... let's get some* amendments passed in a few days, Florida.
[*some, as in 1 and 2 but not 3]
Amendment One guarantees that conservation will be funded by earmarking a percentage of real estate documentary stamp taxes instead of letting the legislature decide if/how much/how little it will choose to spend. Seeing as how it's predicted that many of you will follow my lead and migrate to Florida in the next few years (hmu when you're in town!), and seeing as how zombies or Ebola or the doomsday prepper community hasn't yet successfully "culled the herd" (yep, I said it), we're going to need some resources to keep the beautiful parts of Florida beautiful for when y'all arrive.
Amendment Two permits medical marijuana in the sunshine state. Look, we are generations past the supposed horrors laid out in Reefer Madness that never materialized. We're even decades beyond the "but I did not inhale" political logic. As I've said before during my time in Chicago, I was much happier with the downstairs neighbors who would play video games and smoke non stop until feasting on munchies and then passing out (well ... except for the frequent skunk smell, seeing as how they were too poor to buy the fancy stuff) than with the guy upstairs who would do the black out drunk thing until he tried to get in the back door of the apartment because he couldn't count the flights of stairs any more to remember if he was on the second or the third (which is where he belonged) OR the tweakers in the apartment across the back porch who "allegedly" stole the laptop to feed their habit. Realistically, in a state with this many old folks who might be needing to manage chronic pain, medical marijuana needs to be in the arsenal. (After all, we already have the Wilbur Weed law that was passed ... or is that Charlotte's Weed ... I can never remember.) Do it for the old folks. Do it for those dealing with pain daily. Do it for Thomas Jefferson (I'm sure he'd approve, what with his hemp business and all.)
Amendment Three plays with the rules for appointing judges so that an outgoing governor can fill vacancies instead of an incoming governor. I don't care with which party you are affiliated (or parties, what with this being Florida and all) ... last call is last call. You can't stack the deck on your way out the door with those that see your way ... especially with judges wielding their powers for many many years. Of course, every now and then there's a Kennedy who shifts to the middle, but more usually, it's just a power grab to plant like minded individuals in those seats. Governors should focus their end of tenure time with important things like shredding documents, offering pardons and working on moving out of the mansion.
(PS ... just because I'm on the subject ... locally, there are two other amendments, and both should get yes votes ... one to fund school improvements [like Whitney, I believe the children are our future ... unlike Whitney, I don't take naps in bathtubs {what? too soon?}] and the second to fund a series of after school programs [if I'm being completely honest, my yes vote might be because I think that those children who are our future are better served in a structured environment that running around my 'hood at that time of day]).
So let's go Florida. Election day is Nov 4. Many of you might be voting early. And, what with it being Florida, eight years ago (before my arrival), 57.8% of you passed an amendment that future amendments needed 60% to pass ... so it's time to spread the word to convert 6 out of 10 of your voting friends (remember, except Amendment Three). The clock is ticking ...
AMENDMENT ONE 101 (WITH ADDITIONAL LINKS TO RESEARCH):
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-ed-front-burner-amendment-1-intro-20141002-story.html
AMENDMENT TWO 101 (WITH SOME MYTH BUSTING FACTS):
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/floridas-medical-marijuana-proposal-five-things-to-know-about-amendment-2/2190045
AMENDMENT THREE 101 (& A SITE TO SEARCH THE OTHER AMENDMENTS TOO):
http://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Prospective_Judicial_Vacancies,_Amendment_3_(2014)
No comments:
Post a Comment