March 14, 2020

Should we all vote by mail in 2020?

With the pandemic disrupting everything, maybe states should consider an emergency rule that we all vote by mail this year?

This may be a logical step to assure we can all vote and avoid crowds and exposures.

There are states that already use mail only balloting, like Washington. I would rather avoid a polling location during an bio-outbreak.

Most of the voting processes are already being used are ready for something like we are experiencing now.
All elections are officially processed via each state, through their individual county governments, who in turn manage them for the cities, towns & villages on those counties. Most county govt's print the actual ballots. Adding postage and an envelope? That's going to be so insurmountable to figure out, isn't it!

We might find voting by mail to be have less problems overall and be something we like and want to start doing. We still vote like it's the mid-1800's. We vote on the first tuesday after the first monday in November (for federal offices).We chose this day because the first wednesday of the month was when farmers could go to the largest city in the county ( they called them 'county seats') to sell thier produce, livestock and other wares. It took days to travel from the farm to county seats by horse, if you even had one back then. Today, to be honest, Tuesday is not the best day of the week to vote on. There are six other days, two of which are surely better choices, those two would be Sat & Sun.

Voting by mail opens your window to vote by adding two weeks or more that you have your ballot in hand, at home, where you can research candidates & referendum issues and fill in your ballot and mail it back or drop it off at locations setup for ballots.

Pandemics suck. We can find some things, that we can change to prevent major disruptions. Elections can, and should, be something that can occur without seasonal localized epidemics and most certainly, global pandemics causing politicians to inflict mistakes, mis-judgements and blatant interferences with.

March 14, 2020

Wisc GOP Trio Votes No to Coronavirus Bill.

Wisconsin's House Reps Sensenbrenner, Grothman and Gallagher voted No to the Coronavirus Relief Bill.

Only 40 GOPs voted against it. These three must have some very important reasons to have voted this way.
I am not sure if any of these three "blind mice" have bills proposed that do more, do better or do anything for our nation to address the pandemic. If the bill failed, it would only delay catching up to the rest of the world, for testing and to prepare hospitals for the overwhelming needs a pandemic causes.

Here is a link to the actual House vote on Fri Mar 13, 2020:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2020/roll102.xml

March 14, 2020

CoVid-19 or Coronavirus: are Two Different Words

Let's clarify two important word definitions.
One is the name of the virus.(coronavirus) and one is the name of the disease (CoVid-19) it causes.

Coronavirus - this is the viral organism's name. This is only the virus's name, it's not an illness you can catch.
...It is what you get exposed to from airborne droplets that come from coughs & sneezes.

CoVid-19 - this is the respiratory disease that can develop, if you are exposed to the Coronavirus.
...This is the disease your body might develop if exposed to the virus.

Using the proper words can reduce confusion as the pandemic runs it's course.
Let's do our part to discuss the pandemic using the proper names.

March 11, 2020

Wear gloves when grocery shopping to reduce viral exposure

Produce is the most touched item in any grocery store.
You can easily reduce the spread of any disease by wearing gloves when grocery shopping.
...any gloves. Trying to reduce your exposure is what counts.
How many times have you grabbed a pack of hamburger only to get leaking bloody juice on your hand?

Adding a simple glove protection layer will not save your life, but will certainly reduce some exposure. to what other people left behind.

March 9, 2020

Ireland cancels Dublin's St.Patrick's Day Parade

You know things are bad when Ireland cancels All the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin due to CoVID-19.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/coronavirus-latest-all-st-patrick-s-day-parades-in-ireland-set-to-be-cancelled-1.4197325

March 6, 2020

California Forces Trump to release tax returns to get on Nov 2020 ballot

THIS LINK WAS FROM AN OLD NEWS ARTICLE. MY BAD.
This law was put on hold by an appeal since it's Jul 2019 publish date. I was reading another article which referred the link and did not check that article's date. I apologize to those thinking this is occurring now.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a bill on Tuesday to force President Donald Trump to release his tax returns in order to get on the state’s 2020 primary ballot. While other states have pursued Trump’s taxes, California is the first one in the country to make the disclosure of tax returns a requirement for a ballot spot.
Senate Bill 27, dubbed the “Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act,” took effect immediately after Gov. Newsom signed it.
This law has two really good benefits...
1) With the GOP's decades long effort at voter suppression, this one law may result in millions of votes, for Trump, to disappear. In 2018, Trump's California votes were 4,483,810. This new law may also reduce the down ballot races. Rep.Nunes and the fringe right would have also seen lower votes.

While the law only requires the last five years of returns, this is a critical step toward election reform. This law should expand to all federal and statewide offices in every state.

March 4, 2020

Primaries and the 2020 Dem Party Platform

What do you think the party platform should prioritize in 2020?
The primary season sets delegates for the convention in Milwaukee this summer.
We have many candidates, each with proposals on many issues. Some are broad issues and some local to each state's primary voters.
Both the Dems and Gops will vote on a platform. This platform is the official party's ideology and long term goals for the nation.
My interest is how the primaries are going to influence those delegates choices, for the official party platform, when they get to the convention.

What are the issues, that will be the major points of the official Democratic Party Platform that are likely to be approved, and written into the official platform?

Please try to not include reactions to Trump. Trump's actions, etc. Please try to define the issues and why voter's might agree that the Democratic platform provides solutions to those issues.

Example: Wisconsin's Dairy industry was harmed by trade war and now leads the nation in family farm bankruptcies. How this occurred was partially the trade war, but also the state's GOP's legislative actions setup this failure. Corporate farms are polluting Northeast Wisconsin's ground water and the GOP is doing nothing, but offering tax breaks to the corporate farms. The trade wars will not last as long as the water issues in Wisconsin, which is also a problem in every state. Water is both an industrial and health issue and the platform may or may not address this.

Sources:
https://www.jsonline.com/in-depth/news/special-reports/dairy-crisis/2019/12/06/industrial-dairy-impacts-wisconsin-environment-family-farms/4318671002/

https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/investigations/2019/03/04/tainted-kewaunee-county-drinking-water-wells-tied-manure-pits/3054018002/

February 22, 2020

April Primary - Guess the GOP Fake Fact or Create one

OK, the GOP is now using newly created PAC's to spread misinformation and other fake facts.
Shall we guess at some claims they will make?
Here's my five:

1) There were no farm bankruptcies during Trump's Presidency.

2) Wisconsin has no farm waste in any of it's water sources.

3) Foxconn is already employing 50,000 people at it's Wisconsin plant.

4) Illegal immigrants are still gonna get you.

5) WiGOP Rep Nygren's daughter, Carrie, deserves a Trump pardon for killing a pregnant woman she sold drugs to.

This April primary should be a good one. Remember to support Bernie to get the young people to actually vote in April. Better yet, convince them to Vote at Home with absentee ballots. They need to start voting in every election to bring the next generation into power.

February 8, 2020

Is an impeached President now an IMPOTUS?

or did I make a new word?

February 6, 2020

Iowa App is no big deal. Paper Trail can fix anything.

Hi, this is my very first post on DU.
The app failure used in the Iowa Dem Caucuses is much ado about absolutely nothing.
The app failed and the obsession with that one point proves that many Americans are simply ignorant on how the actual election processes work
. The app, or any in the future, will not matter because the app does not cast votes. It's only purpose was a way to report more data.
It's the paper trail that is the sole evidence of results from that one primary. The other 49 states will have caucuses and primaries and in each, the paper trail is the only thing that matters.
Media is freaking out, probably to get a catchy headline. The right wing, of course is claiming the end of life itself over this one glitch. But they will always go to the worst guess first. The GOP likes to guess, instead of think. Media has yet to explain how the paper trail will not change the results.
Everything in politics comes down to the vote. Paper trails, paper ballots will always prove one thing. What the voters chose. Ink on paper cannot be hacked from Russia, so get over this nonsense about this app even being a problem with elections. It's a problem for the media and those, like the GOP who think it should be more important than what was actually put on paper by those participating in the caucuses.
Iowa tried something to provide more data. It didn't work well, but it DID NOT change what the paper trail proves. That fact is; how many actual, tangible, real votes were cast for actual, tangible, real candidates. Iowa will still have to cast votes, again later this year. And nothing that happened in Iowa, will affect any other states primary efforts.
I can only suggest that every voter do more to participate. Register to vote. Have your ballot sent to your home for every election. Vote at Home. Those states with mail balloting have better participation, especially at the local levels.
I have yet to see any media, promote the actual methods on how to vote, in each state.
Voting is the single thing that brings change, and if the American system continues to flourish, we should change to weekend voting and make a national holiday of it. Require only paper ballots and hand-count every single one. No politician takes office the next morning and we can wait for results a day or two, instead of demanding our elections give us instant results. This is not a 30 sec drive thru burger order and it should never be treated like that; by the media, by the parties and especially by ourselves.
The most important thing is not who's running, or who did what... but making sure every voter casts a ballot in every election. It's the only way to prove what we want as citizens for our nation.