Dopers Lobby the President

This is what happens when you don't screen the audience questions in advance:

As President Obama prepares to formally announce ideas on Tuesday for a new jobs bill, one thing that won't be on the list to spur job growth: legalizing prostitution, gambling, drugs and non-violent crime.

Prompted by a rather bizarre question from a Sophomore at Lehigh Carbon Community College who wanted to know – based on his criminology course studies – if the President has considered legalizing prostitution, some drugs, and releasing non-violent offenders to stimulate the economy, the President answered with an unequivocal no.

"I appreciate the boldness of your question," Mr. Obama said during his Allentown, PA jobs town hall, "That will not be my job strategy."

The president praised the student for "doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing," in college by "thinking in new ways about things."

"Part of what you're supposed to do in college is question conventional wisdom." Obama said.

How does releasing non-violent offenders stimulate the economy? It just puts more unemployed people on public assistance and reduces the number of jobs in the incarceration business. There's no stimulus there.

I'm sure there are many on the left that would agree with the idea of legalizing a host of drugs, provided they put a big tax on them, and as far as prostitution goes, that's something an academic would propose because they don't understand the effect on society. On paper they think it's a good idea, but in reality it could be very damaging.