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Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

whitehouse.gov

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Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#91

Post by jjguy »

pdonis wrote: post #78
sprobertson wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a quick search and it looks like it might be election related: "... eight different petitions requesting secession following the outcome of the November presidential election. The petition for the state of North Carolina to secede from the union earned more 31,835 signatures, while South Carolina's had just over 26,000." http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Official-White-House-response...

Which begs the question: why are people petitioning the White House to have their states secede from the Union? That's just stupid on so many levels that I don't even know where to begin.

I read it as evidence of the erosion of state's rights. Perception is reality and those folks clearly thought they needed Daddy DC's permission.

We nationalize too many issues on which our nation is deeply divided. If, instead of bickering for years over an issue in Congress, we pushed those decisions back to the states, then local initiatives would be put into place. With time, the right solutions would naturally develop. Competition is king.

Of course, doing so takes strength and wisdom from our Congressmen to admit they could not come to a national compromise. Many will call it failure. Thus, it will not occur.

Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#92

Post by cperciva »

tptacek wrote: post #84

Wait, the most signatures ever received on a petition is 300,000, and they're setting the threshold for a response to a petition at 1/3rd of that?

Once a petition crosses the threshold, people are far less likely to continue signing it.

Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#93

Post by redthrowaway »

res0nat0r wrote: post #86
redthrowaway wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alright, the Piers Morgan one I understand, but the Death Star one was awesome both because it was inherently funny, and because it gave the administration a chance to show a more human face (which those in the WH should appreciate). I find it odd that they'd look at a gift like that and decide it was a problem.

More like they've realized how easy and useless it is to create a petition and have people who "support" it spend 5 seconds clicking thru any petition that comes into whitehouse.gov, so they are raising the bar to cut down on the time they waste responding to nonsense.

Still, merely raising the vote threshold seems a poor solution. Unfortunately, I can't think of a better one.

Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#94

Post by pdonis »

jjguy wrote: post #91
pdonis wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which begs the question: why are people petitioning the White House to have their states secede from the Union? That's just stupid on so many levels that I don't even know where to begin.

I read it as evidence of the erosion of state's rights. Perception is reality and those folks clearly thought they needed Daddy DC's permission. We nationalize too many issues on which our nation is deeply divided. If, instead of bickering for years over an issue in Congress, we pushed those decisions back to the states, then local initiatives would be put into place. With time, the right solutions would naturally de…

I read it as evidence of the erosion of state's rights. Perception is reality and those folks clearly thought they needed Daddy DC's permission.

/sound of me slapping myself on the head/

I should have thought of that.

Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#95

Post by MBCook »

geuis wrote: post #73

I hate to be a cynic but the timing seems too coincidental with the death of Aaron and the petition to remove Carmen Ortiz from office. She was nominated to her position by the President, so there is an assumption (perhaps invalid) of close ties to the administration.

I think the idea that it was the Piers Morgan petition[1] getting 109k+ signatures was more likely to be the straw.

As mad as everyone online is about Aaron, I don't think it's actually that big an issue in Washington. The brouhahas after Sandy Hook sounds much more plausible as an issue big enough to cause a change.

[1] http://universe.byu.edu/beta/2013/01/14/white-house-rejects-...

Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#96

Post by MBCook »

alpb wrote: post #41

Is Aaron Swartz-related petitions the main reason for the recent peak in the total users number or is it just the service getting popular these days? If it is aaronsw related then the acceleration should slightly decline after a few days, hopefully I'm not assuming wrong.

I seriously doubt that Swartz-related petitions had anything to do with it. I agree with you that they will probably die down in a few days, but the story doesn't seem to have made it too far outside the tech industry.

I was quite surprised to hear a quick story on NRP about how his possible punishment may have been out of proportion. Has it even been covered during the major newscasts like NBC Nightly News, CBS News, Fox News, CNN, etc; at least for over 60 seconds?

I'd be willing to guess that even among those who watch a large amount of news, the average American didn't hear the story at all.

Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#97

Post by afarrell »

waqf wrote: post #59
afarrell wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"This new threshold applies only to petitions created from this point forward and is not retroactively applied to ones that already exist." So this will have no affect on the Ortiz petition.

effect

Thank you. Though, it won't cause them to speak their responses in a southern accent either.

Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#98

Post by demallien »

pdonis wrote: post #78
sprobertson wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a quick search and it looks like it might be election related: "... eight different petitions requesting secession following the outcome of the November presidential election. The petition for the state of North Carolina to secede from the union earned more 31,835 signatures, while South Carolina's had just over 26,000." http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Official-White-House-response...

Which begs the question: why are people petitioning the White House to have their states secede from the Union? That's just stupid on so many levels that I don't even know where to begin.

I don't know. They already tried seceding without DC's permission, and that didn't work out too well for them...

Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#99

Post by afarrell »

mtgx wrote: post #37

Congress should have a similar system, perhaps one for each representative and each senator. They could get a better sense for what the people they represent want. Rather now that's only done through e-mails (which probably never get read by the politicians themselves), phone calls (same thing, and a bit inefficient considering most people won't bother to call), and visiting in person (probably done by very few peopl…

This would be great, though you would need some way to tie people's accounts to their residences, which would require them to work with boards of elections give out the elections with the voter registration receipts.

Re: Why We’re Raising the Signature Threshold for We the People

#100

Post by SCAQTony »

Well, I find the timing suspicious.

I know that gun enthusiasts have been creating dozens of them as of late and as silly as some of them aree, they are meeting the 25,000 signature goal.

The "fire Carmen Ortiz" took less than three-days to reach fruition and now that the White house has devalued the 25,000 number, I hope the petition can reach 250,000 by it's end date to really send a message.

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