The Hankster

First, I would like to say that I have a lot of re...

2013-04-29T13:09:41.144-04:00

First, I would like to say that I have a lot of respect for Richard Winger and his Ballot Access News. Many years ago, he volunteered me (as only a self ordained democracy activist) much useful information about ballot access issues.

However because "corruption" is defined by the state, those who agree that the U.S.has a very, very, limited democracy would naturally support democracy issues over corruption issues.

Those who feel they lack the power to make the rules will always tend to lack moral obligations to those rules.

The traditional power of jury nullification gives the people the power to corrupt the CRIMINAL laws! However, both our "founding fathers," and modern day New Hampshire, have found it acceptable and perhaps even praise worthy.

Chicago has non-partisan elections for all city of...

2013-04-29T11:46:02.518-04:00

Chicago has non-partisan elections for all city office, and a few months ago, a political scientist published objective research, showing more corruption convictions from Chicago on a per-capita basis than any other big city in the nation. Another city high in corruption with non-partisan city elections is Detroit. When it is alleged that non-partisan city elections reduce corruption, one wants to see some evidence.

Concerning California registration, the percentage...

2013-03-26T10:48:18.889-04:00

Concerning California registration, the percentage of independent voters in the new tally is lower than in the last tally. The last tally, from October 2012, had independents at 20.94%, but the new tally shows them at 20.86%. The Secretary of State's press release doesn't compare the new data with the last tally; instead it compares the new data with the data two years ago.

But just changing partisan elections into non-part...

2013-03-13T11:27:13.513-04:00

But just changing partisan elections into non-partisan elections doesn't seem to help with that goal. New York city is far better run than Detroit, or Chicago, don't you agree? Yet New York city has partisan city elections whereas Detroit and Chicago have non-partisan elections.

The thing that binds independents together is that...

2013-03-12T21:39:15.939-04:00

The thing that binds independents together is that they want to overthrow the established culture of corrupt partisanship.

Good idea Joseph, I'll think on that. Old men ...

2013-03-11T23:43:12.590-04:00

Good idea Joseph, I'll think on that. Old men with long beards etc. etc.
I'll give your blog a look.

Sarah's video clip was hilarious. Can't be...

2013-03-11T23:42:06.173-04:00

Sarah's video clip was hilarious. Can't believe I'd never seen that.

Chicago is somewhat infamous for election fraud, a...

2013-03-11T21:23:18.754-04:00

Chicago is somewhat infamous for election fraud, and Chicago city elections are entirely non-partisan.

Los Angeles just had a non-partisan election for M...

2013-03-07T11:49:59.906-05:00

Los Angeles just had a non-partisan election for Mayor and city council...no party labels, the very system this blog celebrates. Turnout was 17%, even though the incumbent was not running for re-election and open seats typically generate more voter interest. The existence of strong political parties does mobilize voters; that is one reason political parties are useful. Of course having a multi-party system is far better than just Republicans and Democrats.

Gotta love anything that begins with "howdy h...

2013-03-01T23:52:36.830-05:00

Gotta love anything that begins with "howdy ho."

Thanks so much The Moderate Nation! I have correct...

2013-03-01T19:58:46.595-05:00

Thanks so much The Moderate Nation! I have corrected the link and you can now view some of the conference online.

This would be great if the game said somewhere it ...

2013-02-26T23:58:51.906-05:00

This would be great if the game said somewhere it had been going on for 18 months.

Joseph
http://themoderatenation.blogspot.com

Dear Montana, don't worry about the naysayers....

2013-02-26T15:44:47.006-05:00

Dear Montana, don't worry about the naysayers. You are on the right side of history. I'm sure that given enough time you will be able to mobilize hundreds of supporters--far more than all four current opponents.

Also, the formatting of this post is kind of hard ...

2013-02-26T00:03:05.407-05:00

Also, the formatting of this post is kind of hard to look at/read. It's not easy on the eyes. :)

UGH! I can't get my DVR to record things on C...

2013-02-25T21:50:58.946-05:00

UGH! I can't get my DVR to record things on CSPAN. So I have to watch online, I guess it's not that bad.

The bill had no members of the public supporting i...

2013-02-20T13:15:04.910-05:00

The bill had no members of the public supporting it, in the testimony yesterday. Four members of the public showed up to argue against it on the grounds that it would shrink voter choice in the general election.

Top-two in California was not adopted by initiativ...

2013-01-27T11:03:26.590-05:00

Top-two in California was not adopted by initiative. The legislature put it on the ballot.

In the last two California registration tallies, i...

2012-11-28T12:19:36.091-05:00

In the last two California registration tallies, independent voters declined as a share of the total. Your headline is not true. The fastest growing group in the last two tallies is the Libertarian Party, which gained 20% this year in California and nationally.

None of these articles point out the fact that mod...

2012-11-27T10:00:22.373-05:00

None of these articles point out the fact that modern U.S. political parties have been "reformed" so much by various state laws that it would be more accurate to call terms like Democrat, Republican, Green, etc. - mostly meaningless ballot labels.

U.S. political parties are probably quite unique in the nature of their organization.

reference article:
http://i-voter.tripod.com/US_PoliticalParties.html

Term limits laws also provide more competitive ele...

2012-11-17T11:55:29.066-05:00

Term limits laws also provide more competitive elections, because when an incumbent can't run for re-election, the race to replace him or her is also invariably more competitive. Does that mean you support term limits? If so, why don't you ever blog about that?

Thanks Charles! Welcome aboard!!!

2012-11-06T11:48:19.125-05:00

Thanks Charles! Welcome aboard!!!

Thank you for sharing your comments and observatio...

2012-11-05T08:50:40.115-05:00

Thank you for sharing your comments and observations about the political realities that we live in....So much of the news is over-inflated hype about one party or another. It's good to hear a more balanced voice from time to time...

Newly independent...

Although it's true that the number of register...

2012-09-26T11:09:41.830-04:00

Although it's true that the number of registered independents in California in the September 2012 tally is higher than the number of registered independents in the last tally (the May 2012 one), the percentage of registered voters who are registered independent declined between May and September. There are also more Democrats registered in September than in May, and more Republicans registered in September than in May. The LA Times could have noted, but did not, that the percentage of people registered Libertarian increased between May and September.

Thanks, ramon pena! Your comment makes me think a...

2012-09-14T20:35:08.543-04:00

Thanks, ramon pena!

Your comment makes me think about what we independents need to do, and do again and again and again, to gain the attention of the President, or any of these party-elected supervisors of policy.

Certainly, we speak with independents and organize.!

NH

Being ignored is not a good feeling. Whether it is...

2012-09-13T11:20:10.323-04:00

Being ignored is not a good feeling. Whether it is personal or political. Unfortunately this act of being ignored by our President has made my decision for voting in November a lot harder. It can be insulting when the people that actually put him in office was not even acknowledged at the convention. Again this is what parties and partisanship is all about. Is it too late? I dont know, all I do know is he had a missed opportunity and people, especially Independents dont forget.