Michigan Votes Forum

   This is a scary two way street.

    Most people would like the chance to vote on everything, however, we elect representatives to do that for us. To give the people the opportunity to vote on every issue that comes up would undermine the process of electing representatives, and give an unfair advantage to large groups of people who can sway a vote their way.

    A perfect example is the city of Detroit, and it's outlying suburbs. If an issue was put on the ballot that affected only them, the potential for the voting block there could out vote the rest of the state. This is why we have a senate and a house of representatives, to balance out the power one voting block could have over another.

Direct democracy works well only to the extent that participating citizens have real opportunity to debate and shape the final proposition that comes to a vote.  Ballot issues in Michigan provide only opportunity for a yes or no vote, and no opportunity for voters to construct the proposal itself.

If passed in popular election, this proposal would be a disasterous blow to our form of government in Michigan.  It should be rejected by the legislature.

Don't worry, folks.  Those legislators aren't about to give up their power to raise our taxes at will.

 I don't know why all you legislator want to raise taxes or put legislation for a tax increase up for a vote of the people.You know we the people oppose any tax hike because all it does is make your budget bigger and fatter.

We need real spending cut LIKE PART TIME LEGISLATOR FOR ALL OF MICHIGAN.

cen20474:

You know we the people oppose any tax hike because all it does is make your budget bigger and fatter.

 

Speak for youself and quit pretending to speak for "we the people."  You sure don't speak for me.

I don't enjoy paying taxes any more than anyone does.  Nor do I approve of wasteful spending.  But I also recognize and accept the reality that in order to function for the general welfare of its citizens, a government must have revenues, which will be generated by taxation.  Thus, I do not take not the knee-jerk, mindless reactionary's "no taxes" posture we hear so often expressed these days that it drowns out rational discussion of tax issues.

To reiterate what I've said before about this cockamamie proposal:  Direct democracy works only to the extent that the people voting on a particular proposition have the opportunity to debate aqnd shape it, in the role of legislators.  In Michigan, though, voters would only get opportunity to cast a yes or no vote on a proposition written and shaped by someone else.  They have no opportunity to form the proposition themselves. 

Thus, this really is not a proposal to expand democracy at all.  It is a proposal to further weaken our republican form of representative government through which individual citizens actually can wield some influence on the legislative process through contact with their elected representatives.   Like the failed experiment with legislative term limits this proposal actually would stifle rather than expand public opportunity to participate meaningfully in the process of governance.  That is why it should be rejected.