John Oliver Devotes Segment To The Importance Of Tomorrow's State Elections

"The Guardian: John Oliver's Viral Video Is The Best Climate Debate You'll Ever See"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-guardian-john-olivers-viral-video.html

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John Oliver devoted a segment on his show last night to talking about the importance of state-level elections. He's dead on: With divided government, whoever controls the Senate will only limited control over the national agenda. Intraparty disputes and partisan rancor will ensure that Congress remains as impotent as ever.

“This Congress is shaping up to be the least productive in history,” Oliver said . “Although to be fair, Congress is like jazz — it’s really about the bills it’s not passing. It’s also like jazz in that most people hate it and anyone who says they don’t are lying. And the Senate is likely to remain in active.”

Oliver added, "Down at the local level, everything is happening."

There might be a good bit of truth to this pessimistic view about the congressional elections, and Oliver is right that these local and state elections that are making the mid-terms especially exciting. Voters' choices in gubernatorial races and state house elections and on ballot initiatives this year will haveimportant consequences.

The minimum wage is an example of an issue where state governments are filling the gap created by Congressional inaction.

On Tuesday, voters are expected to vote to raise the minimum wage in Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota, as surveys show that increasing the minimum wage has bipartisan public support. None of the initiatives would increase the minimum wage as much as many workers' advocates have called for nationally. But if the measures pass, then most states will have a higher minimum wage than the current federal floor of $7.25 an hour. Democrats are likely to rely heavily on the minimum wage in their economic policy platform in 2016, so economists will be watching closely to see how increases affect businesses and standards of living state by state.

There are also important ballot questions on criminal justice. Voters in Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia will decide whether or not to legalize marijuana (although weed will remain illegal under federal law). According to a new poll, a measure in California that would relax penalties on several crimes is likely to pass. The initiative would classify small-time theft and the possession of drugs such as cocaine and heroine as misdemeanors rather than felonies.

Ballot initiatives make voters' power to create policy especially clear, but of course, they'll also be electing the lawmakers and governors who will set the agenda in each state. Republicans could take control of more statehouses than ever on Tuesday, although the party's candidates are in trouble in Kansas. Gov. Sam Brownback is slightly behind in the most recent polls, pointing to voters' concerns about his supply-side economic reforms. If he loses, his opponent will probably undo many of Brownback's sweeping changes to the tax code.

If you're tired of reading about the approaching midterms, then look into your local races. There may well be some big issues being debated there. And if not, at least we only have one more day.