Tag: presidential election

Jan 18 2013

How to Rig the 2016 Election GOP Style

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

If you can’t win the White House unless you have 270 electoral votes, then you need to fix it so you do, legally, by gerrymander and voter supression. That is the GOP strategy to win the White House in 2016. Since gerymandering was the way that they succeeded in holding their majority in the House, they may well succeed.

The GOP’s Electoral College Scheme

by Reid Wilson, National Journal

Republicans alarmed at the apparent challenges they face in winning the White House are preparing an all-out assault on the Electoral College system in critical states, an initiative that would significantly ease the party’s path to the Oval Office.

Senior Republicans say they will try to leverage their party’s majorities in Democratic-leaning states in an effort to end the winner-take-all system of awarding electoral votes. Instead, bills that will be introduced in several Democratic states would award electoral votes on a proportional basis.

Already, two states — Maine and Nebraska — award an electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. The candidate who wins the most votes statewide takes the final two at-large electoral votes. Only once, when President Obama won a congressional district based in Omaha in 2008, has either of those states actually split their vote.

But if more reliably blue states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were to award their electoral votes proportionally, Republicans would be able to eat into what has become a deep Democratic advantage.

All three states have given the Democratic nominee their electoral votes in each of the last six presidential elections. Now, senior Republicans in Washington are overseeing legislation in all three states to end the winner-take-all system.

Rachel Maddow reports on a new initiative by state level Republicans to rig the Electoral College in the states they control to better advantage Republican presidential candidates and subvert popular political will.

RNC’s Priebus Endorses Plan To Rig Electoral College

by Henry Decker, The National Memo

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

That appears to be Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus’ philosophy when it comes to rigging elections in the GOP’s favor. In 2012, the strategy was suppressing votes through voter ID laws, ending same-day voter registration, and clamping down on early voting, among other restrictive legislation. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, 25 laws and two executive actions were passed in 19 states over the past two years with the aim of making it harder to vote.

In 2013, the plan appears to be changing the way that votes are counted. Priebus has stepped forward as the latest Republican to support a proposal that would split Wisconsin’s electoral votes by congressional district.

Pennsylvania House Republicans Introduce Bill To Rig The 2016 Presidential Election

On Monday, seven Pennsylvania Republican state representatives introduced a bill to make this vote-rigging scheme a reality in their state. Under their bill, the winner of Pennsylvania as a whole will receive only 2 of the state’s 20 electoral votes, while “[e]ach of the remaining presidential electors shall be elected in the presidential elector’s congressional district.”

Pennsylvania is a blue state that voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every single presidential race for the last two decades, so implementing the GOP election-rigging plan in Pennsylvania would make it much harder for a Democrat to be elected to the White House. Moreover, because of gerrymandering, it is overwhelmingly likely that the Republican candidate will win a majority of Pennsylvania’s electoral votes even if the Democrat wins the state by a very comfortable margin. Despite the fact that President Obama won Pennsylvania by more than 5 points last November, Democrats carried only 5 of the state’s 18 congressional seats. Accordingly, Obama would have likely won only 7 of the state’s 20 electoral votes if the GOP vote rigging plan had been in effect last year.

I don’t think this is what the founders planned when they created the Electoral College. I know some will argue that the Electoral College insures that even small states with small populations have a say in the selection of the president but this ploy by the GOP would end that voice, too. Has the electoral College outlived its purpose? It amy well be time to consider a direct election of the President based on the popular vote.

Jul 08 2011

Should We Support the Republican in 2012?

Cross-posted at FDL

I was an Obama volunteer, donator, and county delegate in 2008.  When he was elected I spent the most hopeful night of my political life–surely a black Democrat and former community organizer would turn out to be the FDR we needed at that critical juncture, to pull us back from the Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush abyss in the nick of time.  Sure, I was concerned about his ties to the finance thieves–but I really hoped that he had “snookered” them into supporting someone who would work against their ultimate interests.

May 14 2011

The Ron Paul rEVOLution Marches On!!

The Ron Paul rEVOLution Marches On.

Today Congressman Ron Paul, the truthteller who correctly predicted the financial collapse before anyone else, correctly forcasted the collapse of the U.S. Dollar, attacked the tyranny of the crooked Federal Reserve Monopoly long before it became fashionable, and has long opposed the corrupt War and World Empire policies for decades has announced his candidacy for President in 2012.

“We have an ELITE in this country that wants to interfere in everyone else’s affairs. And it does nothing over the long term except get people killed and hurt the United States.”

       –Michael Sheuer, Former CIA Counter-Terrorism Chief, Feb 15, 2011

__________

“It is no coincidence that the Century of Total War in this Country coincided with the Century of Central Banking [ the Elite ].”

       –Congressman Ron Paul, President 2012

An article appeared today in The Huffington Post with some key observations:


“In most things that matter, Obama is not even Bush-lite: he’s more like Bush-plus.

I’m not questioning his moral intent, but simply looking around me at New Wars, continuation of laws that remove Americans’ basic rights, mass transfer of wealth from the working man to the large subsidized groups, including financial corporations and unions, that fund the old political game.

The old, tired, self-defeating left-right paradigm of American politics is about two teams that want to shape the world in one way or another. The unstated assumptions shared by both sides, does more to undermine practically the principles gifted by the nation’s Founding Fathers than any other single political structure in the USA — except perhaps the Federal Reserve, which acts secretly and without political accountability.

Ron Paul transcends the left-right pseudo-divide. He is almost unique in that he doesn’t want to make a country of the left, or a country of the right. Unlike every other politician, he doesn’t need me to agree with him on anything — except that I should be free to decide on what to agree or disagree with him about.

It is this true freedom that, paradoxically (given how most of us disagree about most things) promotes true unity, as division arises only when some people feel imposed upon by others.

The huge movement behind Paul is demographically diverse, and has attracted people who used to think that they were on the left, as well as people who used to think they were on the right — before they found out that what really matters, and what America was designed to preserve, is bigger than both left and right.”

           –Huffington Post

Article Link: Ron Paul and the Love Revolution of 2012



2012: Change You Can Believe In!!!

The Big Corporate Monopolies quake in their shoes at the thought of a Ron Paul Presidency. He would end all the taxpayer funded subsidies (theft) to Large Multinational Corporations, The Defense Industry, Wall Street Banks, and the Oil Industry. He would clear the decks of crooked crony Capitalism thereby creating an environment with increased Competition under which small businesses and consumer-friendly business could finally thrive, and real economic growth and innovation would return.  For once finally there would be no Goldman Sachs cabinet, no J.P. Morgan cabinet, no Halliburton cabinet, no Central Bank Monopoly cabinet, no NEOCON cabinet.



The Policy Argument!

Watch this video several times.

His responses are brilliant and get to the root cause of our Nation’s problems.

Oct 21 2008

Never interrupt an enemy making a mistake

It is amazing. John McCain mocking Barack Obama for saying he wants to spread the wealth around.

cross-posted at The Wild Wild Left and at daily kos

Oct 20 2008

Dutch POV: McCain “acts like angry neighbor”

I live in Leiden, one of the smaller big cities in The Netherland’s (NL) most heavily populated region, the Randstad. I am learning, or trying to learn/understand/speak/read the Dutch language. As it turns out, Dutch is considered by many as the second toughest language to learn… after Chinese! Holy moly.

However, I have learned one thing: politically, the Dutch are as tough as their language. It is a complex mix of parties that fosters ever-shifting coalitions among its liberal, conservative, socialist, green, and religious members.

Along that spectrum, there is, according to local papers here, a place for GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin: seems a small minority have adopted Gov. Palin as a role model for Dutch womanhood.  However, most of the Nederanders I know will be stunned if Senator Barack Obama loses to Senator John McCain on 4 November 2008.

cross-posted at dkos

Oct 08 2008

Preparation For Watching Tonight’s Debate

Everything you need to know about tonight’s debate in a handy pre-debate essay.

See this?

Photobucket

That’s the Dow Jones for the past year in graphic form.

The Dow closed at 9447 today.  Last year on this day it was 14,198.  That means (gross over simplification coming) for every $141 dollars in your 401k, your pension account, your SEP, your stock portfolio a year ago, you now have $94 because you’ve lost $47 in the market.  That $47 is vapor.  It’s gone.  The only solace in this, if there is any, is that the Government didn’t get to put all of your social security money into this market so it could be vaporized as well.

The chart is a microcosm of what’s going on in the rest of the US economy. The credit markets aren’t functioning.  Consumer confidence is in the dumps.  With foreclosures going crazy, with gasoline and fuel oil prices still sky high, with unemployment way up at record levels, with housing prices way down, with the mortgage market in chaos, with the economy running a gigantic deficit, with a massive trade deficit, and with the dollar suffering, with 60% of the polled people saying the country is headed for a depression, what can the candidates possibly say to us about this mess?

Everything that doesn’t deal with the economy is wasted talk.  Even the wars are off the front pages for the moment.

That’s what this debate has to be about.

Jul 01 2008

Why Removing Telecom Immunity is So Important

Well, I just read Olbermann’s rejoinder on FISA and man, http://www.dailykos.com/storyo… ,if he’d just check out wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P… he would know how fruitless the idea of criminal prosecutions is.  In short, Bush can pardon anybody from criminal prosecutions, charges pending or not.  All you have to do is recall Dick Nixon and what he got from Jerry Ford to know this.

Neglected is the beauty thing of a pardon:  if you accept, you are admitting guilt.  And under the res judicata doctrine (and because the standard of proof, beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal cases, is higher than civil cases (preponderance of evidence), you accept a pardon, you probably (I say probably since a court might hold you didn’t really litigate a case by accepting a pardon) lose your civil case.

So that is the real reason why civil immunity is so important.  Important to the telcoms, their owners and others involved, just so they can accept a pardon and run off scooter, I mean Scot, free.  Important to strip from the bill because it is the only means to keep these folks on the hook–and get their evidence.

If FISA passes, the only thing an Obama admin. could do is not challenge the Unconstitutionality of FISA.  But the telecom immunity would likely be severable and upheld.

Tell Obama no on immunity now.  http://my.barackobama.com/page…  

May 15 2008

McCain sez when he is President, Bin Laden is going down! Iraq War will be won!

Sky will be perennially blue!  

The ongoing cholesterol problem in the country (and with Cheetah’s) will be eradicated!  

Erectile dysfunction will be a thing of the past!  

Repbulicans will be compassionate conservatives!

Me thinks John McSame doth bluster with ego aforethought, just a bit much.

McCain, in a speech he will deliver today in Columbus, OH has some interesting predictions for what will happen in the first four years WHEN he is President of the United States of America.

Follow me down below, if you will.

Mar 27 2008

Bill Clinton? He was ALWAYS a Republican

this is a short one… but none the easier to digest…

Jan 23 2008

Push the Candidates To Fight Telecom Immunity

Glen Greenwald over at Salon and Jane Hamsher and the folks over at FDL are trying to push all of the presidential candidates to take a public stand, and a leadership position, on the upcoming telecom immunity question. See here:

http://firedoglake.com/2008/01…

and here: http://www.salon.com/opinion/g…

Glen, about the attempt to immunize the telecoms for their illegal spying and violation of fundamental rights, says:

  As always, conventional media wisdom is that Democrats will be harmed politically if they don’t capitulate to the Big, Strong, Tough Republicans on all matters relating to national security (even though the efficacy of that fear-mongering tactic was empirically disproven in 2006). But isn’t it painfully evident that a far greater liability for Democrats at this point than being “soft on terrorism” is their refusal and failure to demonstrate that they will take a stand — any stand — against this extremely weakened President and his discredited political party, and therefore prove they stand for something?

   The only way for there to be any prospect of impeding Bush’s most extreme demands for vast warrantless eavesdropping powers and immunity for lawbreaking telecoms is for the presidential candidates — Obama, Edwards and Clinton — to demonstrate (rather than speak about) real “leadership” and take a stand in support of Chris Dodd and his imminent filibuster. There will be campaigns beginning this week to persuade and pressure them to do so — I will be posting extensively about them here. Any efforts to stop warrantless eavesdropping and telecom immunity is almost certain to fail without the active support of the presidential candidates, who these days have a virtual monopoly on the ability to set agendas and shape media attention.

Jane says:

  John Edwards should challenge his rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to go back to Washington, DC and fight against retroactive immunity for the telecoms.

   The Republicans are not going to let Reid punt and extend the Protect America Act for another 18 months so it looks like the FISA bill is going to come back up again on Monday. Chris Dodd’s objection to Unanimous Consent still stands, so they will pick up in the middle of the Motion to Proceed debate.

   Glenn Greenwald:

 

       It will be increasingly difficult to listen to Edwards, Obama and Clinton tout their supreme leadership attributes and their commitment to “changing the way Washington works” if they choose to sit by, more or less mute, and allow such a blatant and corrupt evisceration of the rule of law — and such a vast and permanent expansion of the limitless surveillance state — to occur without a fight. Any one of them, or all three, has a unique opportunity to actually demonstrate with actions, rather than pretty speeches, their commitment to the principles they claim to espouse.

   John Edwards is the perfect person to lead with this message. Such an action would illustrate his genuine commitment to change and fighting vested interests in Washington, and hopefully it will channel that intense anti-immunity passion toward his campaign. He won’t be able to participate in the filibuster himself, but by offering to leave the campaign trail and go back to DC with Clinton and Obama he’ll be able to show leadership in challenging all Democrats to put thoughts of personal gain aside and join together in the fight to save the constitution.

   Without the help of the presidential candidates, we are doomed to lose this fight. And all their calls for change will ring hollow if they allow George Bush to railroad this bill through a supine Democratic-controlled Senate because of their absence.

Jane has posted an email address where you may be able to contact the Edwards campaign:  [email protected]  Here is a link for contacts for other senator presidential candidates:  http://act.credomobile.com/…

She also has a link to a place where you can get updates on how to help this vital project:  http://action.firedoglake.com/…