The need for national referendums

When the state of California State Supreme Court upheld proposition 8 this week it came as no surprise.  The court simply upheld the view of the majority of the people who voted in the statewide referendum.  The whole issue of Gay Rights is amusing to me because those who oppose Gay Marriage often forget one historical detail; homosexuality has been around longer than both Christianity and Islam.  Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome all had plenty of homosexuality built into their societies.  Often the most respected minds and conquerors in all of western civilization were at least in part homosexual (think Alexander the Great and Plato).  But I digress, the real issue outlined by Gay Rights for me seems to be the lack of our ability as US citizens to hold federal referendums.  Our country allows for local and state votes, why not change the federal law to allow for a national vote of confidence on issues.  We could settle Gay Rights and Abortion issues once and for all.  Would this marginalize our beloved representative in the US congress? - Probably to some extent.  Why don’t we reorganize Washington into the place were issues, bills, and amendments are framed, and then hold national referendums to ratify laws.  This structural change in our system would create greater involvement and participation from all citizens, and it would reduce the lobbyist stranglehold on political action in this country.  This change would also solve issues quicker than our laborious legislative bureaucracy who hasn’t been able to agree on any major non-crisis legislation for decades.  A direct vote by the people would move us towards healthcare reform, tax reform, tort reform, educational reform, and a functioning energy policy.