The Many, Many Flaws of Instant Run-Off Voting

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Sunday March 01, 2009 · 11:47 AM PST

2009/03/01 · 11:47

Support the open primary initiative in California, since it would produce more moderate, pragmatic candidates (narrowing the ideological extremes in Sacramento and reducing wasteful gridlock) and help independents.

Here's a good analysis of the flaws of instant run-off voting (IRV), which some suggest as an alternative to the open primary initiative.

Trying to please everyone would likely end up pleasing no one.

Among the numerous flaws to IRV noted in this paper:

Knappster

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Thursday February 26, 2009 · 7:29 PM PST

2009/02/26 · 19:29

Independents would be the true beneficiaries of California's open primary initiative because primaries will occur on a more level playing field. In the long term, bringing more moderate viewpoints, center-left as it were, to Sacramento widens the pool of possible candidates. And in the short term, it immediately gives independents a greater chance to win the primary, and win the election, by opening the field to competition, regardless of party affiliation.

So the initiative helps, does not hurt, third-party candidates. Which is why it's strange that the New America Foundation's Steven Hill seems uncomfortable with what he calls the "top two primary" because, according to Hill, it "bans" third parties from the general. Hill would appear to be a lone ranger off on a propaganda crusade with every newspaper he can find, to make sure this thing isn't passed, at the expense of democracy and common sense. What's his evidence? One primary in Washington last year? Does he think decades of fierce and divisive politics are just going to be washed away in one election cycle?

The Post Partisan

Knappster

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Wednesday February 25, 2009 · 11:55 AM PST

2009/02/25 · 11:55

Are you exasperated by the partisan bickering and gridlock in Washington that continues despite the best efforts of an enlightened, forward-looking President? What about the ideological rancor within the California legislature leading to over three months of an embarrassing budget stalemate, while we teetered toward bankruptcy, in the face of the largest state budget deficit in California history, a disastrous $41 billion?

In both instances, we averted driving off a cliff. But just barely. And how much time, money and resources did we waste in the process?

Why must government move at a snail's pace, if at all? Why do politicians fight with such ferocity over insignificant minutiae, generating an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation in Capitals the nation over? Why does so-called "bipartisanship" fail time and again?

The Post Partisan

Knappster

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Wednesday February 18, 2009 · 12:21 PM PST

2009/02/18 · 12:21

The "paradox of thrift" holds that if everyone attempts to save more at the same time, the total amount of savings will actually decrease. Because in saving more, we spend less. That means the national income falls because as "one family spends less, other families earn less and respond by cutting their own consumption." Thus the more we save, the poorer we get.

But, in the final analysis, there is another paradox–the paradox of optimism–that we should be more concerned about as we navigate our way through the economic thicket.

The Post Partisan

Knappster

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Thursday February 12, 2009 · 11:21 AM PST

2009/02/12 · 11:21

When news came out about the Wall Street bonuses in 2008 totaling about $18.4 billion, a funny thing happened. Before long people started rounding the figure up. But we weren’t rounding up to $18.5 billion, or even $19 billion, let alone down to $18 billion. Rather, we were rounding up to $20 billion. Those $20 billion in bonuses, we were shouting. How despicable!

Laughable really. We were rounding up $1.6 billion, like it was nothing! It speaks volumes about this bizarre moment in our financial history. A moment in which an ungodly $350 billion has been laid at the doorstep of the financial industry without any accountability or oversight (with an additional $350 billion close on its heels), and a mind-blowing $790 billion economic stimulus plan (trimmed down from $838 billion) is inching closer and closer to the President’s desk.

The Post Partisan

Knappster

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Thursday February 05, 2009 · 12:49 PM PST

2009/02/05 · 12:49

The populist uproar is deafening regarding the excessive salaries and bonuses on Wall Street. Over $18 billion in bonuses paid to Wall Street barons in 2008--big rewards for total and utter failure, according to most Americans. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, was the first politician to come out swinging, urging a pay cap of $400,000--the salary of the President (or is it?). Yesterday President Obama followed suit with executive orders, but upped the cap $100,000 to a half-mill.

The Post Partisan

Knappster

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Monday February 02, 2009 · 12:10 AM PST

2009/02/02 · 00:10

People often compare the current economic crisis to the Great Depression. But it's a lot different, and more worrying, because it's global in scale. The nature of modern high finance, with its complex derivatives, side bets and mind-numbing mathematical models, finds no analogue in the 1920s.

To be sure, the causes of this disastrous meltdown are as complex as they are intractable. In the final analysis, the buck stops nowhere, and everywhere.

The Post Partisan

Knappster

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Friday January 30, 2009 · 11:10 AM PST

2009/01/30 · 11:10

There was never any doubt that the House would pass whatever stimulus package President Obama and the Dems put forth. Republicans simply did not have enough votes to block it. And so it finally happened–yesterday the House stamped a $819 billion, 647-page opus of stimulus joy. But I’ll save you the suspense–the six-and-a-half inch stack of ink-laden paper is not a very stimulating read.

The Post Partisan

Knappster

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Tuesday November 18, 2008 · 7:55 PM PST

2008/11/18 · 19:55

CNN reports Obama has picked Covington & Burling attorney Eric Holder as his attorney general. He was deputy attorney general under Clinton:

If confirmed, Holder would be the first African-American to lead the Justice Department. . . .

Holder first joined the Justice Department in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, assigned to the newly formed Public Integrity Section in 1976 straight out of Columbia University Law School.

President Ronald Reagan nominated him to be an associate judge at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where he served for five years.

Which is all fine and good, but then he went to Covington, as a partner, which I consider selling out -- not too much in light of his previous history of public service, but a little bit.

The revolving door continues to some degree. And there's also the fact that Obama is now getting advised by lobbyists.

Certainly, not saying Holder won't be a fine attorney general. Just observing some context.

Buyer Beware: Are Low Gas Prices Giving You Amnesia?

Knappster

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Monday November 17, 2008 · 10:54 AM PST

2008/11/17 · 10:54

Our leaders have been talking about ending our dependence on foreign oil since at least the early 1970s. But almost 40 years later nothing appreciable has been done. The oil companies still rake in gigantic windfall profits, the Middle East still wields significant economic leverage costing us not only hundreds of billions of dollars but thousands of lives, and consumers continue to drive their gas guzzlers, purchase new ones and otherwise perpetuate a demand for oil that propels the entire process forward.

The unprecedented spikes in oil prices, prompted primarily by profit-mongering speculators, that we’ve seen over the course of the last year or so, brought into bold relief the problems we face. We Americans love to pinch our pennies. Start charging $4 and $5 per gallon, and we’ll start believing that real change is in order. The war in Iraq, for which the only plausible explanation is oil, also helped bring on our alternative energy epiphanies.

Poll

124 votes Show Results

Are you driving more since gas prices have gone down?

124 votes Vote Now!

Are you driving more since gas prices have gone down?

Yes

11 votes

113 votes

Voting Forward On California’s Prop 8

Knappster

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Sunday November 16, 2008 · 12:26 PM PST

2008/11/16 · 12:26

I am a straight male. I voted No on Proposition 8. I also voted No on George Bush 4 years ago. I lost in both cases. The results seemed unfair in each case. But the process was fair.

As we all know, Proposition 8’s perceived unfairness has resulted in mass protests. No one in the opposition is letting up now. The energy and enthusiasm are truly amazing. It makes me proud that people are this fired up. And not just in California. It’s spreading everywhere.

Poll

71 votes Show Results

Should Approval Of Gay Marriage Come from the Courts or the People?

71 votes Vote Now!

Should Approval Of Gay Marriage Come from the Courts or the People?

Court

52 votes

People

19 votes

The Sunshine in Litigation Act is a Little Cloudy

Knappster

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Friday November 14, 2008 · 9:58 PM PST

2008/11/14 · 21:58

When corporations get sued, they hire armies of lawyers if necessary to slip out from under the litigation, using any and all means. The cornerstone strategy of a corporate lawyer is delay, and lots of it. I know, I used to be one.

Every little allegation is disputed, innumerable motions are brought, extensions, continuances, anything to delay the impaneling of a jury of 12 ordinary people to decide the corporation’s fate. But when the allegations are too egregious, or the evidence against them is too strong, or the exposure too great, or when it’s otherwise cost-effective, the corporate lawyers settle. Indeed, this happens in most cases.

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The Many, Many Flaws of Instant Run-Off Voting

California Open Primaries Would Help Independents

End the Gridlock, Choose Democracy over Ideology: Support Open Primaries in CA

The Paradox of Thrift: Can Consumer Spending Save The Economy?

The Trillion Dollar Era

Wall Street Pay Caps, Ayn Rand and the Tyranny of Self-Interest

The Post Partisan: Everywhere and nowhere

The Politics of Stimulus

Obama Picks Semi-Corporate Lawyer As Attorney General

Buyer Beware: Are Low Gas Prices Giving You Amnesia?

Voting Forward On California’s Prop 8

The Sunshine in Litigation Act is a Little Cloudy