Passed Legislation Signifies Progress

By MARIAH YOUNG

Gay marriage, marijuana and Obamacare – Oh my! The liberal media has caused President Barack Obama to win another term. Everyone should start packing their bags now and get to Canada while they are still accepting us great Americans. Or maybe I should stop reading my Fox News subscriptions. It’s only getting more painful, and I don’t know why I do it to myself.

I’m just going to say this: Tuesday was an intense night for us journalists. It was our Super bowl. Not only was Obama re-elected, but something even more unexpected happened. Despite the threatening Facebook posts, no one booked a ticket to Canada. Instead, the nation took a step forward.

States voted on legislation for a variety of issues that could change, or start, a movement across the nation, political standards were broken by newly elected officials and Democrats maintained control of the Senate.

Tammy Baldwin, the newly elected Democratic senator of Wisconsin broke down two large barriers on Tuesday. She now sits as the first female senator in her state and the very first openly gay candidate elected into Senate. A seven-term congresswoman beat out a former governor, discontinuing a Republican streak that existed in Wisconsin for over two years.

The Democrats took a smaller leap in taking control of the Senate, finishing this election season with 53 democrats, 45 republicans and two independents. While some believe that this will result in a continuation of the political gridlock, it could possibly force some cooperation between the two parties.

All across the nation, ballot measures were resulting in unexpected decisions.

A slew of measures questioned whether to increase or decrease taxes. California residents voted to increase the education tax, making California citizens the most taxed citizens in the nation. New Hampshire, on the other hand, voted to ban any new taxes on personal income.

The two most talked about measures were that of gay marriage and legalizing marijuana. Three states voted in support of allowing gay marriage – Maine, Maryland and Washington. Minnesota rejected a ban on same-sex marriage, though not specifically allowing it.

Colorado and Washington voted to legalize marijuana for persons over the age of 21.

Marijuana still leaves the states a battle to be fought, due to it being illegal on the federal level. This means that “breaking out the bong could be premature,” as Fox News likes to say.

Some other policies that were voted on include Maryland allowing illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition for public colleges, and Oklahoma voting to get rid of affirmative action in the public sphere.

As a political science major and a journalist, I am probably one of the few that are sad to see the election season come to an end. While that may be true, I am happy to see that our country might be moving in the right direction. Changes will happen. Progress hopefully will be made. It’s been a good run for all and I hope to see you all in four more years, where I’ll be writing about the election from under my piles of student debt and, hopefully, in a more prosperous country.