I grew up in a state that doesn’t have
voter initiatives. I still think it’s kind of odd to have them when there is already a full time legislature. That’s what they’re there for.
Granted, I understand the opposite argument that it’s less weird and
more democratic to have initiatives, but I still think it’s a sign that the legislature is slacking if voters are trying to do things “on their own”.
But what really boggles my mind is that the state allows people from
other states to organize the initiatives. Like what happened with Prop 8. To me, that’s crazy. I can’t imagine that happening in Texas.
Imagine that the great state of Texas had initiatives and imagine one getting close to a vote that was even
only rumored to have a source in an out-of-state organization. All you would have to do to defeat the bill/ref/initiative would be just to use your deep Texas senatorial drawl and say, “ladies & gentlemen this here voter ref was financed by people from …. Oklahoma” (or some other lesser state) and boom, end of initiative.
That’s one of the reasons why I think it’s so weird that the peeps in CA let the folks in Utah organize and get stuff on their ballots.
links:
Sam Spade Blog rant on the LDS
La Times
and a Daily Show clip to lighten the mood
sacbee story
Currently on The Flood