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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

thatindiantroper Since: Feb, 2015
#173726: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:11:04 AM

I personally agree with the idea that less wealthy parts of the country should have higher weighted votes to even the scale but there' clearly been an over correction.

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#173727: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:20:43 AM

But there are poor people who live in New York, New England, and the West Coast, too! It has nothing to do with poverty; they simply value less populated places more highly. Why should the leader of this country be chosen by decrepit, ultraconservative simpletons living in dying, all-white coal mining communities, holding cultural, political, social, and economic views alt least Two Decades Behind the rest of the country?

edited 10th Feb '17 11:22:03 AM by CrimsonZephyr

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#173728: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:25:32 AM

That seems like a needlessly nasty way of characterizing that part of the country but I agree with the overall question/argument. At its heart, the argument for the Electoral College is that those Americans are "Real Americans", and that they are white (which amounts to the same thing).

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#173729: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:28:06 AM

The sooner the idea of a "real american" dies off, the better.

Falrinn Since: Dec, 2014
#173730: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:29:46 AM

[up]x4 Something to consider is that unless you flat out put a multipplier effect on poorer people's votes, you'd end disadvantaging certain groups of poorer people simply because they happen to live closer to rich people than other groups of poorer people.

Personally I favor going to a national popular vote, but with preferential or approval voting rather than one-person-one-vote. That way you eliminate the spoiler effect and favor candidates with the broadest possible appeal.

edited 10th Feb '17 11:31:00 AM by Falrinn

HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#173731: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:30:17 AM

'Less wealthy' means 'less worthy' these days.

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#173732: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:32:19 AM

The issue is, by "see you in court", Trump is talking about the supreme court, and assuming he waits until Goursch is appointed, he's got a decent shot of winning that one, since despite the dubious wisdom of that particular clause, the constitution is fairly unambiguous in giving the executive branch wide discretionary power to control immigration.

Gorsuch's appointment is ultimately irrelevant. Either he faces the SC without Gorsuch and has to persuade four judges that he's right, or he faces the SC with Gorsuch and has to persuade four judges that he's right. Having a single SC judge for a patsy doesn't actually affect his odds of winning overmuch.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#173733: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:33:32 AM

Just for future reference, the problems with the EC are: -It weights rural voters disproportionally -It means that only swing states matter in any way -People who vote for the other party in safe states basically cast worthless votes Correct?
No.

1) It weights toward votes in low-population states, not rural areas. Someone who lives in a major city has their vote count the same as someone who lives in the middle of nowhere, as long as they're in the same state. It's worth keeping in mind that this doesn't particularly favor one side over the other — low population states like Alaska and Wyoming are reliably red, but others like Delaware and Vermont are reliably blue.

2) Votes outside of swing states matter just as much as votes anywhere else. "Swing state" isn't some magical status bestowed upon favored states by the election fairy. States are swing states or safe states because of the way their voters vote. If voters in those states voted differently, then their state would be considered differently.

3) Votes for candidates who lose being effectively worthless is a problem with the first past the post system in general, not the electoral college specifically.

edited 10th Feb '17 11:37:37 AM by NativeJovian

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Wryte Since: Jul, 2010
#173734: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:38:09 AM

Just learned this rotten cherry on top of the shit sundae that is Steve Bannon: he used to be a Chinese gold farmer in World of Warcraft.

re: Governor Inslee's comeback to Trump: I'm so very proud to have voted for him right now.

YO CALI, WA STATE GOT YO BACK, DAWG. Now we just gotta get Oregon to move its feet and we can have a proper West Coast Vanguard of Democracy going.

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#173735: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:40:21 AM

@Tobias: Five, not four. And there's no guarantee the conservatives on the court will vote in the government's favor on this case.

edited 10th Feb '17 11:40:42 AM by Elle

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#173736: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:45:02 AM

True Americans don't elect nazis. True Americans punch them out.

Do not obey in advance.
RAlexa21th Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer from California (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I <3 love!
Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer
#173737: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:47:46 AM

And then take kid sidekicks, and fall in a plane crash, then butt head with billionaires.

edited 10th Feb '17 11:48:37 AM by RAlexa21th

Continue writing our story of peace.
unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#173738: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:50:25 AM

[up]and them reveal they were nazis all this time.....welpsad

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#173739: Feb 10th 2017 at 11:53:22 AM

Disregard this I'm wrong.

edited 10th Feb '17 11:54:04 AM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#173740: Feb 10th 2017 at 12:06:16 PM

There is no such thing as a "true american". Anyone born in the united states or who has become a naturalized citizen is as much as an american as anyone else different from them who fulfills that same criteria.

This is most salient in regards to the fact that the people in blue-collar rural communities are not any more "american" than anyone else living in the country. The "liberal elite" they so despise is much as a part of America as they are, whether they like it or not. America is a not homogenous country because it's a nation founded on the immigration of several different groups of people who have different values and ideas. Some of them are far more toxic and measurably harmful than others, but this does not make them less "american".

LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#173741: Feb 10th 2017 at 12:13:27 PM

I think there are reports that the deportations have started already?

I think it's pretty clear that "illegal immigration" is a code word for "those damn mexicans", but I honestly don't know what should be done about illegal immigration. Probably start by making it easier to become a citizen/get a green card.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#173743: Feb 10th 2017 at 12:20:41 PM

@Link: Referring to "Fear spreads in L.A. after immigration 'raid' described as routine by authorities"?

Also some flood stories: Is California overdue for biblical, catastrophic flooding? History says it could be and Gaping hole in Oroville Dam spillway is growing, officials warn because there are more issues than just Trump there and it ties in into a personal project of mine.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#173745: Feb 10th 2017 at 12:30:45 PM

Not ARk hopefully.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#173746: Feb 10th 2017 at 12:31:05 PM

[up][up]I really need to learn more about CA water issues and what can be done about it, considering that it's now my home state and all.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#173747: Feb 10th 2017 at 12:32:24 PM

@Wryte

Old news; I think that was brought up, what? Ten pages back?

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#173748: Feb 10th 2017 at 12:55:29 PM

So... I just found something even nuttier than the alt-right, the Neo-Reactionary (NRx) movement.

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#173749: Feb 10th 2017 at 12:57:20 PM

Stocks for Nordstrom INCREASE after Trump Tweet. Note that, for about an hour, they did drop, before jumping up much faster. Trump's Twitter attacks are no longer as effective as they were.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#173750: Feb 10th 2017 at 12:58:30 PM

California's water issues are a goldmine. Although practically speaking they are more important for the "Southland" (is this a common term for that region?) than for the Bay area.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

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