Damn Proposition M!

City-level ballot-issues (such as those we will be voting on next month in Los Angeles) highlight government ineptitude whenever they become a means for elected representatives to pass the buck on items they obviously lack the wherewithal and/or creativity to handle themselves.

Every once in a while, a real doozy manages to distinguish itself among inane company.  Here is the text of Charter Proposition M (bold added by me):

"In order to fund general municipal services, including but not limited to such matters as police protection and crime suppression services, fire prevention and suppression services, park and recreation facilities, and general improvements throughout the City, shall a tax be authorized on marijuana collectives of $50 per $1000 of gross receipts recognizing that the sale of marijuana is illegal?"

What a beautifully encapsulated display of the insulting arrogance, stupidity, incompetence, and hypocrisy of the people in charge of America's second-largest city.  What an illustrative example of the gluttonous have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too attitude that apparently once motivated them to get into politics.

It seems to me that a responsible government would either (a) enforce its laws, which as I understand it is one of government's primary functions, or (b) upon determining that the cost of enforcement makes no rational sense, revisit the laws' basis and justification as far as their relationship to the greater good, assuming benefit for the greater good to be even more essential than law enforcement.

What it should NOT do is present the voters with something like Proposition M, here re-worded for clarity:

"You people are a bunch of saps.  We don't mind admitting we can't do the job you pay us for -- what are you gonna do about it?  Even though we take in loads of money, we're corrupt and lazy, we've failed to balance the budget, and now we're broke.  Here's an absurd, self-contradictory idea you suckers are probably too foolish to spot as ludicrous and two-faced: give us permission to tax part of the black market so we can continue providing basic services.  Also, give us a chance to wash our hands of any responsibility to actually deal with anything."

Not to mention that the proposition is, in its own words, ILLEGAL -- if it passes, M will cost the city loads in legal fees.  But I guess times are tough, and lawyers need to work too.

If our society wants to benefit from the financial activity surrounding the flowering plant in question, we need to legalize its cultivation, sale, and usage.  That's the trade-off.  That's how things work.  The notion of taxing anything or anyone without granting legal status is baldly self-contradictory (if not straight-up evil) and undermines the legitimacy and authority governmental structures base themselves upon.