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State Legislators try to Limit the Power of Voters

posted by martyb on Tuesday December 04 2018, @11:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the How-much-does-your-vote-count dept.

stretch611 writes:

According to Reuters and The Washington Post:

Two of the Democratic Party’s biggest wins last month occurred in Wisconsin and Michigan, where their candidates won gubernatorial elections, unseating a well-known incumbent in the former and flipping the seat in the latter. In anticipation of having to work with a Democratic governor, state lawmakers are aiming to hurriedly pass legislation that would dilute the executives' powers.

The moves in both states have drawn comparisons to Republican efforts in NC in 2016, when lawmakers pushed through legislation limiting the authority of the state’s Democratic governor, after he defeated the incumbent Republican.

The proposals include preventing the incoming governor from withdrawing Wisconsin from a legal challenge to the federal Affordable Care Act, sidestepping the attorney general’s power to represent the state in litigation and rescheduling a 2020 election to boost the chances of a Republican state Supreme Court Justice, among others.

U.S. Republicans and Democrats have a history of using lame-duck sessions to advance priorities ahead of power shifts. Wisconsin Democrats in 2010 unsuccessfully tried to push through public union contracts after Walker won election while promising to get tough with organized labor.

Meanwhile, in Utah, lawmakers are getting ready to meet in a special lame-duck session on Monday (Dec 3rd) to rewrite a medical marijuana law that voters passed this November. Patient advocates are saying the move is an end run around voters.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Tuesday December 04 2018, @01:37PM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 04 2018, @01:37PM (#769532) Journal

    Why should the fool have has weighty a voice as the scholar?

    Why not? Is the scholar a fool as well? Do we have some sort of foolproof way to determine who are the fools?

    The answer to society's ill's is Freedom; voluntary trade; capitalism.

    Democracy helps out a lot with these things.

    Everything you think requires a State, well, doesn't.

    Bread and circuses as the obvious counterexample. When you have a bunch of people who are willing to sacrifice all those "answers" for fear, greed, envy, etc, you need something to keep them busy.

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  • (Score: 1) by fritsd on Tuesday December 04 2018, @04:45PM

    by fritsd (4586) on Tuesday December 04 2018, @04:45PM (#769643) Journal

    Why not? Is the scholar a fool as well? Do we have some sort of foolproof way to determine who are the fools?

    Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor!
    Und bin so klug als wie zuvor.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday December 05 2018, @03:37PM

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Wednesday December 05 2018, @03:37PM (#770113) Homepage Journal

    "Remember, Russia is a democracy. Iran is a democracy. America is a republic." Fox News.

    The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings ALL states, especially the smaller ones, into play.