Howard509
4th August 2009, 07:40
I do not believe there is a substantial enough difference between Republicans and Democrats to choose between them, and our electoral system has pretty much made third parties irrelevant. Further, a person who upholds self-ownership and individual sovereignty would not choose his master at the ballot box.
However, I believe that voting on ballot propositions, the closest we have to direct democracy, is sometimes important and justified. This November, Spokane voters will be considering a Community Bill of Rights. I haven't decided yet how I will vote, or if I'll even vote at all, but it's at least worth following and learning more about:
Spokane Voters May Decide “Community Bill of Rights”
Posted: Monday, July 6, 2009
Spokane may be the first Northwest city to vote on a so-called “Community Bill of Rights.” The document aims to give more power to neighborhood groups and labor unions. Voters in about a hundred cities and towns in the east have adopted similar measures. Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports the sponsors in Spokane submitted their signatures today.
Just as the Bill of Rights is a set of amendments to the U.S. Constitution, Spokane’s “Community Bill of Rights” is a set of amendments to the city charter.
Among other things, the measure would require private developers to pay workers prevailing wage rates on certain construction projects. It would mandate that the city of Spokane create preventive health care programs for people who don’t have insurance.
Kai Huschke from the group Envision Spokane says it would also give neighborhood councils the authority to reject unwanted developments.
Huschke: “This really stems from a lot of the neighborhoods seeing development take place where they live and realizing that the neighborhood has been powerless to stop that. And this is about creating some equity there.”
Spokane’s ballot measure is patterned after those adopted in dozens of eastern cities. For example, two towns in southern Maine towns prohibited the Swiss company Nestle from bottling millions of gallons of their local spring water.
nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=5773[/url]
All I really know so far is that Ron Paul Republicans are against it, accusing the Community Bill of Rights of being communistic.
Envision Spokane: Coalition Works to Get “Community Bill of Rights” into City Charter
i2.democracynow.org/2009/4/21/envision_spokane_coalition_works_to_get
However, I believe that voting on ballot propositions, the closest we have to direct democracy, is sometimes important and justified. This November, Spokane voters will be considering a Community Bill of Rights. I haven't decided yet how I will vote, or if I'll even vote at all, but it's at least worth following and learning more about:
Spokane Voters May Decide “Community Bill of Rights”
Posted: Monday, July 6, 2009
Spokane may be the first Northwest city to vote on a so-called “Community Bill of Rights.” The document aims to give more power to neighborhood groups and labor unions. Voters in about a hundred cities and towns in the east have adopted similar measures. Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports the sponsors in Spokane submitted their signatures today.
Just as the Bill of Rights is a set of amendments to the U.S. Constitution, Spokane’s “Community Bill of Rights” is a set of amendments to the city charter.
Among other things, the measure would require private developers to pay workers prevailing wage rates on certain construction projects. It would mandate that the city of Spokane create preventive health care programs for people who don’t have insurance.
Kai Huschke from the group Envision Spokane says it would also give neighborhood councils the authority to reject unwanted developments.
Huschke: “This really stems from a lot of the neighborhoods seeing development take place where they live and realizing that the neighborhood has been powerless to stop that. And this is about creating some equity there.”
Spokane’s ballot measure is patterned after those adopted in dozens of eastern cities. For example, two towns in southern Maine towns prohibited the Swiss company Nestle from bottling millions of gallons of their local spring water.
nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=5773[/url]
All I really know so far is that Ron Paul Republicans are against it, accusing the Community Bill of Rights of being communistic.
Envision Spokane: Coalition Works to Get “Community Bill of Rights” into City Charter
i2.democracynow.org/2009/4/21/envision_spokane_coalition_works_to_get