My bet is on decriminalized Marijuana. Even though it’s a small part of the economy, with cigarettes disappearing some state will want a new vice to tax.
Gambling
Health-care, unfortunately.
I’d like it to be decriminalized marijuana, but it ain’t gonna be. Though I think that’s something that may happen. It’s unfortunately going to be Socialized Medicine.
Nationally-recognized gay marriage I’m gonna put down as “Never ever.” Unfortunately, I fear that homosexuality is as accepted as it’s ever going to be, and I can easily imagine it getting less and less accepted over time.
What I really think needs to happen is a change in the basic concept of marriage in the first place.
Health care, and it’s about time, and they badly need it.
Hopefully none of them.
We’ve got a bogey over the left wing captain.
Welcome to P&R blackmox.
And I’m guessing from your previous posts you hail from my former fair state of Utah?
I voted for the first, because ultimately I think there are less vested interests opposing gay marriage than their are for marijuana or nationalized healthcare. Plus I could imagine it sloooowly creeping its way across the country in a way that wouldn’t really work for the others.
I’m going with The Pamplemousse. He just looks freakishly talented at the classic distance.
I voted for healthcare. Seeing that’s the cost that’s going to cause us the most pain in the very near future, it at least Should be the first thing solved.
Gay marriage won’t happen… because the last thing the government should define is the ‘Sanctity’ of something. America will come to it’s senses soon and define legal partnerships as, well, legal partnerships and there will be no need for "Nationally recognized gay marriage’. Gay-bashing bigots will then need to change their argument to criminalizing gay relationships, and they’ll be laughed out of the room.
Legalized marijuana will be forgotten because the current generation will graduate high school and care less about getting high.
And prostitution will be only legal in Nevada and soon be taxed. And us Nevadans will use this new enormous tax flow to buy everyone a puppy.
hmm… maybe i need a toke as well as a drink or 3
Boy, I’m glad that I live in a place that goes 2 out of 3 (3 out of 3 if you count decriminalizing the actual usage of pot).
… on the other hand, they are talking about making prostitution criminal. Backdoor and otherwise.
Actually, I am a military brat. Lived all over the place.
So why health care first?
I’m surprised that it’s first in the poll.
There’s actually a lot more advancement of gay marriage and legalized marijuana than there is of nationalized health care.
As far as I know the closest thing to nationalized health care is the Mass health insurance law while several states have gay marriage and several have decriminalized marijuana or medical exceptions that have loopholes you could drive a truck through (doctor I have insomnia please help me!!!).
I’d say that health care is going to have to come at a national level because no already bursting state budget can take it on and that’s going to be a tough sell. So a state by state marijuana or gay marriage change with a federal change later. For example reversing the defense of marriage act or a federal act making transportation or sale of small amounts of marijuana legal to accommodate the already changing state laws is a more realistic possibility.
Because it’s the only pony that involves increasing government power and spending.
In an absolute sense, it’s a bigger problem. The others represent non-problems for the majority of Americans, or at least non-obvious non-immediate problems.
If a magic genie gave me the choice of reforming America to have a sane national health care system or a bundle deal involving drug legalization, legalized gay marriage, and regulatory reform for a few industries that really need it, I’d go for the healthcare without hesitation.
Can you explain? The poll numbers certainly don’t agree.
Marijuana legalization 60% against.
Gay marriage 60% against. Civil unions are popular if you include gay marriage supporters on that, but gay marriage is not a popular position.
Health care 50%-70% for depending on the phrasing and specific question.
They’ll never make marijuana legal for the same reason it will take forever to have normalized relations with Cuba. Votes/politics.
I’m not talking about national polls, I’m talking about actual legislation and law.
Gay marriage or civil unions are legal in almost a third of the states now.
Marijuana decriminalization has already happened in several states and is in the legislature of even more.
Jason, I’m seriously starting to wonder if you can stop looking at your polls for a moment and start looking at what’s happening in the real world.
Take your Marijuana question, I totally believe that most people when asked point blank will say that they don’t think that Marijuana should be legalized.
But let’s say you ask these questions:
Do you believe that people caught smoking marijuana should receive a small fine and drug treatment if they have an addiction or do you believe that they should receive prison time, and have a crime on their records that keeps them from becoming gainfully employed or receiving college aid?
Do you believe that police should focus their efforts on finding and prosecuting occasional drug users or do you believe that police power should be focused on patrolling neighborhoods where there has been violent crime and theft?
Guess what, if you ask questions like that you’ll probably get an overwhelming majority supporting decriminalization, which is really all the pot smokers want. If it were decriminalized for a few years and people saw that the world hadn’t gone to hell in a hand basket they may support legalization and taxation which is what the hard core drug reformers want.
And now with gay marriage, lets say you ask:
Do you believe that people who partner with someone of the same sex should be able to choose who would raise their child in the event of their death?
Do you believe that a child of a homosexual should be able to have both parents covered by health insurance so that they can live in a stable and financially secure environment?
If you ask questions like that you’re going to get a majority of people supporting a legal structure that allows gay people to form civil unions. Then after a generation, kids growing up who are completely used to the idea of same sex couples choosing their life partners and having ceremonies just like their straight friends will find it laughable that people our age had a problem calling it gay marriage.
Nationalized health care is going to have to come with wealthy insurance companies and their stakeholders and health care workers and wealthy people who are afraid of an undue tax burden kicking and screaming all the way. I’m still picking this as the most unlikely scenario because it’s not going to happen state by state, little by little like the other two will.
Jason, please quit letting CNN pollsters do your thinking for you.
I forgot to put Cuba on the poll but since legislation reducing travel restrictions is already in the cards I’m betting I’ll be smoking a legal cigarro Cubano while drinking some nice Cuban rum in the US within the next decade or two.