Legislative End-Run around Wolf Hunting is a Dangerous Precedent

Before leaving Lansing during the recent Lame Duck session of Michigan’s congress, the Michigan House and Senate passed legislation permitting wolf hunting and sent the package to Gov. Snyder’s office for his signature. The governor should not sign the bill.

Even though I did not agree with the outcome of the 2014 vote in which Michigan voters struck down wolf hunting in Michigan, I do not believe that legislators should then use their power to undermine a result that clearly showed the will of the electorate.

Democracy can only work and survive when democratic outcomes are honored. The people spoke and Michigan’s legislators decided that the voice of the people needed to be overturned. Apparently poor, misguided voters need Lansing politicians to determine what they really mean and what is really good for them.

Democracy also means that the majority should rule and then the government should move on and respect the vote (don’t get me started on the un-democratic Electoral College) of the people. Apparently our elected officials in Lansing do not agree with the basic tenets and underpinnings of democratic outcomes.

Again, I did not agree with the majority of voters on the issue of wolf hunting. This does not mean, however, that I suddenly believe that legally and democratically determined outcomes should be overturned by politicians who feel they know better than the voters who put politicians in office. Perhaps the next proposition on the ballot for voters should be a proposal for automatic removal from office for any politician who demonstrates that they believe the state and not the people should determine how government behaves.

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