Arguing the meaning of Wall Street money

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Friday April 15, 2016 · 9:12 AM PDT

2016/04/15 · 09:12

I really don't have a horse in this race; I've been voting 3rd party a lot and very well may do so again. With that disclaimer out of the way, there's been something about the Clinton/Sanders exchanges that I've found hard to understand.

When I hear Sanders talk about Clinton's Wall Street donations & speaking fees, it seems clear he's implying these donations somehow change her behavior - either to influence votes or at least provide access. This requires the listener to at least allow for the possibility that she is guilty of some degree of bribery. For many people, this is too much of a stretch since it is, frankly, a very serious charge.

So why doesn't he concede a presumption that she is in no way influenced by these donations, but then ask voters - Why does Wall Street nonetheless contribute disproportionately to her? If the answer isn't some form of bribery (conceded) and it isn't their concern for the greater good (ha!), then it must be because they perceive her as the lesser threat to their personal interests. And when the experts are so clear in their opinion of who (relatively) is Wall Street's friend, who are we to doubt them?

It just seems an obvious line of argument, yet he never ever seems to pick up on it. I'll be very curious to read others thoughts on the matter. Thanks!

POTUS & 'the bubble'

IowaLibert

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Friday August 07, 2015 · 11:53 AM PDT

2015/08/07 · 11:53

Just spitballin' here. Run it up the flagpole. All that.

It costs however many millions to take POTUS (any POTUS) anywhere on Air Force One. But pretty much wherever POTUS is s/he has the 'Washington bubble' blocking any meaningful interaction between POTUS and average citizens. I take both statements to be fact. So what can we come up with?

Bring ordinary citizens to POTUS inside the bubble. No, seriously. Go below the squiggly and read on.

IowaLibert

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Thursday November 10, 2011 · 12:45 PM PST

2011/11/10 · 12:45

As a PSU alumnus, these are dark times. While I rarely post here, I've done a lot of lurking here over a long time. I feel at least a small part of this community. And it is nice to have community to lean on a little.

Here, above the fold, is the fundamental thing:
PSU has a fleeting unique opportunity to do something really positive. They need to walk away from the rest of the football season. It's time to make a statement. Football is only a game. Broken lives are far more important. This is perhaps a teachable moment. And PSU is an educational institution.

More below the fold.

IowaLibert

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Thursday September 15, 2011 · 8:39 PM PDT

2011/09/15 · 20:39

Above the fold, here's the simplified message.

Even if there is no funny business (e.g., Diebold & etc), it is simply not possible to count each ballot perfectly and unequivocally.

Imagine a hyper-close presidential election under direct popular vote. Think Florida in 2000 being played out from coast-to-coast.

Don't we need a way to very closely mirror the popular vote while also containing inevitable problems to a manageable size?

More detailed consideration below.

Poll

27 votes Show Results

So what'll we do about the Electoral College?

27 votes Vote Now!

So what'll we do about the Electoral College?

I'll take the asteroid risk. Kill the EC.

17 votes

Keep the EC, but 100% winner-take all.

0 votes

Keep the EC, but 100% ME/NE allocation.

4 votes

Hardball, baby! Whatever mix skews the results in our favor.

1 vote

Why mess with the status quo?

3 votes

What he said: Kill the gerrymander, then all ME/NE.

0 votes

Pie. All allocated to me.

2 votes

an outsider's view

IowaLibert

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Wednesday September 14, 2011 · 12:07 PM PDT

2011/09/14 · 12:07

Below the fold is a narrative of one voter's journey. It starts as an under-age McCarthy admirer in 1968 and a McGovern voter in 1972. It wanders through the Repubs, then into the Liberts, eventually bending onto a more populist/left tack that led to DK in 2004, and perhaps should have returned to the Dems by now. Except it hasn't.

Maybe, as kossacks here fight amongst themselves (the current boycott, progressives v Clinton/"middle way", activists v burnout victims) in their efforts to figure out the way forward, just maybe this one voter's journey can be instructive.

Or not. (though I honestly hope it helps y'all).

IowaLibert

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Tuesday December 30, 2008 · 11:47 AM PST

2008/12/30 · 11:47

I have a little experience in the field of election administration, although I'm not about to claim expertise. Maybe I merely know enough to be wrong in less obvious ways? :-)

Regardless, it seem to me that this election is ripe to be contested, a contest may well be upheld, and the whole thing re-run from scratch.

IowaLibert

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Tuesday December 23, 2008 · 4:00 PM PST

2008/12/23 · 16:00

With the 2010 census and resulting redistricting coming up faster than we're liable to be ready for, I was thinking about getting involved in efforts to make the redistricting process less partisan (which I take as de facto a "good thing"). Not wanting to go rushing into this uninformed, I've done some recent reading. In particular, I found this report from the Brennan Center to be thorough, balanced, and very helpful.

Below the fold, I bring up some specific issues relating to redistricting that now seem less obvious to me than they once did. I'm hopeful that your comments and your poll responses will, at a minimum, inform me of the progressive point-of-view on this topic. Thanks!

Poll

93 votes Show Results

Which best expresses your feelings about redistricting?

93 votes Vote Now!

Which best expresses your feelings about redistricting?

Leave it the political knife fight that it now is in most states.

10 votes

Absolutely equal districts. Variations of even 0.1% is too much.

2 votes

Compactness rules! Crank up the computers.

21 votes

Group 'em up. District lines may be like spaghetti, but like-minded folks will get their representatives elected.

2 votes

Follow other boundary lines. Maps are messy enough as it is.

15 votes

Require proportional partisanship!? With some tweaking, might just be crazy enough to work.

8 votes

Gimme that alternate reality of proportional representation.

21 votes

Gimme Christmas cookies.

14 votes

Queston on Convention Rules

IowaLibert

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Wednesday May 28, 2008 · 8:25 AM PDT

2008/05/28 · 08:25

It comes as no surprise (see my ID) that I was watching the Libertarian national convention last weekend. I'm not interested in comparing our relative positions on issues, but I found some of the differences and similarities in process interesting.

For instance, we do the same state-by-state announcements of delegation votes with some of the same silly or amusing or self-serving or sometimes not-ready-for primetime preface comments. (My favorite was from Alaska "where we welcome global warming with open arms"; since I don't think he was serious, I found it totally unexpected and I was LOL.)

Anyway, after the jump is a procedural item that I'd like to know how the Democratic rules handle it.

IowaLibert

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Wednesday March 12, 2008 · 8:32 AM PDT

2008/03/12 · 08:32

I take a few things as given.

#1 Obama will arrive at the convention with a lead in pledged delegates but he will need significant numbers of Supers to put him over the top.

#2 Given #1, if Clinton wins the nomination via Supers overturning the pledged delegate plurality, there will be a significant risk of important Democratic constituencies sitting on their hands in November.

#3 The "dream ticket" cannot be made.

I look at the above and come to these conclusions:

IowaLibert

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Wednesday January 12, 2005 · 5:45 AM PST

2005/01/12 · 05:45

I've met Ed Fallon. There are a lot of areas that I don't agree with him. But I think he's in sync with a lot of the thinking here on dKos. So, while it doesn't particularly advance my own point-of-view, I'm re-producing below his yearend update. I think this guy is deserving of your support.

Oh, one other thing. His official campaign website is www.fallonforgovernor.org
Read More

OH recount - Who are the observers?

IowaLibert

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Monday November 15, 2004 · 8:28 AM PST

2004/11/15 · 08:28

With the election (seemingly) over, I had intended to leave dKos. Then this recount came along. So much for good intentions.

It looks like the money will be raised for the Ohio recount. Thanks for this go to all you Kossacks and many other Demos. After all, we know the Greens and Liberts couldn't raise that kind of coin so quickly.

So now it's time to begin shifting our focus (in Ohio anyway; maybe there'll be enough funding for further recounts?) to the actual process the recount follows. Is the Democratic Party (and, by extension, Kerry) now forced to become directly engaged? After all, who will be the recount observers? Read More

Ballot Chaos

IowaLibert

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Thursday October 14, 2004 · 12:26 PM PDT

2004/10/14 · 12:26

I'm inherently reluctant to respond to a problem with "there oughta be a law". And I'm particularly reluctant to advance solutions imposed from above by the federal government. But I'm also not normally quick to invoke "states rights". The feds, in keeping with the Bill of Rights and our heritage of individual liberties, are sometimes the appropriate and final guarantor when something's gone awry.

So with that as background, consider the current ballot access mess. Ballots are being printed, mailed out to absentee voters, and there are still questions about who should and should not be on those ballots. (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=536&e=5&u=/ap/20041014/ap_o n_el_pr/overseas_vote_lawsuit)
Read More

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Arguing the meaning of Wall Street money

POTUS & 'the bubble'

Penn State: It's only a game, let it go

In defense of the Electoral College

an outsider's view

Will the Minnesota result be contested?

The Hand on the 2010 Redistricting Knife

Queston on Convention Rules

my prediction of how this plays out

a progressive governor for Iowa

OH recount - Who are the observers?

Ballot Chaos