system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: People in the US should focus on getting certain policies enacted on the state level instead of always gunning for the Federal level.

So, for those of you who don't know how the United States structures laws and its other governmental features, I'll break it down in a super simplified way for you. The federal government is at the very top. Any bill they pass into law instantaneously affects all citizens within the 50 states that make up our country. In order for this to happen, however, politicians that we have elected to represent us in Congress must first vote. We have separate individuals vote on the behalf of the entire state because it's easier than having every eligible voter vote instead. Basically, it's for the sake of convenience and streamlining the process.

So whichever option gets the most votes, reject or pass, is the one that wins. If pass gets the majority vote in both sides of Congress (there's two, Senate and House of Representatives) the president is then asked to either sign off on it or reject it. Usually, they won't reject something that's passed both sides of Congress, but they could. Congress can override that rejection if they wish, however. The president can also force a law into immediate affect with an executive order that bypasses Congress, though this is mostly reserved for bills/laws that are deemed too crucial to the welfare of the country to be left to the decision of Congress. For example, an executive order diverting military resources to assist in disaster aid after a hurricane hits one of the states.

Now, here's where my CMV begins: the ability of the states to override any federal law within their borders, so long as it is not added as a constitutional amendment. Basically, if Congress and the president pass a bill into law, the states can each make a law that only applies to their respective citizens that nullifies said law. This is why marijuana is still illegal federally, but legal in some states for medical or recreational use. So if the federal government passes a bill into law banning breathing, the states can all pass laws that re-legalize it within each of their borders. It should be noted that a law Michigan passes nullifying that law does NOT apply to anywhere besides Michigan. Each state has to pass their own law nullifying the federal one, otherwise anyone caught breathing MUST be arrested and charged in court.

Now, passing laws on the state level is much, MUCH easier than passing them on the federal level. The reason for this boils down to two things: less people voting, and less obstacles to overcome. Let's say something was marked a strictly Democratic issue, like increasing welfare benefits, and Republicans are against it just for the sake of being against Democrats. In Congress, it's possible for the Senate to have a Democratic majority, making it easy to pass Democratic-backed bills into law, while the House of Representatives has a Republican majority. In this hypothetical scenario, the bill would die in the House simply because it's a topic of interest for Democrats. Spiteful bunch, aren't they?

This is why I think people should focus on passing bills into law within their states instead of gunning for the federal level straight away. The federal government is a far greater beast to tackle. The House and Senate can have a majority of different parties, the people who represent us in either section of Congress can vote entirely separately from the interests of the people they're supposed to be representing, the president can veto things even with approval from Congress, and the chances of any federal laws lasting longer than the term of that president are slim. If it's something that's a specifically Democratic issue, or specifically Republican issue, once a president of a different party is elected in or the majority switches, it's likely to be voted or written out anyways.

The views of people in one state are generally more homogenized (at least compared to the views of the entire country as a whole), making it easier to pass and keep certain laws. And if all 50 states pass, for example, universal healthcare bills, then it's effectively enacted federally anyways. It's a much better idea to try and push for these kinds of issues state by state, like with marijuana legalization, than immediately jumping for the federal level and stomping your feet when it fails.
gpt
>Basically, if Congress and the president pass a bill into law, the states can each make a law that only applies to their respective citizens that nullifies said law. This is why marijuana is still illegal federally, but legal in some states for medical or recreational use.

This isn't true. The federal law has not been nullified or superseded in those states. If the government wanted to, they could raid all the dispensaries in the country. They have chosen not to.