https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/14/politics/electoral-college/index.html
https://www.britannica.com/event/Constitutional-Convention
ELECTORAL COLLEGE
• The winner of the popular vote loses - that's not fair. However, that's what the "Framers of the Constitution" wanted. We don't have a "pure" democracy and never will.
• To eliminate the Electoral College (EC) requires:
(1) 2/3 vote in Senate;
(2) 2/3 vote in the House;
(3) 3/4 of all State Legislatures - 38 states as of now. The EC was designed to protect the small states from getting "trampled" by the big ones - that has not changed.
• Without the EC, national candidates would NEVER campaign or even care about the small states. Instead, they would just campaign in the large population centers of the country.
• With the EC, in a close race, all votes in the ENTIRE COUNTRY would have to be recounted! Remember Al Gore and Florida? That was only 3 counties, IIRC. The EC, by its very nature, avoids such a calamitous recount that could take months or even years!
• A recent effort to end the EC is trying to get states totaling 270 electoral votes to pass a bill in their legislatures pledging that the candidate who wins the national popular vote gets those states' electoral votes. It's been signed into law in 11 states, totaling 165 electoral votes, meaning they need another 105 to make it a reality -- which is very unlikely to happen. Should it happen, it is likely to be ruled Unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court as subverting the will of the constitution.
• FUN FACT: The winner of the popular vote has lost the presidency five times: 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016.
• IMHO, the Electoral College was one of the most brilliant governing structures put into place in the constitution. It keeps the lowest population states from leaving the United States, because they feel that this structure gives them some say in their federal governance.
• The party that gets the popular vote but loses the Electoral College ALWAYS comes out against the EC. And then the tide changes, and they are on the winning end, and then the EC is a brilliant part of the constitution. Politicians!!!!! Politicians might enter politics for the "right" reasons, but power corrupts everyone in the end, and preserving power becomes their primary motivation, which explains this type of "flip-flopping", IMHO.
EQUAL SENATE REPRESENTATION PER STATE
• To eliminate the "2 Senators per State" structure is even more stringent, and would require ratification by all 50 states (Article V of the Constitution) - that's NEVER going to happen.
• The 2 Senators per State structure was necessary to get the small states to sign on during the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787.
LIFE TENURE FOR JUDGES
• Life Tenure for Judges: Madison wrote that life tenure for judges is the best way to secure steady and impartial administration of laws - that is still true today. Kind of like tenure for college professors.
• Side note: Kavanaugh cannot be impeached for conduct BEFORE he became a Supreme Court Justice. Also, Kavanaugh can only be investigated by a referral to federal prosecutors from the Senate, which is the only government entity to have judicial "Advise and Consent" powers.
Posts without a photo are no fun. Here's Brian in Beverage after a challenging hike up to Cove Spring. The funny part is that Brian is sitting in a "butt shaped" cut out in that rock. It was a very hot and very thorny, but very rewarding hike!
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