Poll: Voting

[Furby]

They did a segment on last night's news about how Wal-Mart, Target, GAP, and so on, make contributions to different parties or both parties. Some folks don't like the fact that the store they shop at, may support a different party then they do. :

[sawdust]

I vote early and often!
My first election I voted for the Rhino Party! They lost. :-\

I always vote when I am available to do so. I don't know that there is much point to vote federally we are so sparsely populated out here that the election is decided before we cast.

sawdust

[DanG]

I usually vote, but sometimes I don't really care about the races, or don't feel well enough informed to make a decision.

I have an idea for a debate format that might be interesting.  I'd like to see a moderator ask the same question to each candidate in advance, then play their recorded responses.  Neither would know what the other had said until both had been shown publicly.  I would like to be the one asking the questions. ;D

[OneWithWood]

I vote because I care.  I vote for or against the candidate, not the party. 

Here is a change I would like to see:

I think members of the House of Representatives should be drafted for two years of service.  Maybe then it would actually be a representative house that would tackle issues and not play partisan politics.  The Senate would have to wake up and do likewise if they would ever want anything to come out of committee.  After a person has served their two year term they would return to thier old job, which would be held for them, and not be allowed to be a lobbyist for at least five years.  Actually if there was no chance of hanging around DC for another term the lobbying would be greatly reduced.

[Roxie]

There once was a "none of the above" option....his name was Ross Perot.   :

[crtreedude]

I fled the country... no, just kidding!

I used to vote, but I haven't yet figured out how to do it here AND I have yet to see a candidate that motivates me enough to work through the issues. I can definitely do an absentee ballot here, but it does take time.

Also, I really can't vote I think until federal since I don't have a state anymore I believe.

[Tom]

I knew I had read about you somewhere before. :D

[PineNut]

I am in full agreement with OneWithWood. Send them up for one term (maybe two but no more) and them send them home to live with the mess they create. And not outrageous retirements either. Just retirement compensation for the time they were in office.

[Bill]

I usually vote at all elections - I try to make a point of being home.

I too have issues with the "system" and have $.02 to add.

I agree with term limits and small retirement stipends. I'm even thinking they shouldn't get paid for serving their country more than say an enlisted man - three hots and a cot oughta be good enough for them too.

I also want some accountability at the employee level also. No more of this " I'm from the govt and I'm here to help" without some repercussions iffen they do something stupid and claim its for my own good. 

I'd like to see citizen referendums. We get so many signatures on a petition and it goes to the public at the next election. Some sig's for a local election and alot of sig's for a nat'l election. Things the professional politicians won't handle or totally muck up because of the contributions they get would be dealt with promptly by us "common" ( sense ) folk .

I hear tell the founding fathers didn't want political parties - thought it would lead to bickering that would distract us from the issues - boy did they get that right. When was the last time you remember something settled based solely on the merits and not who was in power - taking care of their "sponsors".

OK - thanks for the pulpit .  Apologies to those offended .

[PineNut]

And all these add on items they add to bills. Local town nearby got some money for some special park project they didn't even know about. A politician buying votes with our money.  Just another reason for term limits.

[VA-Sawyer]

I would like to see three rules passed into law...

1. If you hold a public position, either elected or appointed, you may not campaign for any public position, including the one you currently hold. You are being paid by the taxpayers to do a job. So, do it and don't waste our money by spending your efforts on other things. If you resign your position, you are still bound by this law until the end of your expected term. Anyone not currently excluded by this law may seek any public position as many times as they wish.
This means there will be no more imcumberts running for office! It will also cause public 'officials' to spend at least 50% of their time living in the real world.

2. Anyone holding any public office, found guilty of taking a bribe, of any kind, for any reason, there will be a mandatory 20 year hard labor prison sentenance with no allowance for good behavior. Bribes taken prior to actually obtaining the public office, are still bribes and are covered by this rule.


3. Members of the US House of Reps will be paid a salary equal to the national average income. Members of the Senate get a 5% bonus over that. If they can't afford to live on that, how do they expect the rest of us to live ?

[jon12345]

Politicians are all crooked, just like all forestry types are flannel wearin tobacco chewin rednecks out to destroy all of natures beauty  :D

[Norwiscutter]

I am not as positive as the rest of you but I still vote. I remember 2 years ago I was in the gym with a friend of mine who is at the opposite end of the political spectrom as myself and we were debateing the reasons for why we were voting for our guy and as always the discussion was getting heated. So, this friend thinks that an additional opinion will add to the discussion and asks this lady that was also in the gym who she was voting for and why.  She said that she was voting for Bush because she thought he was better looking than Kerry.  Ya, she was serious too.  Didn't know anything about any issue outside of that.

Our founding fathers originally wanted to have it so that only landowners would be able to vote.  I wonder why.

Therefore I would be happy if there were a test that people had to take before they could vote.

Who was the first president?

Who is the current President?

Who is runnning against the current president?

Who bombed pearl harbor?

What city is the nations capitol?

Who did we the U.S. fight against for independence durning the revolutionary war?Etc. etc.


No multiple choice. Have to get them all correct.  If you can't answer questions like these you have no business determining the direction this country is headed

[beenthere]

.............I was in the gym with a friend of mine ............we were debateing .............an additional opinion will add to the discussion and asks this lady that was also in the gym who she was voting for and why.  She said that she was voting for Bush because she thought he was better looking than Kerry.  ...................
Our founding fathers originally wanted to have it so that only landowners would be able to vote.  I wonder why.
...............

If the polling booth was also in the gym, then discussing the candidates is forbidden, as I understand now. And if someone asked my opinion on who and why I voted for someone, I'd answer with something silly like she did, as I'd consider it none of anyone else's business (learned that early from my folks who told me that when I asked who they were voting for). 
And I agree with you, that a test to vote for the National election is one I would like to see (won't happen tho). Also would like to see that test be in English for obvious reasons.  Also would like to see college students vote absentee ballot from their 'home' residence, and not have the college town influence they have in local elections now. I won't see those things either, but just what I'd like. 

On news last night about the ACORN group, that was getting people registered (happened to be Missouri but they are spread out) up to 15 times for one person using various phony addresses, names, social security numbers, etc. A monumental job tracking down who was really who.  I think some of us are a bit naive.........
And I still will vote....once.

[Norwiscutter]

I own the gym and consequently know the lady very well...  when I said she wasn't kidding, that is exactly what I meant. I am talking about the kind of person that doesn't have the mental capacity or concern to establish the type of candidate that they should vote for. Yet they vote anyway, perhaps for the same reason that some people go to church on sunday- to make themselves feel better.

[thurlow]

I voted yestirdy............last day for early voting;  had to choose the lesser of two evils in every case.

Who was the first president?

Off topic, but an interesting tidbit about General Washington; he was 1st in war, 1st in peace, 1st in the hearts of his countrymen,  but he married a ...................................
widow. ;)

[Mooseherder]

I think the second show of "America Votes" should ask the question.
Should America spend more than it takes in?

[Jeff]

We only have 69 votes, We have 3500 members and we have had over 1500 people here just today, a slow day.  Huh?

[Mooseherder]

Good point, maybe they wouldn't vote. :D

[thurlow]

I tried to vote often, eh? but the DanG thing wouldn't let me, eh.

[barbender]

Oh yeah you betcha I make it out and vote, ya know. But ya know, I don't care for the choices on the ballot too much.

[Mooseherder]

 About the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in 1787,
Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of
Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some
2,000 years prior:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a
permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up  
until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous  
gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always  
votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public  
treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose  
fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the  
beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations
always progressed through the following sequence

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage "

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul,
Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000
Presidential election

Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143 million;

Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000

States won by: Gore: 19; Bush: 29

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2;  
Bush 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush  
won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country.

Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
government-owned tenements and living off government welfare . . ."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the  
"complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with  
some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the
"governmental dependency" phase.

[thurlow]

Very interesting, Mooseherder;  have never seen that before, but it follows my (oft repeated) mantra that we (USA) have topped out as a society and are on the slippery back slope leading to revolution..........although I have no idea what form that revolution will take.  It won't be in my lifetime, and I hope it would be the citizens somehow reclaiming control of our government, which I think we no longer have.   When the Supreme Court cites "prevailing world opinion" as a reason for its rulings, rather than the Constitution, what chance do we have......................

[Norwiscutter]

Mooseherder, I got that E-mail too and after looking it up, it is in fact one of those urban legends that we all hear about. Not that i disagree or agree with the content, but that alot of the cited facts are not accurate. I don't have time now but can look it up for you latter today if noone else gets to it first.

[pigman]

Norwiscutter, I am shocked   Are you trying to tell us that everything on the Internet is not completely accurate. ;)
Bob the sceptical one