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demwing

demwing's Journal
demwing's Journal
November 18, 2015

Please check out this thread on O'Malley

Must-see video of Martin O’Malley's historic meal with a DAPA-eligible family

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251822952#top

It deserves a kick and a rec!
November 15, 2015

WSJ Poll: Bernie Sanders Won Debate



http://www.wsj.com/articles/wsj-survey-44-of-democrats-think-bernie-sanders-won-debate-1447609672

The survey, conducted for The Wall Street Journal by Google Consumer Surveys, polled 836 Democratic primary voters by displaying questions to people who visit a set of online news and entertainment websites. The Internet users were asked to answer the questions in exchange for access to those sites.

Democratic primary voters who answered the questions said that, based on the debate, Mr. Sanders was the candidate who could best handle the job of president and was best suited to improving the economy.

A substantial 58% judged Mr. Sanders as the candidate “who best understands the problems facing people like you,’’ compared with 27% who chose Mrs. Clinton and 4% who named Mr. O’Malley.
<snip>
The margin of error in the survey varied for each question but in all cases was below plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. In conducting the poll, Google Consumer Surveys infers a respondent’s gender, age, and geographic location based on anonymous browsing history and other data. On mobile devices, people answer questions in exchange for credits for books, music, and apps, and answer demographic questions when first downloading the app.

But what is this "Google Consumer Surveys" you ask?

Only the 2nd most accurate pollsters of the 2014 election, according to Nate Silver:

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/which-polls-fared-best-and-worst-in-the-2012-presidential-race/?_r=0

UPDATE: More from Nate Silver on ONLINE POLLS in 2014:

Among the nine polling firms that conducted their polls wholly or partially online, the average error in calling the election result was 2.1 percentage points. That compares with a 3.5-point error for polling firms that used live telephone interviewers, and 5.0 points for “robopolls” that conducted their surveys by automated script. The traditional telephone polls had a slight Republican bias on the whole, while the robopolls often had a significant Republican bias. (Even the automated polling firm Public Policy Polling, which often polls for liberal and Democratic clients, projected results that were slightly more favorable for Mr. Romney than what he actually achieved.) The online polls had little overall bias, however.
<snip>

Perhaps it won’t be long before Google, not Gallup, is the most trusted name in polling.



November 15, 2015

911



Remind you of anyone?
November 14, 2015

War has a trickle down affect

ISIS has taken credit for the Paris attack, but give credit to those who deserve it -- there's plenty to share.

Start with Bush and Cheney, add anyone who voted for the Iraq war.

(That may, or may not include your candidate. Sorry. Actions have repercussions. )

This reality is on them, because war has a trickle down affect...


November 11, 2015

Will Hillary's supporters vote for Bernie if he wins the nomination?

I see this asked of Bernie's supporters once a week. Turn about is fair play.

November 4, 2015

Reversing Citizens United

I was inspired by the work of DUer Omaha Steve, who has rallied DUers together to donate to ActBlue in support of Bernie Sanders Campaign, so I asked Omaha Steve to help me deliver a way that I believe we can all support an issue that is embraced by both candidates - the reversal of "Citizens United."

Bernie may be the candidate best known for having a strong stancs against the Citizen's United ruling, but we can't forget that the ruling, and the film that sparked the original issue, both came at Hillary's expense. The symbolic image of Hillary being president during the overturn of CU must be enormously alluring to her campaign. Clinton's name would forever be associated with another historic moment in US politics.

So, as DUers of all stripes, opinions, and strongly held candidate preferences, I'm hoping we can set aside what makes us different and focus on one of the things that brings us together.

Please donate to Cenk Uygur's Wolf PAC. To help get you involved, we set up a Democratic Underground for Wolf PAC ActBlue donation page!

Omaha Steve was the first contributor. I was the second. Please be the third :

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4wolfpac

Why the Wolf PAC? Success counts.

So far, Wolf-PAC legislation has been adopted in 4 states (and has legislation in play in as many more):

Vermont
On March 21, 2014, the Vermont Senate passed JRS 27, a Wolf PAC-backed resolution, in a bipartisan 25 to 2 vote.[27] On May 2, 2014, the Vermont House passed the resolution, making Vermont the first state in the nation to call for an Article V convention concerning campaign finance reform.[28]

California
On March 20, 2012, a Wolf PAC-backed resolution was introduced in the California State Assembly, but was voted down in the Judiciary Committee.[29] On January 30, 2014, the California State Assembly became the second state lower chamber to pass Wolf PAC's bill calling for a constitutional convention. On June 23, 2014, California became the second state in the nation to pass Wolf PAC's resolution.[30]

Illinois
On December 3, 2014, the Illinois Senate voted on SJR42, which passed the needed 3/5ths majority by one vote, 72 to 40, becoming the third state to call for the convention.

New Jersey
A resolution to call for a constitutional convention to overturn Citizens United was introduced on 11 August 2014. It passed the Senate on 18 December 2014 and the Assembly on 23 February 2015.

Here's a sample resolution:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16k_iwdwxJlAAZKeYCOJ_S1Za82U_XevCp6wwPXklcBU/edit

Once again, regardless of your candidate, please support this critical issue and donate to the Democratic Underground for Wolf PAC donation page:

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4wolfpac

Peace

October 28, 2015

Reversing Citizens United

Bernie Sanders has told us that it will take a political revolution to enact the change required to save our democracy, and I believe him.

Should we wait for Bernie to get elected to put that revolution in action? No, the revolution is required for getting Bernie elected. We cannot wait for the revolution, we are the revolution.

Inspired by DU's Bernie Sanders Group, and particularly by the work of DUer Omaha Steve, to rally DUers together to donate in support of Bernie's Campaign, the Populist Reform Group asked Omaha Steve to help us come up with a way that we can support Bernie by supporting his revolution.

Our answer was to create an ActBlue page to collect donations to Reverse Citizens United.

To maximize your efforts and effectiveness, we're collecting for Cenk Uygur's Wolf PAC. Omaha Steve was the first contributor, and I was the second.

Here's the Democratic Underground for Wolf PAC donation page:

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4wolfpac

Why the Wolf PAC? I'll let Cenk explain their goal

Our Ultimate Goal:

To restore true, representative democracy in the United States by pressuring our State Legislators to pass a much needed Free and Fair Elections Amendment to our Constitution. There are only 2 ways to amend the Constitution. (1) Go through our Federal Government (2) Go through our State Legislators via an amendments convention of the states.

Wolf PAC believes that we can no longer count on our Federal Government to do what is in the best interest of the American people due to the unfettered amount of money they receive from outside organizations to fund their campaigns. We point to the failure of the Disclose Act as rock solid evidence that this would be a total waste of our time, effort, and money. We also point to the recent decision by the US Supreme Court to not even hear a case filed by Montana claiming it did not have to abide by Citizens United, as proof that state legislation is not a sufficient measure to solve this problem. We believe that we have no choice but to put an amendment in the hands of our State Legislators, who are not, at this moment in time, completely blinded by the influence of money, and might actually do what 96% of the country wants - take away the massive influence that money has over our political process.

<<SNIP>>

Something to keep in mind:

Near the turn of the 20th century the American people wanted to be able to elect their senators directly, but Congress was the last body of government that was going to change the way they got elected (sound familiar?!). So the states took it upon themselves and started calling for a convention one by one for the sole purpose of the direct election of senators. It took 13 years before they got within a couple states of the necessary 2/3 threshold to force a convention. When it became clear to Congress that the 17th Amendment was going to happen with or without them, they decided to preempt a convention by proposing it themselves. Calling for a convention on a specific issue is the strongest message we can send to Congress, and the most effective way to restore our democracy in the United States.

This can and must be done in a far shorter time period then it took for the 17th Amendment. Then again, they didn't have the power of the internet along with over 90% of the American people on their side. We do. Let's go get our democracy back.


So far, Wolf-PAC legislation has been adopted in 4 states:

Vermont
On March 21, 2014, the Vermont Senate passed JRS 27, a Wolf PAC-backed resolution, in a bipartisan 25 to 2 vote.[27] On May 2, 2014, the Vermont House passed the resolution, making Vermont the first state in the nation to call for an Article V convention concerning campaign finance reform.[28]

California
On March 20, 2012, a Wolf PAC-backed resolution was introduced in the California State Assembly, but was voted down in the Judiciary Committee.[29] On January 30, 2014, the California State Assembly became the second state lower chamber to pass Wolf PAC's bill calling for a constitutional convention. On June 23, 2014, California became the second state in the nation to pass Wolf PAC's resolution.[30]

Illinois
On December 3, 2014, the Illinois Senate voted on SJR42, which passed the needed 3/5ths majority by one vote, 72 to 40, becoming the third state to call for the convention.

New Jersey
A resolution to call for a constitutional convention to overturn Citizens United was introduced on 11 August 2014. It passed the Senate on 18 December 2014 and the Assembly on 23 February 2015.

Here's a sample resolution:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16k_iwdwxJlAAZKeYCOJ_S1Za82U_XevCp6wwPXklcBU/edit

Once again, please donate to the Democratic Underground for Wolf PAC donation page:
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/du4wolfpac

Let's put the Koch Brothers on notice: Bernie's revolution has already begun.

#t=16
October 28, 2015

Mind Control

Monkey see, monkey do...



Don't be a monkey. Question authority.
October 17, 2015

The 15 Most Billionaire-Dense Countries | Crosspost from PRG

Let's put a stake through the heart of the monster--right now. Bernie Sanders' Democratic Socialism is good for capitalism, and I've got the billionaires to prove it.

That is to say, Norway and Sweden have the billionaires to prove it.

Read:

There are 1826 billionaires in the world and there are some countries that have hundreds of them.

However, while nations like China may house some of the world's richest people, with 400 billionaires, it doesn't actually have the highest number of billionaires in proportion to the population.

Approved Index, a UK-based business-networking group, crunched the numbers from Forbes' 2015 billionaire list using this week's data and found that the most billionaire-dense nations across the world are pretty surprising.


So let me keep this simple, and cut to the "pretty suprising" part:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/127710163

Profile Information

Gender: Male
Hometown: Venice, California
Current location: St. Petersburg, Florida
Member since: Fri Jul 2, 2004, 04:55 PM
Number of posts: 16,916
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