ANOTHER Political Quiz

In Oregon we can vote on bills from initiative petitions if they get enough valid signatures and bills that are referred by the legislature. We also get laws that are passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor. I am not sure what decides whether it goes to the people or just the legislature. The legislature seems to mostly make decisions about budget items.In the past their we some bills passed by the people that clearly were unconstitutional and cost a bunch of wasted tax money to have repealed.The bills are screened more closely now for obvious flaws but some still slip through. There are usually a few really stupid measures on the ballot and they usually get voted down, but not always. We have had more than our share of the discriminatory anti-gay measures, it seems to me.We have had some that really turned out great and have stood the test of time. Our bottle bill and the public beach bill are 2 that I like. The Oregon coast is all public land. There are no private beaches.Oregonians have have voted down sales taxes something like 9 times and also self-service gas pumping.Occasionally we will have two opposing bills on the ballet and it creates a real mess when they both pass. At least when that happens we all get a good laugh.It does seem to me that on some of the major issues (like health care, Social Security, the future of publicly funded science, etc.) that will affect the whole country, maybe for decades, that some form of referendum should be passed to the voters. I feel this should especially happen in cases where Congress is going against the will of the people by a large margin.Maybe, as polarized as the whole country seems to be right now, we would end up being just as grid locked and angry if the people were voting directly as we are with the assholes in Congress.

We mostly look at it as we don't have to pump our own gas. It provides quite a few jobs. Our prices don't seem to be higher than neighboring states where you have to pump your own.

As I remember, I have voted several times on this and every time I imagined my elderly mother having to pump her own gas in the winter in Bend, Oregon.

I don't know about that. The pump nozzles have a rubber gizmo the seals against the gas tank filler hole that helps limit the fumes.It used to be that it was mostly high school kids working part time pumping gas, but the guys at my favorite gas station started working there in high school and are still there 30 years later.

And they should have to live in barracks during their term.I have often wondered whether it would work if our representatives were chosen by lottery, like jurors. A single term and you are free. The problem is that there might be a high rate of suicide. Just think of spending even 2 years doing nothing but sitting in meetings. I know it would drive me crazy, but my odds of being chosen from 200 million other people would be an low enough to risk it.

A staggered system would work, but we could also make learning how the government works part of high school education.The issues would end up being much simpler, I think. No more complex multi-thousand page bills with exceptions and amendments, especially unrelated amendments.I know these kinds of changes in how we organize and govern ourselves will never happen, anymore than RAZD's great ideas will, but I still find myself thinking, "What if?"

So now you're anti-skiing? Have you no shame?

They would think the controversy is about whether cherry or apple is best.