Federal Gridlock

Well it seems voters wanted to end gridlock in washington, so they voted for those causing the gridlock ... in part because -- once again -- the GOP controlled the message machines, and in part because DEMs ran away from the President and what they accomplished in SPITE of the GOP.Could they have done more? yes - they could have campaigned on the successes (including controlling ebola) they could done more to highlight GOP obstructionism, from the government shutdown (and how proud they were of it) to the failure to pass job bills, equal pay bills, minimum wage bills, immigration bills, etc etc etcCould WE have done more? yes - we could have put ballot initiatives on the state ballots to cover a number of issues stalled in congress:1. minimum wage $10.10/hr, to match the Obama federal contract minimum wage ...
2. equal pay for work of equal value ...
3. student loans at fed rate of interest, interest currently paid or incurred recalculated ...
4. repeal Citizen's United ruling to get money out of politics ...
5. national referendum on tax reform, closing loopholes ...
6. union bill of rights -- that people have a right to join a union ...
7. add Medicare as single-payer option to the ACA ...
8. add a "none of the above" option to all representative categories ...
9. add a voters bill of rights -- that all citizens of the US have a right to vote without obstruction ... that any changes to voter laws, including all "voter ID" laws, would be phased in over a four year period, that photo IDs could be obtained at the polling station the next time a registered person votes, that registration included getting a photo ID for all new registrants, and that the "indelible ink stained thumb" system be used to prevent multiple voting until the transition period is over ...Do it as a populist movement that crosses party lines and goes around congress to find solutions.Enjoy

We will continue to have gridlock because Cruz and McConnell come from different parties and have different goals.To say nothing about GOP senators that will be running for president ...Enjoy

Which version? I have Ubuntu, but haven't upgraded to 14 yet. And I don't vote for anybody that is unopposed.So what do you think about using ballot initiatives to get the issues to the public for direct votes?Getting items on the ballots so people can vote on them directly goes around the political representatives in order to get things done, as a populist movement that can cross party lines to find solutions. These can be written up as bills to be passed, so it would be like ALEC for people.Enjoy

So you would be in favor of using voter initiates on election ballots to deal with these issues directly rather than relying on the politicians?Enjoy

Aren't voter initiatives on the ballots a way of getting that vested interest? I would think that minimum wage laws and equal pay laws would provide incentive to a lot of people with a vested interest in a more just wage than they currently have. For me it comes down to education and the ability to recognize political shinola and distraction propaganda to be able to sort their interests from those of the TV ads.Your parents now know, for instance, that the GOP platform against the ACA was false, misleading and inaccurate.Voter initiatives can address issues and educate voters regardless of party affiliation. You will still have the big companies fighting voter initiatives on things like GMO labels and stopping the XL pipeline ... but it will be corporations against people rather than democrat against republican.Enjoy