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mathboy, I would steer clear of complicated voting systems.
There are more complex electoral systems that attempt to balance the need for proportional and regional representation, as well as allowing for majority choice, as IRV does. Problem is, under the current corrupt stooge form of crony capitalist government we have, if you don't keep it simple and start small, it ain't gonna happen. The ReBloodicans & DemoCripps are going to fiercely oppose any attempt tor replace the two-party corporate dictatorship.
IRV electoral systems are simple minded, common and easy to implement at a local level for anything from the dog catcher, judge or mayor. And state or federal elections. Get people used to true power of voting. Real choice motivates people to show up for voting, where with FPTP it is often a futile exercise, no real choice. Corrupt corporate stooge version A or Corrupt corporate stooge version B. Some choice that is.
Whether voting for a proportional legislature or a single office, IRV works effectively. Whether Party or Non-Party System IRV still works well.
Once British Columbia held a commission on Electoral Reform, and this commission researched all electorals systems in the world. And they came up with a rather complex version of the STV or Single Transferrable Vote, electoral system and that went to a referendum in 2009, and lost by 60% to 40%, simply because most BC residents were too dumb and/or too lazy to understand it. A real shame. I recall talk show hosts, who have a college education, opposing the system claiming "I just don't understand it". Now they are stuck again with the idiotic FPTP electoral system disaster, when the commission could have instead proposed the simple minded IRV.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_electoral_reform_referend...
I learned that there were more than 600 requests for additional security that Clinton claims not to have seen. I find that incredible.
OMG, kilo! That changes ... nothing. The question is how to balance security and freedom of action for our diplomats. The Republicans should not have refused security funding, and some training and procedures might also have helped. The reason for the attack is pretty much immaterial.
The point of Congressional hearings is supposed to be to figure out how the law needs to be changed to make the next time go better. The Republicans have completely lost sight of their function.
It would be interesting if JEBush's rejection by the billionaires inspired him to make a comeback as an anti-Citizens United candidate to pull the Republican Party toward reason on that issue.
The Obama Admin and HRC DID lie about the Benghazi attack. They lied through their teeth. They knew, and it has been proven over and over again, that the attack was not the result of some obscure video, that no one saw. They knew from the beginning that it was a terrorist attack. However, with just a couple of months before the election, and democrats running around claiming Bin Laden was dead and GM was alive, and Obama shouting that Al Qaeda was finished, the Obama Admin and democrats all over found themselves backed into a corner with their statements.
How pathetic that you still believe Hillary's spin, in spite of everything that is known. Too bad you are not honest enough to come out and admit it.
I was also called gifted and exceptional. I understand that things can be perceived differently depending on race, but when the true intention is discovered, the perception should accommodate.
The term for the phrases used on Scandal ("well spoken", etc.) is not "damning with faint praise", it's "the racism of lowered expectations".
Let me add one, IRV. It seems like a blind spot that we think we have to have exactly one legislative vote per district.
http://www.thomhartmann.com/users/mathboy/blog/2012/05/system-electing-legislators-part-2-mechanics
Questions:
… … …
{1} When Gowdy says his committee “…gates”,
which does he mean?: - “investi…” or “casti…”?
{2} When the Wall Street Journal for Reaganomics prates,
must they against Bernie be so nasty?
=============================
Whistleblowers are DOJ’s Only Means to Prosecute
“…The Obama administration’s failure to reestablish and effective criminal referral process and to appoint regulatory and prosecutorial leaders who will make the prosecution of elite bank fraudsters a top priority leaves DOJ with only one avenue of successful prosecutions of those elite banksters – whistleblowers. (Again, Holder would far rather fail than accept the repeated offers of help of those of us with a track record of success.) This makes Bowen a vastly more important asset to the DOJ and the SEC today than he would have been during the S&L debacle. He and few whistleblower peers are the DOJ’s and the SEC’s only “ace in the hole.” Holder, however, constantly folds rather than playing his sole ace in a criminal prosecution of the elite banksters. Of course, the pretense that Holder or Obama actually want to bring successful prosecutions against the elite banksters doesn’t fool anyone at this juncture.
Given the death of criminal referrals by the regulatory agencies, if Holder were serious about enforcing the rule of law against the elite bankers who led the three fraud epidemics he would make every effort to recruit whistleblower like Bowen. He would constantly be asking for them to come forward and vigorously seek leads on potential whistleblowers that the FBI could personally approach and ask for their help.
Virtually every major DOJ case against the largest banks was made possible by whistleblowers, including the cases against Citi, JPM, Bank of America, HSBC, Credit Suisse, and Standard Chartered. DOJ refuses to prosecute the elite bankers who led the three fraud epidemics even when it brings actions made possible by the whistleblowers’ revelations. Holder loves to attend the press conferences announcing these settlements and non-prosecutions (oxymoronically referred to as “deferred” prosecutions). The press conferences provide the ideal opportunity for Holder to praise the whistleblowers, ask for new whistleblowers to step forward, promise the whistleblowers that their information, if credible, will lead to prosecutions of the elite banksters, and explain how whistleblowers should contact DOJ. Holder and his subordinates have done this in zero cases. They fail even to mention the whistleblowers. Again, if Holder actually wanted to prosecute the banksters we know he would never act in the manner he consistently does when it comes to whistleblowers….”
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/03/bill-black-doj-sec-spurn-ace-hole...
Hundreds of Wall Street Execs Went to Prison During the Last Fraud-Fueled Bank Savings & Loans Crisis, No More - The Private Banksters now Own Our Government:
William Black:
"...To date, a few loan officers — small fish — have been convicted of various offenses related to the financial crash. But none of the big bankers have faced any charges. And it’s not that the government has been losing cases in the courts. There’s simply been no concerted effort to prosecute these guys. Can you contrast that with what happened during the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s, and also give us your sense of why this has been the case?
William Black: Sure. The savings and loan debacle was one-seventieth the size of the current crisis, both in terms of losses and the amount of fraud. In that crisis, the savings and loan regulators made over 30,000 criminal referrals, and this produced over 1,000 felony convictions in cases designated as “major” by the Department of Justice. But even that understates the degree of prioritization, because we, the regulators, worked very closely with the FBI and the Justice Department to create a list of the top 100 — the 100 worst fraud schemes. They involved roughly 300 savings and loans and 600 individuals, and virtually all of those people were prosecuted. We had a 90 percent conviction rate, which is the greatest success against elite white-collar crime (in terms of prosecution) in history.
In the current crisis, that same agency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, which was supposed to regulate, among others, Countrywide, Washington Mutual and IndyMac — which collectively made hundreds of thousands of fraudulent mortgage loans — made zero criminal referrals. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is supposed to regulate the largest national banks, made zero criminal referrals. The Federal Reserve appears to have made zero criminal referrals; it made three about discrimination. And the FDIC was smart enough to refuse to answer the question, but nobody thinks they made any material number of criminal referrals [either]...."
http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/17/hundreds-of-wall-street-execs-went-to-p...
What the Wall St Journal doesn't want to talk about is the greatest case of welfare ever, allowing our private banks to create our money supply out of thin air. They aren't even taxed on that gift. 10's of $trillions created by an outright gift of the state, when the gov't could create that money itself at zero cost and wouldn't have to borrow anything. And even more important could inject that money into the economy where it actually creates domestic jobs, builds infrastructure, fuels demand for domestic goods & services, rather than just fueling speculation and asset bubbles, profiting only rich parasites - rent seekers who produce nothing.
Best documentary on the Wall St. Journal's fave crony-capitalist economic & monetary system:
97% owned - Economic Truth Documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcGh1Dex4Yo
Iceland does what the US won’t: 26 top bankers sent to prison for role in financial crisis, total 74 years in Prison, In America the criminal Banksters are rewarded with $16T in bailouts and 10's of $billions in bonuses, In America, land of the free, The Felons who were declared Too Big To Jail by the Bankster criminals in the US gov't, like Eric Holder (back to work for his Bankster buddies), now they are even Bigger:
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/iceland-does-what-the-us-wont-26-top-ban...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/22/1437502/-Iceland-sentences-26-b...
How Iceland defeated the Anglo-American Bankster Mafia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zlzC_XMQzI
Still Report #374 -- Iceland Public Created Money Supply vs Criminal Private Banks "Counterfeiting" money:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDtLITvd6sc
“Fundamental reform of the monetary system must be considered.” Says head of Iceland Parliament’s Committee for Economic Affairs:
http://positivemoney.org/2015/04/iceland-fundamental-reform-monetary-sys...
Last week, a resolution calling for the establishment of a special commission to “carry out a review of the arrangements of money creation in Iceland and to make recommendations for improvements”:
http://positivemoney.org/2015/10/iceland-members-of-parliament-are-calli...
Iceland President: Let Banks Go Bankrupt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDexDNn6vSM
http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/intro_to_public_banking
http://positivemoney.org/our-proposals/sovereign-money-creation/
So going in debt a trillion dollars a year isn't enough. I am curious how much will it take.
Income tax deductions, capital gains assets investments, commodity prices - yes, yes and yes. But if working people feel secure in their bacon-bringing-home abilities, they will fritter away legal tender. American (over)confidence tends to make an economy grow exceedingly strong.
a 99% Bernie supporter/volunteer
The real question is how badly this will hurt the Repugs. Their own Non Compos Mentis corps is secure, but will they be able to attract any independents?
Roland
Can Jeffrey Dahmer fix the school lunch program? Eddie Munster needs a stake through his heart.
Roland
We all know who owns the wall street journal. Enough said.
The income tax deductions and tax rates have a profound affect on how money is invested in our economy. The lower tax rate for long term capital gains encourages people to invest in different types of assets. Problems arise when asset and commodity prices rise more than 2% a year. Bubbles and financial crisis begin to occur. There currently is no effective way to prevent bubbles and financial crisis from occurring. Until now! Read "Proposed Solution for Modern Economies That Create Bubbles and Financial Crisis". wp.me/p42WQA-1E
The major factor in Canada has been our idiotic, anti-democratic First-Past-The-Post electoral system, which sadly the US & Britain share. Trudeau promised if elected, that this will be the last election under the FPTP excuse for democracy. The liberal election platform statement:
"AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT immediately after the next election, an all-Party process be instituted, involving expert assistance and citizen participation, to report to Parliament within 12 months with recommendations for electoral reforms including, without limitation, a preferential ballot and/or a form of proportional representation, to represent Canadians more fairly and serve Canada better"
Harper would win a virtual dictatorship in Canada with support from 24% of electorate. He won all three elections because the four left wing parties split the left wing vote and he won because the Conservatives are the only right wing party.
And Harper, like the establishment US politicians, took advantage of the use of obscene, negative personal attack ads to defeat his opponents, mostly ignoring all issues. Under Instant Run-Off or Preferential Voting, using negative attack ads will cause a candidate to lose alternative votes, quite likely causing an election loss.
If Canada moves to IRV, the conservatives will be unelectable, unless they move substantially to the left.
In the US, the two party duolopoly is maintained thanks to the ridiculous FPTP system. Anyone votes for a third party, is just wasting their vote, and even worse, effectively voting for a candidate that they despise. Which is exactly what the Green party supporters did in 2000, effectively electing the corrupt, warmongering, Bankster stooge, George Bush. Under IRV that would not have happened.
http://www.fairvote.org/reforms/instant-runoff-voting/
http://instantrunoff.com/instant-runoff-home/the-basics/
http://instantrunoff.com/instant-runoff-home/in-action/where-irv-is-used/international/
The Alternative Vote Explained:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y3jE3B8HsE
The Problems with First Past the Post Voting Explained:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tWHJfhiyo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_voting_systems_by_country
Why does HRC keep saying "counselate" (not a word), instead of "consulate"?
(Science News Item) The lazy ant stuff is an example of the principle of system resilience. The extra ants form a reserve which can respond to catastrophes that might threaten the nest. When they sit around they consume minimal energy. Our human "mean and lean" systems are much more brittle and subject to failure under much less stress. (Of course, the bosses can make more money until system failure after which they can walk away from the debris with their loot.) Let's hear it for more intelligent systems design!
Thom’s Rightwing “Rumblers”
{a limerick}
Thom’s “Rumbles” show Rightists grumbling,
minds jumbling, bumbling and crumbling.
The Right has rallied
‘round notions invalid
while America is stumbling, nay tumbling.
================================
Mellow guy, if you mean Huma Abedin, first of all she's American, born in Kalamazoo. Second, her heritage is Indian and Pakistani, which 70 years ago would have just been Indian.
qI just got through watching the first moments of Lawrence O'Donnell's "The Last Word" and he more or less started off with a group of fellow (otherwise very reliable contributors, i.e. Steele, Dionne, e/a) and the gist of their treatment of Bernie Sanders' reaction to Joe Biden's decision not to run was a big silence from Sanders ... when in fact that was hardly the case.
Bernie was the first one to extend his best wishes to VP Biden and his family. That he wants to employ a more revolutionary approach towards our problems is no direct criticism or statement/sentiment worthy of deliberately taking out of context to purposely make the Vermont Senator look unneccessarily stubborn, if not curmodgeonly against the backdrop of Biden demonstrating his loyalty to President Obama. I'm sure Joe Biden understood where Bernie was coming from and even Clinton. That's the nature of politics. Besides, it was never Joe Biden's fault that Eric Holder lasted lasted well too long as AG and accomplished far less when it came to putting the fear of God and Uncle Sam into Wall St. in five years plus compared to what little time it took his immediate successor Loretta Lynch to accomplish in a few weeks.
So it's come to this? Bernie's best shot rests upon Trey Gowdy's success in terms of making sure his fellow Republican "Benghazi investigating cmte" members will be on their best behavior and all of 'em keep their tempers in check so they won't pull on Mrs. Clinton what the Chaffetz mugging of Planned Parenthood's Pres. Richards a month ago did for her and PPF. If the GOP goes overboard, they'll only make Clinton's star rise even higher and as well, the bar for Bernie to catch up to just to pull even again.
To think it's come to this so fast after so much has been gained, and Bernie's not responsible for it. Thank you GOP. Thank you MSNBC and thank you 4th estate in general. After all, it's no big secret who owns Big Media. Something even bigger: Wall Street.
I just wanted to say Sir that your comments are right on for the most part. Gave me more perspective into Canadian political processes, which I don't yet completely understand, being a US citizen living in Canada these last 13 years. As far as US politics, GO BERNIE!!! He's the best shot likely in my lifetime of really changing things for the betterment of people everywhere, not just the very rich. Thank the Great Spirit quite a few folks actually still think for themselves rather than just regurgitate what they've been fed!
For the most part I agree with you Thom. However as an American living in Canada I disagree with your statement "nobody saw it coming". Harper had estranged the average Canadian long ago with his imperial attitude. Also Justin Treadeau ran a very good campaign, much like Bernie is in the US, focusing on issues and avoiding attacking opponents. Local sentiment here in rural Eastern Ontario was "anyone but Harper". Yeah, the NDP pretty much shot themselves in the foot, but many rural Canadians think like I do and are neither right, left or center, but address individual issues and individual candidates. I would most accurately describe myself as Liberatrian and have never belonged to either Democrat or Republican but have registered with the Alaskan Independence Party. I totally support Bernie and am offering even money he will be our next president if the billionaires don't shoot him first. I think he and Justin would work well together. The future will be better!!!