_God_

If this needs to be moved to politics, no problem.

Today, I was sitting in a coffee shop when this young girl came by and asked me to sign her petition. It happened to be for a reduction in the cost of community college here.

I asked her how much of a reduction. She didn't know. I asked her if it would make taxes go up. She didn't know. I asked to see it. The cost was to be $170 million this year, around $230 million next year, and $470 million the next. So I nicely mentioned that this was a half-billion dollar petition, the state doesn't have that money to spare, and that I didn't want to sign it, because I am not in favor of a tax increase.

She wandered off, kind of in a fog, and continued presenting it to other people in the coffee shop. I saw a few people sign it, but nobody else read it, or asked any questions. The girl mentioned that she got 75 cents a signature. That appeared to be the extent of her interest in the petition.

My question is, do you sign petitions that are presented to you in similar circumstances? Do you research them?

Maybe this is an obvious question, but she didn't seem to be having any trouble acquiring her $.75 per.

streak_56

I don't really sign petitions that I am not in favour for... some people present inaccurate facts about certain subjects in order to gain an advantage in their side of the issue... all because they want more signatures... I was presented with one about opposing gay marriage and the only part that clearly stated the it was against gay marriage was the last sentence where it made the issue clear in a round about way. Anyways... I try to research my stuff so that I can gain a better understanding of what the issue is.

Pip

We have similar people here, but they don't want my signature. They want me to donate approx. $15 or more every month to a charity organisation. And everyone knows these people don't go out and pester college students because they care about the starving children, they pester us because they get paid for every donor they recruit. I don't give to organisations that use these kind of methods, because I don't want to give my hard-earned money to the people that annoy me every day. It's like running a gauntlet every morning and afternoon trying to get past these pests.

The last petition I was asked to sign was for the forming of a new party (apparently you need a certain amount of signatures to be eligible for election). I knew what agenda the party has, and although I don't agree with it, I think it provides a valuable critical perspective on a somewhat stale issue. So I signed the petition.

I'm curious. What kind of power does a petition have in the US? Can it actually force a change or can it only make the council consider the issue? Or can the powers that be simply dismiss it?

Ustwo

.75 a signature?

Hell, that could get you some real money.

Was she hot?

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Carno

I don't sign petitions unless I research what they are about. I only recall signing one petition by hand, and that was a petition for the local government to put in a stop sign somewhere.

Online petitions I never sign because they are brilliantly ineffective and the digital equivalent of putting a "We support the troops" sticker on your car. They are simply ways for people to do nothing yet feel like they have done something.

EDIT: but shit, if I got paid to get signatures on a petition, I'd be all for that. People are suckers and will sign anything. Reminds me of the skit on The Man Show when they had a petition to end women's suffrage.

__________________
http://how-to-spell-ridiculous.com/

Ustwo

That was their 2nd best bit.

Their best had to be the drunken pilots at the airport.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Lady Sage

Always read before you sign..... I pay school taxes why?

__________________
If only closed minds came with closed mouths.
Minds are like parachutes, they function best when open.
It`s Easier to Change a Condom Than a Diaper
Yes, the rumors are true... I actually AM a Witch.

dc_dux

I would sign a petition on an issue I oppose, if the petition was to get the issue on the ballot and I was confident it would lose in a general vote.

One I recall when I was living in VA, where county ballot initaitives were allowed, was to re-instate the Sunday blue laws, an attempt by the religious right to restore Sunday to a day of prayer and reflection and not shopping.

I gladly signed; it got enough signatures to be on the ballot and it was defeated overwhelmingly. It was the last the county heard from the blue law crowd.

__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

magictoy

Classics, truly, but NOTHING holds a candle to the one where the hot girl was getting guys to help her try on bikinis, and then hitting them up to buy the bikini for her, a total stranger.

I actually have the digital version of that one.

/threadjack

analog

I don't know...

There's just nothing quite like watching all those women sign away... one of the best parts was the one woman who came over to tell a woman signing the petition that she was being made fun of, that women's suffrage was women's right to vote, not a form of "suffering". Watching all those women sign off triumphantly was just so awesome.

I'd put the pilots at spot #2, though.

shakran

That's pretty risky. Al Gore was confident he'd won the election until the supreme court appointed his opponent. Bill Earngey was pretty confident he'd won the mayorship of Eureka Springs Arkansas in 1994, chiefly because his opponent, the incumbent, was dead, but nope - he lost to a corpse.

Just goes to show you never know how an election will go.

Ustwo

Ummm it was Gore who took it to court first, not the other way around, he didn't have the votes

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

JustJess

I sign some things, and I'll donate to some things, but not if I don't already know enough about it. I recently was hit up for a donation to an environmental agency, but the person couldn't answer my questions about how much the CEO made, what percentage of the donation actually makes it to the cause, etc. So I told him I'd do some research and if it looked like a worthy cause, I'd donate online.

/fumes that people think we're all stupid...

__________________
My heart knows me better than I know myself, so I'm gonna let it do all the talkin'.

shakran

Actually he had 48.38% of the popular vote while Bush only had 47.87% of it.

Oh! You mean he didn't have the votes from the Council of Judicial Ministers that appointed Bush and therefore cancelled our status as a Republic for 4 years. Sorry, misunderstood ya there