Before and after the election we saw plenty of business owners whining about how the re-election of Barack Obama would sound the death knell for business and would require them to shut down their businesses or fire people or make them part-time so as to not have to provide them with health care benefits. [Read more…]
The oligarchy is insatiable in its greed. Since 1980, they have enjoyed enormous gains in wealth at the expense of everyone else. In doing so, they were aided by both Republican and Democratic parties but in order to preserve any credibility with its base, the Democratic party had to oppose some of the more obvious money-grabs, such as more tax cuts for the rich or the gutting of regulatory agencies or the elimination of social safety nets such as health care, minimum wage laws, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. [Read more…]
Much of the attention for the Republican losses in the last election has been blamed on the fact that its message has alienated minorities and this has serious long-term consequences given the changing demographics of the US. But Mark Silk points out that there is an another widening gap that should terrify the Republican even more and that is one that strikes at the core of its most loyal voting bloc, the religious voter. [Read more…]
How can it be that the US, with its long history of elections, its wealth, and technological prowess runs elections that many developing countries would be ashamed of and would result in their election officials being summarily fired? It is unconscionable that in a rich and advanced country like the US, the voting process is so incredibly clumsy and inefficient. [Read more…]
I understand the appeal of voting by mail. I did it once long ago when I was going to be out of town on election day. It was easy and relaxed but did not provide me with the same emotional satisfaction as actually going to the polls so I never repeated it. My polling place is within walking distance and voting on election day (at least in my area) is quick and easy, rarely taking more than fifteen minutes. [Read more…]
In the wake of the Republican defeat, the inevitable finger pointing has begun on the losing side to see who can be blamed and, even more importantly, to avoid blame. [Read more…]
While almost every election seems decisive and symptomatic of permanent changes, that is rarely the case. In recent elections, Democrats were thought to be dead after the 2004 election only to come roaring back to life in 2006 and 2008. It was the Republicans who were then thought to be dead and then the Tea Party brought them back in 2010. [Read more…]
In the wake of the approval on election day of three referenda in the US approving same-sex marriage and the defeat of one measure that would have banned it, and with Spain upholding its same-sex marriage law and France and the UK poised to introduce legislation to do the same, the pope has dug in his Prada heels and vowed to never stop insisting that marriage is only between a man and a woman, with a Vatican spokesman arguing, “If not, then why not contemplate freely chosen polygamy, and naturally so as to not discriminate, polyandry?” [Read more…]
I said that it became clear early on Tuesday evening that Barack Obama was going to win the election, from the way that certain states that were thought to be close (like Pennsylvania) were called early for Obama and those that were thought to be possibly trending to Romney were not called. [Read more…]
Joe the Plumber, the Republican working class hero whose name is not really Joe and who is not really a plumber, managed to get 24% of the votes in his run for a seat in the US House of Representatives from Ohio. [Read more…]