jawfish

Where the Graduates, Jobs, and Real Estate Booms Are
john posted in politics & culture on September 27th, 2006

The Atlantic has an article in the October edition, Where the Brains Are (subscription required), with some interesting statistics. The piece looks at the the distribution of college graduates by county across the US.

graphic from The Atlantic: The Uneven Fortunes of America’s Cities
read on …

Abolish the Power of the Electors: Power to More People
john posted in politics & culture on September 21st, 2006

California could be the first state to sign on to a new movement to nullify the Electoral College.

Political Science boffins have argued for generations about the hoary old Electoral College, but a computer scientist named John Koza has come up with a pragmatic solution to the modern problem of Presidential campaigns that concentrate on a few swing states.

California, Texas, New York, as well as tiny states like Wyoming are ignored in favor of massive attention paid to Ohio, Florida, and Iowa in our current system. Koza’s plan involves a pact signed by states that allows them to switch to proportional selection of electors but not until enough other states have made the same choice.

NY Times Graphic

George Skelton reports today in the LA Times that the bill has passed and is on the Governator’s desk. It should be noted that both Democrats and Republicans support this proposal, though nominally Repuiblicans are against it, since it would have cost Bush the Presidency. It is hard to argue against the idea: let the people actually choose their President.

Details can be read at the National Popular Vote website, and the whole book on it can be downloaded here.

Since I live in California, I think it’s a great idea. If you live in Ohio, think about how it will cut down on those campaign ads on TV.

Further reading:
NY Sun: NY Lawmakers Aim to Curb Electoral College
New Yorker: Talk of Town
Cailfornia Progress Report: California Assembly Passes Electoral College Reform

Skelton says in part:

Schwarzenegger’s signature on the Umberg bill would make California the first state to ratify an interstate compact obligating each signatory to cast all its electoral votes for the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.

The compact wouldn’t go into effect until enough states ratified it to make up a majority of the Electoral College vote. Depending on the states’ sizes, that could be anywhere from 11 to 39, but probably would be around 25…..

There are legislators, including Republicans, lined up to introduce similar bills in 21 other states next year, Umberg says.

Pollster Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California found in 2004 that 64% of voters supported junking the Electoral College and changing to a popular vote.

“It doesn’t matter which side they’re on,” he says, “people want to feel their vote counts.”

The governor hasn’t had time to think about the bill yet, a spokesman says.

Schwarzenegger can side with Republican legislators. Or he can follow what would seem to be his natural instinct — to leap out in front of a national reform that expands direct democracy…

Waterboarding Dick Cheney
john posted in politics & culture on September 20th, 2006

Hosted by Slate magazine, cartoon by Steve Sack

The Day Fire – Sunday
john posted in other on September 18th, 2006

Original full-size picture from Nasa here… – Large file warning.

With the earthquakes, mud slides, and runaway celebrities California gets a little exciting from time to time. This weekend, the Day fire covered the county in smoke.
read on …