Wednesday Wrap-Up
What the heck’s been going on here at the Independence Institute you ask? Well, I’m here to tell you.
- ***Linda Gorman has been putting the hammer down, writing articles debunking and debating all sorts of nutty lefty ideas. Here’s one on Medicaid myths in the Denver Post, along with one on the nannyist cell-phone bill in the Colorado Daily, and finally one on income and college enrollment correlations in the National Review online.
- ***By now you know about Independence Investigates, our investigative news center run by former KOA superstar Todd Shepherd. Todd and I sat down to discuss his work exposing the highly inefficient solar panels over at the Denver Museum of Science, recently toured and drooled on by President Obama.
- ***Speaking of podcasts, Amy Oliver and I sat down to discuss one of those bad ideas that just won’t die. Of course I’m speaking of House Bill 1299, “national popular vote.” Otherwise known as, making Colorado irrelevant in national elections for the end of time.
- ***I am growing convinced my 4-year-old son is the reincarnation of John Belushi from Animal House. I am particularly thinking about the food-fight scene. I’m not saying I am a bad parent. I am just saying my wife keeps social services on speed dial. I am also convinced that Chuck E. Cheese is the kiddie version of Vegas.
- ***While I’m disclosing personal details, I’d like to share this great YouTube video I’ve been obsessing over recently. It features the greatest bass player to ever live killing a sick bass solo (Ox cam included)!
- ***COST informed me that special district transparency passed out of House appropriations, 12-1. The lone no vote? Don Marostica… surprise surprise. We are inching ever closer to much needed special district transparency.
- ***Finally, Krista Kafer’s excellent paper on the Chronology of School Choice in the U.S. just got updated with new information and developments on the advancement of school choice.
That’s it for now. Check back next week for a new list of things I deem cool, or if you prefer, sweet.
***UPDATE!!***
- I just saw this brilliant post from our 5 year old education crusader, Eddie. I have a feeling this kid is really going to be something someday.
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
Every vote would be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections.
The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes–that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
The Constitution gives every state the power to allocate its electoral votes for president, as well as to change state law on how those votes are awarded.
The bill is currently endorsed by 1,659 state legislators — 763 sponsors (in 48 states) and an additional 896 legislators who have cast recorded votes in favor of the bill.
In Gallup polls since 1944, only about 20% of the public has supported the current system of awarding all of a state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in each separate state (with about 70% opposed and about 10% undecided). The recent Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University poll shows 72% support for direct nationwide election of the President. This national result is similar to recent polls in closely divided battleground states: Colorado– 68%, Iowa –75%, Michigan– 73%, Missouri– 70%, New Hampshire– 69%, Nevada– 72%, New Mexico– 76%, North Carolina– 74%, Ohio– 70%, Pennsylvania — 78%, Virginia — 74%, and Wisconsin — 71%; in smaller states (3 to 5 electoral votes): Delaware –75%, Maine — 71%, Nebraska — 74%, New Hampshire –69%, Nevada — 72%, New Mexico — 76%, Rhode Island — 74%, and Vermont — 75%; in Southern and border states: Arkansas –80%, Kentucky — 80%, Mississippi –77%, Missouri — 70%, North Carolina — 74%, and Virginia — 74%; and in other states polled: California — 70%, Connecticut — 73% , Massachusetts — 73%, New York — 79%, and Washington — 77%.
The National Popular Vote bill has passed 27 state legislative chambers, including one house in Arkansas, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oregon, and both houses in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,, Vermont, and Washington. The bill has been enacted by Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington. These five states possess 61 electoral votes — 23% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect.
See http://www.NationalPopularVote.com
29 Apr 2009 at 4:53 pm
That’s totally a BRILLIANT idea. Let the will and the needs of the most populated areas bulldoze the will and needs of folks in less populated areas.
I mean, heck, just ’cause ranchers and farmers live in rural areas doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be subject to whatever candidate the urban areas pick for them. Its like saying because people in the city vote in leash laws and think they’re a good idea they must be enacted on rural ranches where dogs are used to herd cattle.
Just ’cause they grow our food and have a completely different set of needs and priorities. . who cares? There aren’t as many of them, so eff them. Right?
29 Apr 2009 at 5:52 pm