From Reader Supported News:
American voters proved this week that when Congress fails to get something done, the people have the means to do it themselves. Direct democracy through statewide ballot initiatives has proven to be much more effective and more satisfying than waiting for a deadlocked Congress to catch up to the will of the people.
When Americans overwhelmingly supported increased background checks on gun purchases in the wake of almost two dozen children getting massacred in school, Congressional Republicans wouldn’t agree to anything. When 70 percent of Americans polled supported an increase in the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, Congressional Republicans refused to take action. When most Americans supported a “Buffett Rule” stating that billionaires should never pay a lower tax rate than working people by a 2 to 1 margin, Congressional Republicans dug in their heels and filibustered. Neither Democrats nor Republicans in Congress would dare to rein in the prison-industrial complex, much less even utter the phrase in the first place. And legalizing marijuana at the federal level? Forget about it.
However, ballot initiatives passed Nov. 4 accomplished all of those things in multiple states.