ANALYISIS OF YOUR ELECTION WORK .

You as a citizen of your country are able to vote.  But, you have many things to think about and make decisions.  Hopefully, you will not keep all these items in your head, but you will make a list about the items within the election, such as the items in my last blog.  Please make notes next to those items you feel strongest about.

Of course, there are special items that you know about, i.e. abortion.  How much weight do you place on those items?  An item like abortion may carry a large percentage of weight in your selection, anything over 50% means that you have slipped into a “polarizing” issue.   An issue that places so much weight in your selection that whatever else the candidate supports you will or will not support him/her.  For you, your decision is made.  It is the easy way to vote. 

An election is full of issues that deserve full attention.   Voting for something that is a polarizing issue should be your last consideration before voting.   Take a look at those items that you have made notes next too.   You might want to establish a “weight system based on 100%” and place a percentage next to the items you feel strongest about.   Start to make out cards, or notes next to those items and see how strong the contenders match up.

Starting down the list of “contenders” you will quickly see that you do not have the knowledge you would like to contain in your brain to make a decision that you could live with.  Does it have enough strength for you to support one specific candidate?  Perhaps if you had been following the election closely, you could have received the necessary information.  Now, you are going to have to go several resources for answers. The best of the batch include; The Christian Science Monitor, www.csm.com                                     www.factcheck.com , www.commondreams.org , www.commoncause.com , www.cnn.com , www.foxnews,com ,  www.projectvotesmart.org , www.msnbc.com,  www.centerforresponsivepolitics.net, www.legislativeinformationfromthelibraryofcongress.com,Thomas.loc.gov/ , www.npr.org , www.GOP.com , wwwldemocraticparty.org   .  Your local newspapers are available on the web system and can easily find articles that would answer questions.

These sources could provide you with answers to the questions you desire.  Next election perhaps you could come up with your own system which might include:  taking the local newspaper (cutting out articles) keeping the articles in your own system be it a file system or binder.  Reading the articles and keeping them to help you in discussions throughout the election will further strengthen your vote.

Usually the county where you vote will send your ballot sheet that has everything in the election.  No, this is not for you to vote on and hand in, but it is for you to make semi-final decisions.  Select those candidates that you have decided deserve your vote, place an X next to their name.  Do the same thing with all the propositions.  After finishing, go over the entire ballot and see if you have made your final decisions.  Once that is completed, take the sample ballot INTO  where you vote—into the actual booth, so you can fill out the actual ballot the same way you did on the—that takes all the anxiety and pressure off of making errors on the ballot.

The ballot booth and ballot itself.    The booth is supposed to be private.  A pull sheet is provided for that purpose.  The ballot procedure is different everywhere.  Make sure you have familiarized yourself with that procedure.  This simple item was the basis of the Supreme Court case that cost Al Gore the Presidency to George W. Bush in the state of Florida.  Please be careful about getting to the balloting place before it closes.  As long as you are in line, they must allow you to vote.  Also, watch out for signs that direct people away from balloting locations.  This is a trick played on voters by one of the political parties to lower the vote count because people didn’t get to the ballot station in time.  Again, in the State of Florida.   A last word of advice.  If you have to work, get to the ballot location in the early morning—before you get to work, there are less people, lines are shorter.  The State of Oregon has done one thing better—they are an all absentee ballot state.  All ballots are mailed into the County to be counted.  I hope you feel confident in your selections and you help in electing a solid ballot that will correct our ship of state.

Partial list of discussion-Pres.Election

Howdy.  I have had problems with my hook-up with google, but I have it corrected now.
Well, the Presidential Campaign has moved right along.  Currently, the Republicans are represented by Mitt Romney for President and Paul Ryan as Vice Presidential Candidate.
The Democrats appear to be keeping the same two representatives, Barack Obama as Presidential Candidate and  Joe Bidden as Vice Presidential Candidate
The main issues:
1. The economy--8.2 unemployment rate (supposedly no president has ever been elected with an unemployment rate above 8.0--
2.  Health Care--Medicare--Obama Care.
3.  Democrats want to gain control of Congress.
4.  Republicans want to lower taxes for the 1%, raise taxes on the 99%.
5.  Less money for defense--no more wars--more funds for transportation and highways.
6.  Regulate Wall Street so they will not fail again.
7.  Correct the Immigration problems.
8.  Wealth needs to spread around to include the middle-class.
9.  Legislation to keep American jobs in America.  Bring back "outsourced" jobs.  Stop legislation that gives 
     corporations incentives to move out of the USA.
10.Have a free market that is not a free license to take whatever you can from whomever you can.  The Free
     market only works when there are rules of the road that ensure competition is fair, open and honest.  It
     should not include monopolies, but have those companies compete for consumers with better services
     and better prices.  Make sure businesses couldn't profit by exploiting children or selling food or medicines
     that isn't safe. (Obama speech Dec 6, 2011)

11.  Maintain the status of Social Security.
12.  Help Congress convene a Constitutional Convention.  Similar to what Congress did when they changed
       from the Articles of Confederation to the U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights.  It is necessary to
       have 34 State Legislatures call for a Constitutional Convention, there are 32 states that have already
       voted to call for the convention.  It only takes 2 more states.  Arizona had agreed earlier, however,
       pulled out, perhaps they could be convinced to vote for the call.  Oh, yes, there is one major problem.
       Most of Congress is afraid that once called the states will also call for a renewed, updated Constitution,
       i.e. balanced budget, eliminate Article I restriction to coinage of real money, or even eliminate gun or
      property rights, reduction of existing liberties,  change the existing 50 states to 11 Republics (Santa 
      Barbara Group), justice system could have the ability to legally ignore the Constitution--to modify its

Partial list, page 2--Pres Campaign

modify "problematic " provisions to reflect the philosophical and social mores of our contemporary society.
    13.  Delegates could revise the 1st Amendment into a government controlled privilege, replace the 2nd
            Amendment with a "collective" right to self-defense, and abolish the 4th, 5th and 10th Amendments
            and the rest of the Bill of Rights.  Additions could include the non-existent Separation of Church
            and "right" to abortion and euthanasia and much more.
     14.  Individual rights would be replaced by "collective" rights, awarded and enforced by government
            for the "common" good.
     15.  The above are only suggestions letting you see why most people don't want a new Constitutional
            Convention  (www.call for constitutional convention)
     16.  Somehow get the climate under control SOON.  Can you imagine the movement from warm
            climates -We need to listen to our scientists, look at reality (Iceland--The North Pole ice)  What
            about the water level, pretty soon Arizona will be beachfront property.
     17.  Stop obstructionist tactics in Congress.  Congressmen need to work for their constituents.
     18.  Amend the Constitution to resend Citizen's United.
     19.   Amend the Constitution to stop hypocrisy.  All use of funds must be reported by Congressmen, all
           loopholes in taxation removed.  Business CEO's may not receive more money for compensation than
           eight times a normal worker's salary.  Have a Congressional committee with the power to remove
           Congressmen for being arrested for a felony, no long process.(Common Dreams articles)
     20.  Federally elected officials may not sign a "Pledge" of any kind that would deture doing the work
            for the Common Good of the people.

Law withholds cruise-safety information

I have attached a link for you to read.  It is from The Arizona Republic, business section, first page, Sunday 06/09/2012, Page 1.  The writer, Robert Anglen, accurately describes how lobbyist and Congressmen create "Hollow Logs"--those laws that appear just what the constituents have been asking for--on first appearance (or on the outside of the log, while inside the law (log core) the bill has been completely negated by specific wording.  In this case the law appeared to be going forward in the manner the constituents wanted..(http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/2012/06/09/2012)
The bill's main meaning was" requiring cruise lines to report all serious crimes aboard ships to the FBI .  Originally, it required the U.S. Coast Guard to maintain a public database of all serious crimes on cruise ships.  Language added before passage altered the bill so that only crimes "no longer under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation were reported in the public database ."
"The upshot: The public is not allowed to see reports of all alleged crimes aboard ships.  Where the FBI once publicly reported more than 400 crimes a year, only six crimes on ships in the past nine months have been listed on the public database.  And cases not investigated by the FBI--for example, allegations handled by ship security staff--never will be reported in the database under the new law".

Several things to notice:
1".  The people supporting the law worked with the public entities until final wording was worked out, they felt secure that what they had shepherded was going to be the law, however small changes were made in the final wording that was not privy to the public prior to passage.
       a.  Lobbyists from the cruise industry have a great deal to lose if this information gets out to the public
            they will lose a large amount of business.  The way the bill is written now, the public is not allowed
            to see the reports of alleged crimes--the FBI had reported over 400 crimes a year, this past nine
            months period had only listed 6 crimes on ships
             i.  The driving force behind this bill is Kendall Carver whose daughter mysteriously disappeared
                 on an Alaskan Cruise in 2004, he has dedicated his life to holding the cruise line industry more
                 accountable for passenger safety .  Carver had no idea it had changed until last year 
                 when the first crime reports came out.  Mr. Carver and other cruise-safety experts have spent
                 months trying to determine how and why the wording in the bill was altered."
      b.  The way things stand now.  People looking for safety issues on cruise ships, won't find much on the
            record .  This gives people a false sense of security.  This could be considered fraud by the  Cruise
            Lines with a complaisant federal government trying to protect an economic asset.

Educated Citizens are not just informed, but are changed.

We have discussed many issues lately.  Notice, they all seem to force you to make a decision.  In doing so you are not only informed about what you covered, but you have changed your point of view. 
Hopefully, you have helped your frame of reference shore up that area so you may be able to talk about, make intelligent decisions that you can stand for, and help change your world for the better.

This all sounds very easy, however, if you have been attempting it, you realize you need too go through several thought processes before you accept a decision that sticks to your frame of reference.  It is a time consuming process that needs plenty of attention before you may feel comfortable with your frame of reference.  In that process you are changing, for the better.

To do this with strength, you must have the ability to integrate and apply knowledge from one discipline to help learn another.  You need the appreciation of the challenge that exists in truly mastering a subject matter.  It is somewhat like "building blocks", or laying a good foundation under constructing a brick house.  Once you have build the foundation, your "house" (frame of reference) will provide you with the knowledge to make strong, sound decisions.

Caution!  Political parties make up little white lies

 Political parties are not opposed to stretching the truth or telling a little white lie, it is up to you to search out the truth so you can vote for the best qualified candidate.  Bill Clinton stretched the truth with his sexual advances, he threw a mask on when dealing with Congress, he made the Republicans think he was a republican and got many items through Congress. Bush’s presidency was ripe with whatever it took to make their side of the issues shine a ray of sunshine on their faces.  The worst example being getting us into the Iraq war because they supposedly had “weapons of mass destruction”.

The past three years while the Republicans  have been in power in the House of Representatives, most all of their membership in that house have signed a pledge against any legislation that would increase taxes. They have become an obstructionist party, hardly allowing legislation to pass in Congress, while President Obama has been attempting to right the economy, get us out of wars and right the ship of state. 

Both parties have friendly journalist who make up stories for their benefit.  The most recent “story” is that the Social Security system is going to run out of funds in 2033.  The Common Dreams.org editorial staff has researched the folly of their “story”.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the chairman of the Defending Social Security Caucus and also chairman of the Senate aging subcommittee says, “The most effective way to strengthen Social Security for the next 75 years is to eliminate the cap on the payroll tax on income above $250,000.  Right now, someone who earns $110,000 pays the same amount of money into Social Security as a billionaire.  That makes no sense.”

The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said in a statement.  “The trust fund solvency date for Social Security has seen fluctuations many times in recent decades, from a depletion date as distant as 2048 in the 1988 report to as soon as 2029 in the 1994 and 1997 reports.  This year’s report is well within that range.  Contrary to the crisis myths perpetuated by fiscal conservatives and many in the media, the prevailing facts show once again that Social Security remains among the nation’s most successful and stable programs.  The Trustees report there is now $2.7 trillion in the Social Security trust fund, which is $69 billion more than last year, and continues to grow.  Payroll contributions and interest will full cover benefits for decades to come.

What I have shown you here is why you need to dig deeper into the media and political rhetoric that you see/hear and read.  Search for the truth through credible sources—go to the source when possible—

The source for this article is www.commondreams.org   April 24, 2012, titled “Experts: Contrary to Mainstream Myth, ‘Social Security is Strong’ and Could be made stronger.”

Keep notes, watch TV, Talking Heads, read, read!

Well, the Republicans have settled on Mitt Romney as their candidate going into the Republican National Convention.  It appears that the support is tenuous at best.  Most Republicans want to beat Obama and don't care who is the candidate going up against him.
If you are Republican--Tea Party member, Democrat or Progressive NOW is the time for you to bring all your support for your candidate--be they cut-out articles, magazine articles, video notes, notes from events you have attended, whatever it is, make sure you have your support established and are able to talk about your support for your candidate.  Things are going to get rough--people against the way you think are going to be prepared also, perhaps not as prepared as you, but they are their beliefs and they will try to convince you to change your way of thinking!!  Confrontation will take place in just about any location, on the way to work, visiting a neighbor, over coffee after church, at dinner with friends, you name it, you will need to be ready.  You will need to practice confrontation with your family.  Most people are not comfortable with presenting a point and winning an argument.  Remember, state your point, clearly, have hard evidence ready to back up what your are saying and try--please try to be calm!  Do not belittle your "friend", people don't like that.  Allow him/her to state why they support their view on the issue and listen for evidence.  Listen where they have received their evidence--you are going to present "neutral" evidence as much as possible--example, Christian Science Monitor information--your "friend" may not present unbiased evidence, example:  Opinions from newscasters, political news(CNN and MSNBC  FOX News,).  Hopefully you would have watched/listened/read your opponents point of view and be ready to have a come-back.  Maybe, just maybe, your friend may present enough evidence that will change your way of thinking!!  It is your job to be ready as possible to walk into that voting booth and be sure of your vote. 

Dig, Dig, evaluate, decide

Now is the time you dig into the candidates' statements, videos, speeches, reactions, essays, stands on the issues.  It appears to be a very easy assignment:  1.  Dig into your frame of reference, all of the above, plus more and come up with a justifiable decision.  2.  Start discussing the issues with your friends, listen to radio and TV, read editorial pages in periodicals, see if your decision stands the test of questioning and do your answers represent solid positions.  3.  Alter your position if needed and go after it again.  REMEMBER, YOUR VOTE DOES COUNT!!

Articles on: Cooperatives instead of Corp and Purchasing the Presidency

I have included two sites for you to read. The first one is concerning an alternative to the "Citizen United" Supreme Court decision--Cooperative. Jim Hightower discusses a fine way that already exists and may be the common man's way to avoid corporations.
The second one is "Purchasing the President: the 2012 Super-PAC Mega-Donors. Great article about how the corporations are using the power the Supreme Court gave them. It explains limitations and amounts. Great articles in Common Dreams.org.

Presidential National Convention--Parties vying for Presidential Office

The past few months, the Republican party has been having candidate debates and primary elections, all the process of trying to select the most capable candidate to "run" for the office of President for their party. There is a new twist this time. PAC's have been given the authority to "give" as much as they wanted to a candidate. This came as a result of a Supreme Court decision known as "Citizen United", which said that corporations have the same privilege of "speech" as a human-being, meaning that a corporation may give as many campaign funds it wants instead of being stopped by the usual $2,300 they had prior to the decision. What that translates to is: a candidate merely needs to get one very large donator who would foot his campaign and that is all he would need--so, no more "grassroots" or small donors (usually from the regular population)
Now, the Republican party has narrowed their selection to four candidates. Those candidates are attempting to "win" each of states they "run" in so they can accumlate "votes" going into the Presidential Convention.
The Presidential Convention is where the final candidate is selected. In the pre-50's days, the convention was a brokered convention, usually in a smoke filled room with the party big-whigs attempting to convince the remainder in the room of the ability of their candidate.
The convention today is changed. No-more smoke filled rooms, the candidate comes to the convention usually with the election in the bag because he has accumulated the largest number of "state" wins to achieve the election.
Other things go on at the convention: The party platform is solidified, that is where the party states what they believe in and where they are headed in the upcoming Presidential election. Many personalities are highlight by speeches they deliver and will begin growing within the party.
Usually a sitting President has a good position if he has done a good job in his last term.
What is your job. First, you need to familiarize yourself with both of the candidates; their positions on the issues; that means you need to do some research and become familiar with their reasons for their position. Next, you need to start to form questions that you would like to ask on the issues, do the candidates answer with good answers? Start forming an opinion, once formed, challenge their positions, use letters-to-the editor (remember to keep the letters to one question--yes, you can send more, however publishers do not like long letters, it takes up too much space) call in responses, attend meetings--and on and on--GET INVOLVED--BE ABLE TO DISCUSS THE ISSUES--POSSIBLE ANSWERS!!!!!STAY INVOLVED!

Natural Born Citizen

January 28,2012, Atlanta, GA. President Obama’s Presidency is up for question over his heritage. For the past 2-3 years, his citizenship status has been up for debate because of his “birth certificate” which proved that he was born in Hawaii. He was born of one parent who was a non-citizen, his Dad, and his mother that is an American Citizen.
Natural-Born citizenship is required as one of the requirements to be a President. The Founding Fathers reasoned that a person who has lived as a natural-born citizen would be more familiar with being an American than someone who was a new citizen.
“For persons born in the United States, the rights of U.S. citizenship have been ensured, in constitutional theory if not in everyday practice, since the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 and the civil rights laws of the 1960’s. The Fourteenth Amendment conferred citizenship upon “all persons born in the United States (It has been proven that Obama was born in Hawaii—his true copy of the birth certificate was produced)…and subject to the jurisdiction therof.” Subsequent laws also give citizenship to children born outside the United States to parents who are American citizens.”
James Q. Wilson AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
President Obama is and has been accepted as the President of the United States. The term that is up for question is “Natural Born”. This has never been questioned before. It has been assumed that everyone understands what natural born means, a natural birth. The Constitutional process has accepted the fact that if one parent is a citizen, the child is a citizen. This is accepted as the norm, world-wide. Usually after the date of majority, the person can chose which citizenship he desires. Some nations even allow dual citizenship, however the nation chosen to live in usually is the one the person must fulfill any commitments, such as military duty.

Policy or politics?

This is the height of the primary season. Speeches are coming from many candidates and those that are in office. How do you tell whether a speech is an "action" speech
(a speech that is directed towards correcting a specific problem, or a speech designed to address a problem that would be good for politics.
Policy or Politics?
A letter to the editor in January 26, 2012 Arizona Republic, by Dennis Santillo, addresses this very problem
"Whenever there is a major address or action by a politician, there emerges the
conjecture: Is this a political speech or a policy speech, a real effort to
address a problem would be good politics!
People would vote for the politician who did the right thing, right?
Yet, it is well-recognized that there is (sic)a difference between what is
political and policy.
...why is that? ...because the electorate is too ignorant to be able to tell
it.
We vote, not on the basis of an intelligent, well-informed analysis and
judgment, but on some emotional/visceral reaction."


Reference President Obama's State of the Union speech. Was it an action speech, or a political speech. It was both. You need to read the text to find where it turns from one element to the other. Most politicians give speeches that have solutions to problems, but are good for politics also. It is at this point in a speech where a politician reaches into his "party's" platform (things they stand behind and/or want to see changed) You can identify the move when they start to enunciate the party's position, or downgrade the other party's positions. An action speech usually has ways available to those voting on the issue that it can be done in the easiest manner. Remember, if you want to change someone's mind on an issue, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to say "yes". So, if you see that kind of activity within a speech, the politician is making it easy for the voter, congress person, whomever to say yes, usually that is calling for action by the listener on the issue. Political speeches can take several forms, usually it backs up the speaker and his position on the issue. He is asking you for your support, in whatever form.
It is up to you to sort through the speech, see if you can identify with any of the positions; can those positions turn you into a supporter? If so, how much, verbal, monetary, unpaid worker, have house parties for the candidate? Do you want to hear more? Less?

Only One Side?

Are you only reading, watching, listening to one side of an issue? All people like to feel comfortable with the views they receive. They tend to only read the newspapers, magazines, and/or blogs they have chosen according to their political beliefs. They tend to watch only those news programs that also feel comfortable, for instance, liberals watch MSNBC, or CNN, Conservatives watch Fox News and listen to Rush Limbaugh on the radio.
Do you realize you are only getting what you are comfortable with? You are not allowing new thoughts into your frame of reference to challenge your comfortable thoughts. Perhaps a challenge would change, or at least, strengthen your existing beliefs.
Instead of reading a local conservative newspaper, once in a while, say once a week, read a liberal paper. See what the other side is saying! Are you only watching liberal MSNBC for your news, switch over to Fox News to see what their point of view represents. If you listen/watch Rush Limbaugh, switch over to Rachel Maddow and listen to how the liberal see the same issue.
If you open your frame of reference to other opinions and beliefs you will solidify your discussions with others about the issues. Perhaps you never looked at the issue as the other party before.
When you go into the voting booth to cast your ballot, you want to feel comfortable with your decision.

Primary Election II

“The candidate of a party becomes that party’s candidate because he or she is the choice of the party’s registered voters. This primary system of selecting the party’s candidates is now either mandatory or optional in all states and is almost universally used. In most states such primaries are “closed,” which means that only the voters who have officially registered as members of a party may participate in that party’s primaries. However, a few states hold “open” primaries, which means that the voter is not required to disclose a party preference but can mark any party’s primary ballot within the privacy of the voting booth. In some states, if no candidate is able to win an absolute majority in the first primary election a run-off election is held a few weeks later. In the run-off election the two candidates who received the most votes in the first primary compete for the nomination. “ Robert C. Bone , American Government.
(A small note: usually run-off election rules are very lax. A run-off election held in Arizona was won by the turn of a card)
Once the winner has been decided for that party, running for the office begins in earnest.
The party involved will campaign what will show off their candidate’s best side. Unfortunately, winning contests have been won using a term
called “mud-slinging”. The opposing party “digs” up “dirt” on the other candidate, such
as: marital infidelity, questionable accounting practices in their campaign, pressure on
certain individuals using various under the table tactics to influence them to “get behind
their candidacy”. The Governor of Illinois was recently sent to prison for 14 years for
attempting to “sell” President Obama’s Senate Seat to the highest bidder. Although this
did not have anything to do with a primary election, it shows what ends politicians will
stoop to for a winning election.
It is your job to find the items you favor and see which candidate has the most trustworthy presentation. Could you vote for that person in the up-coming General election?
This may take many hours of research, or if you are a supporter of a “polarizing” election item such as; abortion, your selection would be easy.
What is a polarizing event? A subject that is so severe in it’s meaning and thrust that a voter will vote for that candidate whether or not they agree with anything else the candidate stands for. With abortion, many people on the far right believe that life begins with the sperm fertilizing the egg within the woman’s womb. If that be the case then abortion would be killing a “person” with all the rights and privileges of an 18 year old citizen. Because the fertilized egg can not think for itself at the moment, the state must do it for the baby. Usually a court takes over and that ensures rights and privileges. It is polarizing because you can’t be a little bit pregnant. Usually abortions are permitted on those women that have conceived via incest, or rape or danger to the mother’s life. Candidates on the right make sure their “constituencies” know their position on abortion.
You should be able to ascertain the issues that you can stand behind and those that you can not. Can you stand up in a meeting and defend your position? Are you able to come back with knowledgeable answers to people’s responses?
What is on the line? If your “opponent” wins the election and the views presented by that person is used in Congress and you will have to abide by his/her presentation and representation. Is that acceptable? Or, will you research a bit more to strengthen your position when you present your side. Look for areas of your “opponent’s” presentation that you disagree with and research why you disagree and be ready for a further discussion with the candidate.