Posted on 03/20/2012 10:47:18 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
Our Constitution is under constant attack.1 One of the most pernicious attacks is being waged by those who seek to override the constitutional provisions under which The States, as political entities, elect the President; and to replace it with a national popular vote (NPV) under which inhabitants of major metropolitan areas will choose the President.
What Form of Government Did We Create In Our Constitution?
Before you can see why it is so important that The States elect the President, and why the NPV is so execrable, you must understand how our “federal” government was structured and intended to operate. “Federal” actually referred to the form of the national government created in our Constitution, and to the division of powers between the national government and The States.
The “Federation” created by our Constitution is an alliance of independent and sovereign States associated together in a “confederation” with a national government to which is delegated authority over the States in specifically defined areas ONLY (national defense, international commerce & relations; and domestically, the creation of an uniform commercial system: weights & measures, patents & copyrights, a monetary system based on gold & silver, bankruptcy laws, and mail delivery). Those enumerated powers are the only areas wherein the national government has lawful (constitutional) authority over The States. In all other matters, the States retained supremacy, independence, and sovereignty. 2
PLEASE VISIT HIS WEBSITE AT THE URL LISTED FOR THE REST OF THIS EXCELLENT ESSAY. As of this posting, it is the second piece at the site. The first is excellent also.
Faxes, calls, and emails should be sent out by the thousands until he and the rest of the GOP politicians promoting this cause "rethink" their decision.
Instead, I've seen conservatives continue to gush over Fred because he endorsed their guy Newt. I guess that makes it OK for him to wage war on Constitution.
NPV is positively the dumbest idea to ever come out of his mouth. It even destroys what little credibility he had left as a burial insurance salesman.
While it’s always a good reminder that electing a president by popular vote is a bad idea that’s really all this is, a reminder.
It’s simply not a genuine threat. You’d never get the other states to agree to let New York and California decide who will be the president.
There is a better way, which would shut the Democrats up once and for all.
Go by county. This way a county like Kings County in NY with a million and a half people has the same vote as a county in upstate NY with 200 people.
Takes away cheating, because if your county is rigged and you promote illegal aliens and criminals voting, knock yourself out. It’s the same 1 vote as the county that follows all the rules.
Plus, 83% of the counties in this country vote Republican.
the purpose of teh electoral college is to mute the impabalnce between rural and urban population differences betweeen the states, and try to minimize the ability of rhrt urban states to tyrranize the more rural, lass populated states.
it also reinforces the concept of individual states. if we lose the electoral college, then what is preventing the dissolution of statehood? we already lost the ability of each state legislature to elect senators.
bookmark
Obviously Fred does NOT "get" federalism if he's pushing for this abomination. I'd have more respect if he simply said he wanted to amend the Constitution to establish a national popular vote, but instead, he wants to go around it and have a handful of state thumb their nose at the system that the founders set up.
I hope the rest of the Fredheads have contacted Fred Thompson and let him know how upset they are at him selling out, but since he's now promoting their guy Gingrich it seems all is forgiven. (and IMO, his support for Gingrich is canceled out by the fact he endorsed McCain over J.D. Hayworth last year... Sarah Palin took hell for it and she had an excuse that she owed him. Fred had NO excuse and yet there was little criticism of him for it)
Conservatives are going to continue to get screwed over by politicians until they stand up and speak out when a politician sells out.
Anyway, what finally won me over to Fred (briefly) was the way he smacked down the smarmy woman reporter in Iowa with the global warming question. At some point you've got to ask yourself "Who is the best of the viable candidates available?"; not "Who is the closest to perfection?"
The slide away from state power started with the 17th amendment IMO. The problem is the lack of education by the masses as to the principles of government for this country. Our kids today do not learn enough basic civics. Hence the need to get away from the public school system.
Go by county. This way a county like Kings County in NY with a million and a half people has the same vote as a county in upstate NY with 200 people.
Actually, the Congressional District Method [CDM] is what you are advocating - and it is by far the fairest voting method.
With CDM, one electoral vote is allocated for each of the Congressional districts within a state. There are then two electoral votes left over from the state's allocation of electoral votes. These represent the state's two Senate seats.
From there, it is simple, win a Congressional district - receive its electoral vote. Win the state overall - receive the two Senate seat electoral votes as a "bonus".
Recounts would be limited to only those districts where the voting was close. Albeit, in a close state-wide vote, all districts might have to be recounted.
In any event, the winner of a district wins its votes and the popular vote winner in the state gets the "bonus".
Amazing that a conservative like Fred Thompson supports this garbage. It is really hard to figure out how he managed to conclude the National Popular Vote would be a good idea. I wonder if it just seemed like a good plan to him at some moment in time and he pledged his support, and now can't find a way to back away from what is truly a terrible idea.
It follows that whoever the Republican candidate is this November, we MUST vote for him. Even in California, even in New York. Watch how fast these states backpedal if the Republican candidate wins via electoral votes gained solely by this NPV scam.
There IS no better way than The Constitution. Period!
That still leaves 100 electoral votes (2 per state) that need to be allocated. I would favor one of the following two options:
Option 1 - The winner of the popular vote for the state gets one vote. The second vote goes to the winner of the most congressional districts. If there is a tie for the congressional districts, the Governor casts the vote
Option 2 - The state legislature meets in unicameral session and starting with the candidate who received the most votes, is nominated and voted up or down proceeding from the top of the list of candidates to the bottom. The first candidate to receive a majority of yes votes, receives the electoral vote. The Governor casts the final vote. If the Governor is unable to cast the vote, the executive acting with the Governor’s authority casts the vote.
I like the concept and have tried to promote it whenever I can.
Also known as the “Proportional Electoral College” it keeps the original intent but makes even the bluest and redest of states in play (you can pick off a EV-s in states that were once written off and will make local organizing more tempting).
States such as TX, NY, WI, MI, FL, TX, etc. will no longer be a “slam dunk”. POTUS candidates and local groups will now have an incentive to get involved and simply not give up....wow, what a concept, more people getting involved with the system.
For those who want ammo against the NPV, go to these links.
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/the-case-against-the-npv/
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/05/18/fighting-a-godawful-idea-calle
Really good article:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2011/10/national-popular-vote-debacle-looming/
BookMark
Wouldn't that be priceless?
I live in MD, where they have passed NPV [but does not become effective unless enough states with 270 EVs also participate].
MD is RELIABLY Blue - so the DEMs are gonna win its EVs in 2012 ...
BUT, should the GOP win the popular vote in 2012 , NPV will not be in play - but you can bet that there will be a local news story stating that HAD NPV been in play, ALL of MD's EVs would have gone to the GOP ...
THEN, the MD voters are gonna go apolplectic and demand repeal of this inane law ...
Same goes for MA and CA ...
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