My Bold Prediction

Obama's gonna try to legalize pot. Seriously. And it's not because I've called for legalization last month.

For a while I've been kicking around in my head how he's going to pay for all of this. Cap and trade is looking waaaaay less likely to pass without a major downsizing, and that means less revenue. Health care reform is still going to cost a ton. The easiest, and most painless way, to raise money is through pot legalization.

Teddy and I were cruising through stylish French Lick, Indiana last weekend, and we popped into the casino located there. The clientele is utterly blue collar - they have 2 cent slot machines populated with old folks who smoke cigs and take hits from their oxygen masks all the while pulling the one-armed bandits. It's like watching a scary, geriatric Busby Berkeley number. However despite all this exploitation of the old, sick poor, it still raises enough revenue to quench the thirst of government spending in the Hoosier state.

Sin taxes are the only really new and potentially bountiful source of government revenue that remain untapped. And Obama can combine the legalization revenue with a reallocation of cops who now focus pot busts and call it an increase in police protection. It's a total win-win.

And what's more, Yahoo news is reporting today pot legalization received a ton of attention during his town hall session on-line. It will happen folks - bet on it.