(June 24, 2016 at 10:48 am)Whateverist the White Wrote: When I was in high school I loved the idea of government by referendum. I soon came to hate it when I realized elected representatives were using it to duck accountability on politically charged decisions and that votes were determined by money and campaigns which appealed to voter's emotions. I routinely vote against any referendum issue (and we get a lot of them in California), unless it is something really pressing which I fear the gutless cowards in the state house will fail to deal with otherwise. Spineless bastards.
I see your point WTW, but I like the referendum voting. While yes it does take the "accountability" from the representative, I view it more as this issue is so divided and has far reaching impact that it must be left to the people to decide. How many issues or decisions are made by our representatives that we wish we had a say in? There are some bills that are passed that are widely unpopular but because the party of representatives has a majority it was able to pass. The system has flaws but I applaud the referendums that leave the decisions in the hand of the voters that are impacted as opposed to the representatives who "represent" themselves.
We are not made happy by what we acquire but by what we appreciate.