Month: October 2024

That Antiquated Electoral College Con

It is that time of the season…..we have been through the caucuses and primaries the determining the electoral votes for candidates….and then in November the presidential candidates will be assigned votes by the EC to help determine who will win the presidential contest.

Personally this system is a bag of cons that stretches back for over 200 years. I have let my feelings known on several occasions during the many election cycles I have written about….

What Do You Know About The Electoral College?

I want to be fair so I include a post I wrote that is pro electoral college….

Electoral College: Reasons Not To Abolish

This is for those too lazy to read the previous posts…..

Established by Article II, Section I of the Constitution, the Electoral College calls for the creation every four years of a temporary group of electors equal to the total number of representatives in Congress.

Electors, often chosen for their service to and support of a political party, are typically nominated at state party conventions and then voted on by the delegates. After this initial phase of the process, each party’s presidential candidate emerges with their own slate of potential electors. When Americans cast their ballot for president and vice president on the first Tuesday in November, they are technically casting a ballot for the slate of electors who have pledged to cast their votes for that party.

It is this group of 538 people – the formula is the same that gives us 100 senators and 435 representatives (plus three electors representing Washington D.C.) who meet in their respective states and cast their official votes for president and vice president on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.

https://www.realclearhistory.com/articles/2024/06/28/america_101_why_the_electoral_college_1040859.html

Not that I am in favor of keeping this albatross…..

I agree that the system has outlived its usefulness and only strengthens the two party dictatorship…..

The Electoral College tie break has been the Achilles heel of America’s electoral process since the beginning. (And it’s one of the many reasons George Washington warned against the formation of political parties in the first place. C’est la vie.) Here’s how it works: In the event that no presidential candidate wins over the magical majority vote of 270 electors, the decision is sent to Congress where each state delegation gets one vote. Whoever receives a majority of the states is elected president. Simple enough? 

Here’s the catch: Even before there was a two-party system, the one-state-one-vote method quickly devolved into a duel. 

…

There’s one simple alternative to forcing people to pick between a nursing home resident-in-training and a spray-tanned cult leader: Pass a Constitutional amendment changing the Electoral College tie break from a congressional vote to a run-off election between the top two candidates. This would not only give independents a fighting chance, but it would also promote the emergence of third-party congressional candidates campaigning behind the element they currently lack: a realistic presidential hopeful.

https://www.realclearhistory.com/articles/2024/02/02/reform_the_electoral_college_undo_the_two-party_system_1009005.html

Time to think about changing a lot of things in the government….like simplified tax code, a national primary, easier to actually vote and dumping the electoral college.

This is our country….time that those we send to Congress listen to the people and their concerns and wishes…..lobbyists have had their run….shut down “K” Street.

This idea is why I said what I said…..

Arizona bill recently introduced by a GOP state legislator.

State Sen. Anthony Kern (R-27) is spearheading Senate Concurrent Resolution 1014, which says that “the Legislature, and no other official, shall appoint presidential electors.” If it passes both chambers, the measure could appear on the November ballot.

As Arizona Republic columnist EJ Montini wrote earlier this month, “In other words, if such a law had existed when Biden beat Trump, the majority MAGA Legislature could have ignored the will of Arizona voters and appointed like-minded electors of their choosing who, in turn, could have installed Dear Leader as the victor.”

Someone other than the voter picks who gets the electoral votes…..now do you see why I say what I say?

The electoral college (to be redundant) has long out lived it’s usefulness….many times over….

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/opinion-electoral-college_n_66ba3471e4b0f1d23236c143

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Happy Birthday Jimmy

The only time I voted for a winner in a presidential election was 1976 and Jimmy Carter and since that day I have never regretted my decision….many criticize his presidency but few have achieved anything near what he was capable of doing.

Today is Carter’s 100th birthday…..and the country should be honoring him….

A benefit concert and the construction of 30 new homes are among the many events marking former President Carter’s 100th birthday on Oct. 1, reports the AP. The star-studded concert at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre earlier in September raised money to support the international programs of the Carter Center, which Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded in 1982 with the mission to “wage peace, fight disease, and build hope.” The concert airs on Georgia Public Broadcasting on Oct. 1. More on the soon-to-be centenarian:

  • Houses: Thousands of Habitat for Humanity volunteers gathered Monday to build 30 homes in St. Paul, Minnesota, over five days, led by country music giants Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who worked alongside the Carters for years. The Carters’ relationship with Habitat for Humanity stretches back 40 years, to when the couple went to New York City on a build in 1984.
  • More on those houses: “The image of a president of the United States sleeping in a church basement and physically helping rehab a tenement building captured the world,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat. The Carters went on to build homes annually for 35 years.
  • Legacy: “I think he has probably done more personally in his post-presidency than anyone else because he’s not out there looking for attention,” says presidential historian Cassandra Newby-Alexander, professor of Virginia Black history and culture at Norfolk State University. “He’s not out there trying to make money for himself. He’s out there trying to live the life of … a true Christian, one who cares about the poor and the homeless and the children.”
  • A different kind of philanthropy: Carter’s giving came in the form of his seemingly ceaseless personal effort, not so much his dollars. From building homes to monitoring elections and pursuing the elimination of a neglected disease, Carter used his stature and presence to rally resources and attention.
  • Smallpox: The Carter Center made a commitment to eradicate Guinea worm disease in 1986. Carter vowed to outlive the last such parasite. Even after Carter entered hospice in February 2023, says Dr. Jordan Tappero, deputy director for neglected tropical diseases at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has given $263 million to the Carter Center since 2000, Carter was still contacting his team. “He still wants updates and wants to know what’s going on because his mind will never stop until the last heartbeat,” Tappero said in March 2023.
  • And back to Habitat: Cleora Taylor met the Carters in 2018 when they helped build 41 new homes in South Bend and Mishawaka, Indiana. Taylor said Carter, 93 at the time, helped her put up a kitchen wall in her four-bedroom home. “It was just so amazing that he still was out here, outside at that age, working with us,” she said. “It made us want to work harder. Not only did I get to meet Jimmy Carter and his wife and his children. … I get to own a piece of the world.”

If there was a sainthood for presidents Carter would be the only one so far.  Once he left the presidency he chose to serve the world and the nation…instead of what most ex-presidents do go in search of more fame and chase the cash.

Something most ex-presidents lack….selflessness.

So far he is the only ex-president that I have respect for in any way.

Happy Birthday Mr. President….and thank you.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”