There is the Shock Doctrine which holds that you can change things by taking advantage of disasters. Now we are seeing the process of legislating by the threat of disaster. It is new and it is worse.

Wisconsin is more than just ground zero in a fight over the future of public sector unions, it is the embodiment of the Republican Party’s commitment to bare-knuckle political warfare; their willingness to push the law to its limits to gain long-term political advantage for the party. While it is most evident in Wisconsin, this effort to structurally reshape our laws for the benefit of elected Republicans is happening all over the country.

It is time for people in politics to realize that super majority requirements don’t promote compromise or moderation, they mainly just produce gridlock that prevents any action from taking place, therefore protecting the status quo.

Californians want to fight it out on marijuana legalization, ease up on budgeting procedure and stay strong on resisting climate change, according to Field Poll (PDF) results on some of the state’s ballot initiatives. Field surveyed on four of the 10 Propositions that will be on the ballot this November. Let’s take a look at the poll’s results.