For all Florida voters...

[DocRafiki]

Still no one has explained what is so bad about an amendment. Really, I don't know. Explain it to me like I'm in 8th grade.

 

[bsnyder]

Jen, if you think about the Constitution of the United States, you think about a framework for how the country works, right? And then the individual laws that Congress passes deal with all the many details that uphold the Constitution.

Our state constitution works in a similar manner.

It's a broad framework for what kind of state goverment we want to have.

The legislature passes laws and regulations that deal with the details, like should be allow hog farmers to crate pregnant pigs.

My vote against the amendment doesn't mean I don't care about the pregnant pigs, or that I don't think it's cruel treament, it's just that it's an inappropriate way to regulate the hog industry.

 

[JDY]

I'd be more worried about Jeb being re-elected and Katherine "rules, what rules?" Harris getting into office.

 

[WillyJ]

I cannot believe you people in Florida are actually voting about pigs!!!


I mean c'mon. . this is the. .

Whoops, gotta run and check on how the vote on cockfighting is going here. .

 

[Princess Michelle]

I voted against it.

 

[bsnyder]

LOL, Willy!

And the latest tally on the HAMendment is:

With 87% of the votes tallied, the pigs are leading handily -

54.9% to 45.1%

 

[Galahad]

Still no one has explained what is so bad about an amendment. Really, I don't know. Explain it to me like I'm in 8th grade.

It is not really bad, per se. I'm against it simply because an issue like that shouldn't be enshrined in a State's constitution, but, like Bet said, should be legislated in the statehouse.

Also, there are only 2 large farms in the entire state that will be affected by this. It was mainly seen as a test run for animal rights groups.

Opponents have said that they use the pens the way they do because the mother pig is not your best role model for motherhood and tends to roll over and crush her nursing piglets if given too much room.

 

[DocRafiki]

Thanks, Bet. That gives me a little more of an idea of what you guys are thinking, but I'm still unclear. It seems like there is an emotional reaction to any kind of amendment to the holy constitution, like you're trying to change the bible or something.

Galahad... THAT is why I didn't sign the original petition that I talked about. I've been on pig farms and seen these "pens" (they're really more like stanchions) and knew what they were for. Not using them means more piglets die and farming efficiency decreases, which means either prices go up or the farmers cut corners in other ways and so the pigs still suffer. Besides, the pigs are only supposed to be in those "pens" while they're with their offspring.

So, when I saw that ad on TV, I was telling my tech how misleading it was, and she started telling me that this vote was about an entirely different issue; this one was about the pens where the pigs had to stay 24/7 for their entire lives. She gave me some literature on it, but since I missed the voter registration deadline anyway, I was in no hurry to read it and still haven't gotten to it.

Anyway, if an amendment is the easiest way for a group of citizens to get a law passed, more power to them. Like I said, I don't know anything about the law, and I know it's not something I'm going to understand from a short lesson on the DIS.

I do think it's a joke that people are voting on important decisions without having a clue as to the facts (like OH YEAH sounds good to have reduced class size, but I'm too stupid to wonder how much it's going to cost me and if it's even possible).

JMH and uninformed O