State of Hawaii needs to get their shit together

So the State of Hawaii is on the brink of destruction, and guess how our governor has decided to deal with the problem! Furloughs, yaaayyyy. Hawaii has no money, so instead of cutting back unneeded services, the politicians have to decided to take away money from the very people that need to SPEND money. What is going to happen when all these state workers get a 13% cut from their pay? Are they going to go out and stimulate the economy, or are they going to stay home and save cost anyway they can? I go for the latter...

We are not like the Continental U.S. Hawaii's economy is SOLELY based on spending; we are a tourist economy, and because this economic depression has hit the entire world, we locals are forced to assume the role of "tourist". This cannot happen, though, if a large part of our population is forced to take a 13% pay cut. We are essentially freezing our market and I will tell you this, unless something is done, Hawaii will reflect the highest unemployment rate in the country. Here's why:

Think about all the new commercial development in Hawaii: Target, Petco, Nordstrom, etc. These are huge buildings selling items for higher-than-walmart prices. In a few months, people (mainly addressing the state workers) won't want to pay more for something that walmart-down-the street sells for 3/4 of the price. These huge stores will then begin laying people off in order to balance out this loss of sales...boom, more unemployment...boom, less people paying for higher priced items...boom, more people laid off...boom, less people paying for higher priced items...boom, well you get the point. Before you know it, the only thing left will be Walmart.

So what can we do? I'm giving a lot of problems with no solutions, yah? There are two things that can save this State: Legalize marijuana and/or gambling

Legalizing marijuana would do two things for this state: reduce crime and increase tourism. Hawaii has become an extremely violent place; everyday, there are headlines of someone being murdered or beaten into a coma. Most times this is due to Alcohol (a legal drug) or Ice (illegal), but marijuana is never mentioned. There are a number of useless commercials out there preaching that marijuana is a horrible, elicit substance, but the one I would like to focus on is this: two guys sitting on a couch, not moving, just staring into space. The commercial then say's something like "my friends used to like to do fun stuff, now they just want to sit around and giggle." Well guess what, sitting around and giggling is a lot safer than half the shit kids do for fun nowadays! If everybody would just sit on a couch and giggle, instead of going to a bar--getting shitfaced drunk--then beating a stranger into a vegetable state, this world would be a safer place. Alcohol makes people extremely agitated and punchy, while marijuana is known for its calming effects...is this really even an argument? Legalizing marijuana would reduce crime.
Amsterdam; the name says it all and Hawaii could become the next amsterdam. Imagine how many people would flock to this state if we legalized marijuana! I use the word flock, because it would seriously look like a migration of birds...in fact, I think our hotel's would struggle to fit all the people! The choice for many college students would be this: Amsterdamn or Hawaii. Not even a choice...mix in the beautiful beaches, the gorgeous women, and the legalization of weed and we would become the ONLY destination spot for millions of people.

And then there was gambling. Yes, I know there are many cons to this source of capital, but there has to be a way to regulate who can and can't gamble. While Hawaii has one of the highest welfare rates in the country, there has to be a way that we could just ban people on welfare from using their cash to gamble. Actually, who cares? These people are stealing our tax dollars anyway, does it really matter if they waste it at the tables? The responsible welfare recipients would use it to support their families, but the irresponsible ones would probably just waste their checks on booze and ice...so either way, it's unproductive. For the rest of us, though, I think it would spark a HUGE economic boost. For comparison's sake, think of Las Vegas. Millions and millions of people travel to a DESERT to spend money at a craps table...let me emphasize: IT"S IN THE DESERT! There's absolutely NOTHING special about Las Vegas besides their casinos! While I am not hoping that Hawaii ever looks anything like Vegas, I am saying that bringing in a few casinos would dramatically boost our economy.

Well, enough of my ranting...what do you guys think?