So, I was reading the latest article on the subject of gun control, when some numbers popped out at me:
The current communist California Lt. Governor just made a splash by introducing the latest gun-grabbing effort. Gavin Newsome is one of those pols who thinks his gun, kept in his pants, needs to be whipped out and fired at every opportunity at any female in the area.
That said, what grabbed my attention was this:
The number of signatures required to get an initiative on the ballot in California: 366,000
The population of California: 38.8 million (2014)
Which brings us to our own state.
The number of signatures required to get an initiative on the ballot in Washington: 246,372
The population of Washington: 7.062 million (2014)
So, by percentage, California requires a little over 9/10's of 1% of their population to get an issue onto the ballot, while our state requires roughly 3.5% of our state's population to get an issue on the ballot.
Of the two bars to climb over to make the ballot... which is the one most connected to actual democracy?
I'm a big believer in the will of the people when that will is expressed through the results of a truthful campaign. When it isn't, like in the pot initiative where lying about revenue was the order of the day, along with all of the provably non-existent "benefits" to law enforcement... who now have shifted their policing from possession to sales... to make sure the state gets their cut... we are seeing roughly 10% of the revenue promised, a number that will drop even more now that Oregon has legalized and undercut Washington prices.
If California's rule were implemented here, of roughly 9/10's of 1% of OUR population, the signatures required would be roughly 63,000 or so.
That's a fearful vision for many, who would claim that the large population centers like Seattle and so forth, would dictate the outcomes in these efforts.
I'd risk it.
Of course there are bad ideas that make the ballot. But we've got that now, as in any of the moronic WEA initiatives.
I advocate opening up democracy to allow us to have more say in how we are governed.
This would accomplish that.
The current communist California Lt. Governor just made a splash by introducing the latest gun-grabbing effort. Gavin Newsome is one of those pols who thinks his gun, kept in his pants, needs to be whipped out and fired at every opportunity at any female in the area.
That said, what grabbed my attention was this:
The number of signatures required to get an initiative on the ballot in California: 366,000
The population of California: 38.8 million (2014)
Which brings us to our own state.
The number of signatures required to get an initiative on the ballot in Washington: 246,372
The population of Washington: 7.062 million (2014)
So, by percentage, California requires a little over 9/10's of 1% of their population to get an issue onto the ballot, while our state requires roughly 3.5% of our state's population to get an issue on the ballot.
Of the two bars to climb over to make the ballot... which is the one most connected to actual democracy?
I'm a big believer in the will of the people when that will is expressed through the results of a truthful campaign. When it isn't, like in the pot initiative where lying about revenue was the order of the day, along with all of the provably non-existent "benefits" to law enforcement... who now have shifted their policing from possession to sales... to make sure the state gets their cut... we are seeing roughly 10% of the revenue promised, a number that will drop even more now that Oregon has legalized and undercut Washington prices.
If California's rule were implemented here, of roughly 9/10's of 1% of OUR population, the signatures required would be roughly 63,000 or so.
That's a fearful vision for many, who would claim that the large population centers like Seattle and so forth, would dictate the outcomes in these efforts.
I'd risk it.
Of course there are bad ideas that make the ballot. But we've got that now, as in any of the moronic WEA initiatives.
I advocate opening up democracy to allow us to have more say in how we are governed.
This would accomplish that.
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