kid · 04-11-2009, 11:23 PM

what rapsody said, legalizing weed would actually drive the price down due to an open and legal competition

03-30-2009, 05:19 PM	#1
mcduffee420 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: minnesota_st.cloud Posts: 686 Repped: 169 Repped 81 Times in 40 Posts Neg Reps: 10 Neg Repped at 31 Times in 22 Posts	White House Press Secretary Tries To Defend Obama’s Opposition White House Press Secretary Tries To Defend Obama’s Opposition White House Press Secretary Tries To Defend Obama’s Opposition To Taxing And Regulating Pot — He Can’t! March 30th, 2009 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director Share this Article Share This Page on del.icio.us Share This Page on digg Share This Page on Stumble Upon Share This Page on Facebook Share This Page on Technorati Get the Feed to this Blog If you thought President Barack Obama’s mocking response to the question of whether “taxing and regulating cannabis would raise revenue and reduce prohibition-associated violence” couldn’t be any worse, just listen to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stumble below. Kudos to the reporters who held the White House’s feet to the fire on this one. First, Gibbs is asked: “When the President said he doesn’t think that legalizing marijuana would give the economy a boost was he giving a political answer or an economic answer? Does he have numbers to back (his position) up?” The pained expression on Gibbs’ face says it all as he mumbles that, in fact, he is aware of no economic analyses — as in zip, nada — that support the President’s dismissive position. Naturally, we have numerous credible economic reports proving just the opposite. Perhaps Mr. Gibbs would like to review them here, here, here, and here. Minutes later, the White House Press Secretary appears even more desperate for a place to hide when a second reporter asked Gibbs to articulate the reasons why the President refuses to consider the issue. Gibbs’ response is priceless. “Uh, he, he does not think that, uh, uh, that that is uh, uh, [pause] he opposes it, he doesn’t think that that’s the, the right plan for America.” And there you have it. Wow. Such a vapid response wouldn’t cut it if Gibbs was a third-grader standing in front of his classroom, no less the Press Secretary to the White House! Keep in mind, both Obama and his press secretary knew in advance that they were going to publicly respond the question of taxing and regulating cannabis. They had at least 24 hours to prepare an articulate, rational, and substantive response. And yet the best response they could come up with was snickers and “uh.” Are the final days of marijuana prohibition upon us? It sure looks that way from here. But why not write the President and ask him yourself. norml.com

04-01-2009, 04:12 PM	#2
₪RapSody₪ [name pending] emcee Join Date: May 2004 Location: B-Town, IN Posts: 1,139 Repped: 13 Repped 70 Times in 40 Posts Neg Reps: 4 Neg Repped at 5 Times in 4 Posts	robert gibbs is a career kiss-ass who has no knowledge of basically any political subject. his job is literally to spin questions to make the president look better and intimidate reporters into not asking tough questions. as you can see, he's not very good at it. he comes off as a bumbling fool 95 percent of the time and always has a smug look of "why'd you just ask that question". just when you thought press secretaries couldn't get any dumber after dana perino, they give us this douche. as for the issue itself, the stats speak for themselves. basically any reputable economist will recommend AT LEAST decriminalization of marijuana if not legalization. but that's not important to the white house, only poll numbers are. __________________ we're prepared to shed blood and die as martyrs for the roundtable

04-01-2009, 08:01 PM	#4
₪RapSody₪ [name pending] emcee Join Date: May 2004 Location: B-Town, IN Posts: 1,139 Repped: 13 Repped 70 Times in 40 Posts Neg Reps: 4 Neg Repped at 5 Times in 4 Posts	marijuana would be LESS expensive if it was legalized and regulated. i don't agree with taxing it any more than i would cigarettes or alcohol, but having it legal and taxed would be much more beneficial than our current system of treating marijuana smokers like criminals. in some states, 3 possession charges can result in a LIFE SENTENCE WITHOUT PAROLE. you think cigarettes are expensive now, imagine if they were illegal. they would be 15 bucks a pack. prohibition ALWAYS drives the price of a good UP not DOWN, regardless of how heavily regulated it is. that's basic economics.. scarcity always causes prices to rise. decriminalization would not get rid of the problem fully because the drug trade would still be underground. driving the market underground causes violence and gives rise to drug cartels. just like with alcohol prohibition creating mob bosses from their illegal alcohol proceeds, prohibition of marijuana causes drug cartels to become more and more powerful. the current system makes no sense, economic or otherwise. __________________ we're prepared to shed blood and die as martyrs for the roundtable

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04-01-2009, 06:06 PM	#3
C. Sense AKA L.J. Still a Buc Join Date: May 2006 Location: Tampa Bay Posts: 4,476 Repped: 371 Repped 403 Times in 174 Posts Neg Reps: 14 Neg Repped at 24 Times in 18 Posts	why do you want weed regulated? they gon tax the shit out of it...weed bein illegal aint makin u stop smokin it. if u get caught smokin weed uza dumb muthafucka. decriminalizing yea, legalizing it and taxin it? suck my balls...i'll keep it nice and cheap u see what they doin to cigarettes, imagine what theyd do to weed...

04-01-2009, 08:25 PM	#5
mcduffee420 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: minnesota_st.cloud Posts: 686 Repped: 169 Repped 81 Times in 40 Posts Neg Reps: 10 Neg Repped at 31 Times in 22 Posts	yea i can smoke illegally like once a week on a sunday thats about it when my brother or my brother in law come into town n smoke me up n let me keep the roach....otherwise 45$ a bag....with taz a dimebag would be less so id be getting a better deal

04-11-2009, 11:23 PM	#6
Whoo_Kid Cleveland Faithful Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,229 Repped: 1,081 Repped 1,004 Times in 428 Posts Neg Reps: 36 Neg Repped at 54 Times in 43 Posts	what rapsody said, legalizing weed would actually drive the price down due to an open and legal competition