The United States War on Drugs has been a periodic topic in the news for the past 40 years. Are we winning? Who is the enemy? Who are the players? Well the answer to the last question is... it keeps changing. Much the same as a soap opera the story line stays the same but the characters come and go. They, the enemy, replace Drug Lords as old ones are jailed or killed off and we replace our soldiers (war on drugs czars) with each new administration. The U.S. strategy of capturing or eliminating the heads of Drug Organization and disrupting trafficking and money flow has remained the same.
The United States War on Drugs, depending on what article you read is having varying degrees of success. Our soldiers have intercepted tons of illegal narcotics and millions of the enemy's money. Trafficking routs have been interrupted and the cartels of the 80's and 90's have been dismantled. Our efforts should be praised for successes and for the persistent manner with which we attempt to stem the flow of illicit drugs into our country.
The United States War on Drugs is responsible for 500,000 of the prisoners that populate US prisons today. This number eclipses the number of prisoners for all criminal offenses in Western Europe. If we include the prison costs and combine federal and state expenditures for the War on Drugs the dollar estimate is 40 billion a year. Prisons aren't the only institutions that are full. Drug Rehab Centers are full of patients trying to get off the drugs that somehow find their way to our streets. Illegal drug trade is a lucrative business and as long as there is a market for drugs; drugs will continue to flow in the streets of America. The war on drugs can only be won when our society takes responsibility for the continuing demand of these drugs. Our culture of escapism and quick fixes is not working. These problems must be addressed in our families, schools and spiritual institutions and then we may see a real difference in the war on drugs.
"Do as I say, not as I do" is the old adage and it is very interesting to see how that quote plays out daily with our leaders in the house and senate, but what about our President? It has been hypothesized that if Barack Obama was not in politics then he'd be an ACLU Lawyer fighting for his concept of justice. After all, he was involved in suing CitiGroup to insure that they made home loans to African Americans in the poor areas around Chicago.
He is always looking out for the little guy, as he liked to state while in politics in Chicago, and that means retirees on fixed incomes and Americans who are at the mercy of things beyond their control when it comes to their financial security.
Okay, fine, I'll buy that line of reasoning, but with that, I'd like to ask if Obama's comments after he was elected President of the United States of America, which drove down the stock market some 3,000 plus points, beyond the control of the common man; if indeed these investors should be made whole? If his answer is yes, fine. But they should not be made whole by printing money, driving the remaining dollars to all time lows or taxing the American People.
The real culprit is the irresponsible President who used this doom and gloom talk to drive down the market in the first place, just so he could get his stimulus bill passed, which was actually political payback to all the democrat supporters over the years and fulfillment of the big jump towards socialism that had been blocked by more prudent men.
How can the American People be made whole for President Obama's irresponsible words? Can we sue the president, if so, how long would it take him to pay back the 1.85 trillion dollars that left the market? My guess is that he'd be writing memoirs for another 67,000 years if my calculations are correct. Think on this.
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