We the People   

   Go ahead. Make fun of Florida's election foibles. 

   But while you're laughing about hanging chads and misplaced ballots, we the people are running rings around our legislature and special interests. We just pass amendments to the state constitution.

   This November, there were 12 proposals on the ballot, including: phasing out greyhound racing, restoring voting rights to most felons who did their time, voter control of gambling, and crime victim rights. We exceeded the required bar of 60 percent approval on all but one proposal, and 58 percent supported that one "failure."  

   This blogger is not qualified to judge all the merits, and we don't particularly like messing with any constitution. But, if the tortoises don't get anywhere, we'll be the hares. Yea!

   Maybe in 2020 we'll clean up the algae mess in South Florida. Sorry, Big Sugar. 

   Get ready. Ban Assault Weapons Now is collecting hundreds of thousands of voter signatures required to make the next ballot. The Miami group has to convince us this is not about disarming law-abiding gun owners.

   For starters, those who already own assault weapons would be exempt, just required to register. If Floridians don't want the ban, it won't pass. We the people, not politicians or special interests, will make the call. A win either way.

   Would this be a slippery slope to banning all guns? This year, some argued that banning greyhound racing could lead to the end of our fishing and hunting rights. Fact or scare tactic?

   After Parkland, 62 percent of Florida voters favored a ban on the sale of assault weapons. We can assume some of those polled believe in the Second Amendment. Many must be Republicans. 

   But, caution: Frequent amendments may work for awhile, but it's a dangerous departure from (honest) representative government. This approach on a national level would be a disaster. Hello, failed government.  

      Jimmy