The race to determine who will represent San Diego’s 52nd Congressional District has not yet been officially determined, but with 260,000 mail in/absentee ballots from all around San Diego County left to be counted, Democratic challenger Scott Peters’ lead over Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray has grown. With the latest vote tally showing 118,476 votes for […]
The Starting Line – Elections Have Consequences; Gov. Brown Says Prop 30 Vote Has National Implications
Gov. Jerry Brown took to the airwaves Sunday, telling CNN’s Candy Crowley that voter passage of tax increases on the wealthy included in California’s Proposition 30 were indicative of a coming nationwide shift in voter attitudes, just as passage of Proposition 13 signaled a tax revolt thirty five years ago. “I was here in 1978, when Howard Jarvis beat the entire establishment, Republican and Democrat, because the property taxes had just gotten out of control. Now the cutting, the cutting and the deficits are out of control.”, said Brown. [Read more…]
A Few Election 2012 Winners and Losers
This just in: we’re not the Wisconsin of the West. There were some big winners and losers in last week’s election and the principal players themselves have gotten the bulk of the attention. Here are a few of the most noteworthy victors and flops besides the candidates themselves. Let’s start with the triumphs:
A Change is Gonna Come
Ahh, hope fills the air that I breathe, as I move, light and easy, like a river dancer on a cloud that’s floating in a gentle wind, as Bob Filner becomes my mayor and Barack Obama my president, again.
It’s a nice high I’m in, hallucinogenic, with music, Sam Cooke singing, “It’s been a long, a long time coming, but I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will.”
Oh, it feels so good having a couple of guys in high places who view what people have worked towards for years as earned “benefits” not “entitlements,” and see unions as who they are, “We the People!” Not “bandits.”
[Read more…]
Letter to a Future Republican Strategist Regarding White People
By Eric Garland
We are really quite unimpressed with Congressional representatives such as Todd Akin and Paul Broun who actually serve on the House science committee and who believe, respectively, that rape does not cause pregnancy and that evolution and astrophysics are lies straight from Satan’s butt cheeks.
To whom it may concern regarding the United States federal elections of 2014, 2016 and beyond:
Allow me to introduce myself to you, the existing (or aspiring!) strategist for the Republican Party. My name is Eric Arnold Garland and I am a White Man. Boy, am I ever – you need sunglasses just to look at my photo!
If I read the news correctly, I fit a profile that is of extreme importance to the GOP, as I embody the archetype that fits your narrative of Real Americans. Just how much should my profile interest you? Are you sitting down? [Read more…]
The Fiscal Cliff: Why Obama Should Go Over It, If Necessary
The looming so-called crisis facing the US after the reelection of Barack Obama is the fiscal cliff. It has been hyped as something that will bring wrack and ruin to the US economy unless something is done soon to prevent it from happening.
However, in my opinion and that of others, if nothing were done and the provisions already agreed upon went into effect on January 1, 2013, it might actually turn out to be the best thing for the US in the long run, mainly because the military-industrial complex would take a hit while there would be no consequences for Social Security, Medicare and Veteran benefits. [Read more…]
Wall Street Moguls Whine About How Tough Their Lives Are With Obama Win
By Andrew Leonard / Salon via Alternet / Nov. 9, 2012
Who is ready to shed a tear for Wall Street? The moguls bet big, and lost. Now, if we are to believe their whining, they are preparing to pay the piper.
“We played the old Beatles song ‘The Taxman,’ on our trading floor this morning,” bond fund uber-manager Bill Gross told Bloomberg on Thursday.
Oh lordy, hard times are coming! [Read more…]
Populist Revolution? How a Bold New Voter Coalition Can Reshape the Nation
By Marshall Auerback / Alternet / Nov. 8, 2012
Minorities, independent women, gays, working-class white voters, and younger people overcame through high turnout a fierce social conservative block.
Tuesday’s election will be regarded as a pivotal one in US history. For 30 years the top 1 percent has manipulated the masses to vote against their own interests. It was able to do that because the feelings of the white middle and lower classes about social issues overwhelmed their economic considerations.
But something interesting happened this year: high levels of minority and young voter turnout, together with an increased Obama-tilt among all voters earning less than $50,000 a year, routed the GOP. [Read more…]
Presidents Matter, but Movements Matter More
The presidential campaign for those of us on the left was a real nail biter while the Romney team, optimistically cocooned in their alternative reality, had a victory speech and fireworks at the ready. Then the race was called when Ohio went to Obama.
We won. Whew. Team Romney/Ryan was handed its ass. Barack Obama has four more years, and yes this election was clearly a mandate. It matters that Obama will be sworn into office this coming January, but what matters even more are the progressive movements that put him there– and what effect they will continue to have on the remainder of his administration.
[Read more…]
The Starting Line—Missing at the California Ballot Box: Older, White Voters
While there are disputes over the level of voter participation in this past Tuesday’s election, one thing is certain, according to exit polls and numbers released by the California Secretary of State: Non-Hispanic white voter participation is showing a rapid decline, falling from 63% of the state’s electorate in 2008 to 55% this year.
Estimates of voter turnout have ranged widely, with some sources claiming an 80%+ turnout, a Field poll estimate claiming 0% participation and other data showing turnout more in the 55% range. The actual numbers won’t be available for another month, as counties will be processing mail-in ballots and attempting to verify provisional voters. Turnout in the 2008 election was 77.5%.
Inside: Mayoral Election Fallout- Day Two, UT-SD Tries to CYA on Bogus Polling, Why the GOP Hates Education…
Statehood for Puerto Rico? 3.7 Million American Citizens Vote for Democracy – Will They Be Heard?
The most significant result of the 2012 election may not be the re-election of President Obama, nor any of the other highly publicized races decided on November 6, 2012. If pursued to conclusion, the vote of the residents of Puerto Rico to pursue statehood will likely have the largest impact on the United States.
A two-part ballot question first asked voters if they favor the current status of Puerto Rico as a territory of the United States. Second, voters were asked what type of status they preferred: full statehood, independence, or “sovereign free association”, a semi-autonomous status. [Read more…]
The Day After the Election Was Just Another Day in Barrio Logan
Desde la Logan: The Day After …
By Brent E. Beltrán
Sometimes we get caught up in it all, including myself. I voted for Barack Obama again. The only times I voted Democrat for president was for this man. In previous elections I voted third party, either Green or Peace and Freedom. I think the re-election of President Obama was a good thing. Not a great thing (I have a buttload of issues with his presidency, far too many to go into here). The alternative though, electing corporate stooge Mitt Romney, would have been terrible for nonwhites, the poor and working class, women, and gays and lesbians. Unfortunately, the status quo remains. Fortunately, it didn’t get worse. In Barrio Logan, the song remains the same.
In my neighborhood, the day after the election was the same as the day before the election. And the day before that and the day before that. And tomorrow it will be the same. Nothing changed. Most of my neighbors went back to work at low paying service jobs. Back to watching other people’s children or back to cleaning other people’s homes. Some didn’t even go back to work because there is no work to go back to. The youth went back to inferior schools. Adults took the trolley or the bus to wherever they needed to go because they can not afford a car. Or they can’t get a license because of their immigration status.
[Read more…]
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