Gore's 'popular vote' scheme to ensure Democrat rule?

Plan would see majority-Dem states decide presidency for all voters

Al Gore’s claim that an end to the Electoral College will ensure all voters get equal representation in a popular vote is contradicted by a recently released book that documents how the “popular vote” campaign could see only 14 states – those with the largest populations, most of which are majority-Democrat – decide the presidency for voters in all 50 states.

Gore took to his Current TV to push for the abolishment of the Electoral College and its replacement with the so-called popular vote. He claimed that many voters who live outside the dozen or so battleground states are being cheated by the current system that allocates delegates from the state level, reported The Hill.

Stated Gore: “I’ve seen how these states are written off and ignored, and people are effectively disenfranchised in the presidential race. And I really do now think it is time to change that.”

While some have proposed legislation and a constitutional amendment, Gore alluded to a “very interesting” movement to bypass the Electoral College.

“It is always tough to amend the Constitution and risky to do so, but there is a very interesting movement under way that takes it state by state that may really have a chance of succeeding,” he said.

That “interesting movement” is dissected in the recently released New York Times bestselling book, “Fool Me Twice: Obama’s Shocking Plans for Four More Years Exposed,” by Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott.

The book, which has climbed to No. 8 on the New York Times list , contains a bonus chapter on the subject of election fraud and documents about fair representation in future presidential elections.

National popular vote

The vote for president is the only one in which all Americans vote for a national leader. In framing the U.S. Constitution, Klein and Elliott write, the Founding Fathers displayed their characteristic wisdom and subtlety in firmly rejecting a purely popular vote to elect the president to balance the power of the larger states against the smaller.

The Electoral College was fashioned as a compromise between an election of the president by direct popular vote and election by Congress.

However, “Fool Me Twice” documents how a group backed by a who’s who of the progressive left, calling itself the National Popular Vote, or NPV, has already been successful in quietly pushing for abolishing the Electoral College in favor of a “popular vote.”

“Under the rubric of a ‘National Popular Vote,’ the plan would allow the 14 most populous American states, mostly majority-Democrat, to determine the outcome of future presidential elections. The voters of the 36 less populous states would then effectively be disenfranchised,” warn Klein and Elliott.

The plan is already gaining traction.

In 2007, Maryland became the first state to approve a “national popular vote” compact. As a result, in a theoretical winner-take-all contest, Maryland would allocate all of its 10 electoral votes to the candidate who won the most votes nationally – even if the same candidate did not win the most votes in Maryland.

By March 2012, eight states – California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Washington, plus the District of Columbia – had enacted the “national popular vote” into law.

Two other states, Colorado and Rhode Island, had passed it in both houses, but it had not been enacted.

Ten more states had passed it in one house, and 10 others had passed it in a committee. Eleven states had held hearings on it, and nine more states had introduced bills.

While organizational support comes almost exclusively from left-leaning groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters, the Soros-funded Common Cause and the Demos group, NPV’s army of lobbyists has also been pushing its plan to the Republican National Committee, the American Legislative Exchange Council and conservative think tanks such as the Heartland Institute and the Heritage Foundation.

There is, however, one hitch in the NPV plan: For a “national popular vote” to predominate, the full 270 electoral votes needed to win must be based on identical legislation (the “interstate compact”) passed by each state.

Arizona Congressional candidate caught in uproar for noting that Islamic jihadis want to enter the U.S. to harm Americans

From Jihad Watch / Posted by Robert Spencer

Obviously Mercer meant those Middle Easterners who enter the country illegally from Mexico, not all Middle Easterners who come to the United States. And so the uproar is clearly a cynical orchestrated hit for political purposes, like virtually all of the shock and outrage that the Left generates for supposed "gaffes" by figures on the Right.

After all, why exactly are Middle Easterners sneaking in to the U.S. from Mexico? It isn't as if it's difficult in this Age of Obama for Muslims to get refugee status in the U.S. As Pamela Geller noted here: "Christians are in imminent danger across the world, and yet they are being refused refugee status, while Muslim refugee immigration goes on unimpeded. U.S. policy regarding refugee resettlement would shock most Americans if they only knew. The United Nations picks who gets to come to the U.S. as a refugee. The mandate of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is to determine which of the world’s huddled masses comes to the U.S. as humanitarian refugees. And predictably, this U.N. body is favoring Muslims. Christians from Muslim lands are being refused refugee status."

That being the case, it is more than passing strange that any Middle Easterners at all are crossing illegally into the U.S. from Mexico. And the fact that they do so does raise legitimate questions about their motives.

"Arizona Republican's 'Middle Easterners' comments spark debate," by Tim Gaynor for Reuters, August 29 (thanks to Trita Parsi):

(Reuters) - Remarks by a conservative Arizona Republican Congressional candidate that Middle Easterners' "only goal in life is to cause harm to the United States" have landed her in the midst of a dispute over whether the comments amount to hate speech. 

Tea Party-backed Gabriela Saucedo Mercer, who was born in Mexico and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, won the Republican primary on Tuesday to run in an Arizona Congressional district that flanks the border in southern Arizona. She faces Democrat Raul Grijalva, a five-term incumbent, in the November general election.

Grijalva sparked the debate Tuesday when he circulated a video in which the Republican tells an interviewer that authorities in the previous year nabbed 25,000 illegal immigrants who were other than Mexican nationals.

"That includes Chinese, Middle Easterners. If you know Middle Easterners, a lot of them they look Mexican or like a lot of people in South America - dark skin, dark hair, brown eyes, and they mix in," she said in the interview, recorded last year by WesternFreePress.com.

"And those people, their only goal in life is to cause harm to the United States, so why do we want them here, either legally or illegally?" she said....

Grijalva, a long-term opponent of the immigration crackdown, issued a news release on Tuesday denouncing what he called Mercer's "reckless hate speech" and urged everyone who endorsed Mercer to "withdraw their support immediately."

"This is not a he-said, she-said question of interpretation. Her comments are reprehensible and deserve condemnation from every quarter. Anyone who continues to support her campaign should be asked whether they want someone with her views in Congress," he said in a statement.

[Muslim Brotherhood-linked] Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim American elected to Congress, said he was "disappointed" in Mercer's "decision to inject division and fear" into the Congressional race.

The American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, a non-sectarian civil rights and civil liberties group, also weighed into the debate, slamming Mercer's choice of words, which it said "once again exemplifies the bigotry and racism rampant within the Republican party, and politics as a whole."

The nonprofit group called on Republican party leaders, including presidential candidate Mitt Romney, to condemn her remarks and "move away from the politics of hate and fear."

A call to Mercer seeking comment was not immediately returned on Wednesday. In comments reported by the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, she said the video was edited to be misleading and took her comments out of context.

"He (Grijalva) must be scared or something," the newspaper reported Mercer saying at a primary-election night party on Tuesday. "The tactics he's using to smear me as a racist are unconscionable."

Caped Crusader Mitt Romney Fights to Save America from Obama the Empty Suit 

By: Crystal Wright  / Townhall.com

Mitt Romney needed to hit a home run with his nomination speech at the Republican National Convention. Put another way, Romney needed to prove he was Batman to Ryan’s Robin and not the other way around, as a Tampa Bay Times editorial cartoon featured him August 30th. I think he did that, if you evaluate him for the content and substance of his speech rather than judging him on pageant standards of congeniality the mainstream media use to praise and prop up a failing President Obama.

Romney will never be Obama, filling a room with flowery words, singing an Al Green tune erstwhile being void of leadership and “backbone.” But in his speech Thursday night to accept his party’s nomination, Romney proved to America his the “caped crusader” to lead the country out of its economic malaise to a “better future.” With a vigor and determination we haven’t seen before, Romney stood up against Obama’s failure of the past three and half years and told the American people, he will not back down from this fight to save our country.

One of the most illustrative moments of Romney’s speech, which defined the choice voters face in the two candidates, was when Romney asked if Americans were better off than they were four years ago.

“Hope and Change had a powerful appeal. But tonight I'd ask a simple question: If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn’t you feel that way now that he’s President Obama? You know there’s something wrong with the kind of job he’s done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him!”

Throughout his speech, the Tampa Bay Forum erupted in thunderous applause and standing ovations. Romney not only laid out how bad the country has fared under Obama but also painted a portrait of ego driven President with no plan for America but saving his job. In response to media criticism Romney needs to “fill in the blanks” on his plan to get America working again, Romney announced if elected president he would create 12 million jobs. He said the jobs would be created through a five step plan: making America energy independent by 2020, strengthening education through school choice, forging new trade agreements, cutting our deficit and reducing taxes on businesses by repealing Obamacare.

While “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet,” said Romney. “MY promise...is to help you and your family. I will begin my presidency with a jobs tour. President Obama began with an apology tour.”

Neutering Obama’s attacks on his success as a businessman, Romney boldly heralded his work accomplishments at Bain Capital such as starting companies like Staples, Bright Horizons and The Sports Authority. Again Romney made Obama look like a president ill-prepared to lead, with virtually “no experience working in business, whose policies are bringing the country down rather than lifting them up.

“These are American success stories. And yet the centerpiece of the President’s entire re-election campaign is attacking success. Is it any wonder that someone who attacks success has led to the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression?”

Building upon Condoleezza Rice’s masterful Wednesday night speech condemning Obama’s foreign policy feebleness, Romney made the case to the American people President Obama hasn’t stood up for freedom abroad. From allowing Iran to become a nuclear threat to “throwing Israel under the bus” and giving Russia’s President Putin all the flexibility he desires, Romney declared Obama hasn’t made America a safer place by abdicating leadership in the world and talking with dictators.

What America saw from the Republican presidential nominee Thursday night was Romney ready to take on Obama’s failed record. A candidate eager to do something about America’s problems, finally take the fight to Obama and beat back his campaign of dishonesty!

In putting an empty chair on the Tampa stage to represent Obama during his remarks, actor Clint Eastwood reduced Obama the reality of his record, there’s nothing there.

“When somebody does not do the job, you gotta let em go,” said Clint. This election is about a choice in stark contrasts: leadership versus promises, responsibility versus blame. Romney stood in Tampa as a man with the answers, willing to lead, making Obama look like an empty suit, ready for his close up.

Freedom is the Only Issue Facing Americans 

By: Star Parker / Townhall Daily

The political parties throw a lot of glitz at us with their made-for-TV spectaculars, which we call conventions.

But the bottom line defining the choice facing Americans this year is stark and clear, and these conventions provide no new insights or information.

If you think we're struggling because we don't have enough government, then the Democrats are the party for you. If you think the point of government is to protect individual freedom, and the problem is it has gone way beyond that, then Republicans are the party for you.

No visual dominates the landscape of our nation's capital like the Washington Monument. Today, however, other than memorializing our first president, it also provides a message about the role and efficacy of government.

Last year on Aug. 23, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit Washington, D.C. The earthquake caused cracks in the monument, which stands at a height of almost two football fields, so the National Park Service shut it down.

Now, one year later, the monument remains in disrepair, closed to the 600,000 annual visitors it usually receives.

The Washington Post reported in January that the monument would be closed until sometime in 2013. According to that report, the contract to do the repairs would "probably not be awarded until late summer, with work starting sometime after that."

Now the latest report in The Washington Post indicates that repair of the monument may not be complete until sometime in 2014.

In January 1994, Los Angeles was hit with a massive 6.7-magnitude earthquake, knocking down two sections of the Santa Monica Freeway.

An initial estimate from the California Department of Transportation was that it would take 12 to 18 months for repairs.

Considering the massive potential costs to the local economy of shutting down sections of the world's busiest freeway, Caltrans officials decided to turn loose the time-tested formula for American success: market incentives and individual ingenuity.

They opened bidding to contractors who would accelerate the repair process, offering incentive bonuses for early completion.

The result: The repairs were completed in less than three months, with the contractor collecting a $14.5 million bonus for finishing 74 days ahead of schedule.

A rule of life is that we can always expect the unexpected.

Natural disasters deliver this truth in graphic and shocking ways. But the unexpected is with us constantly, natural disasters or not.

It's why an enduring society must be a free society. Only when free can individuals deal with life's endless surprises in creative and resilient ways.

Bureaucracy and government control are guarantees for failure.

Now, sadly, we watch those on Louisiana's Gulf Coast bear the brunt again of a brutal hurricane.

Think of the despair that followed Katrina. There was no shortage of opinions that New Orleans was done forever, that it could never recover.

But, human resilience, will, creativity and freedom have revived this city.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the New Orleans region is below the national average.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the surge of entrepreneurial activity that has occurred there. Tax incentives have given birth to a growing, nationally competitive film industry, with music and software design following suit.

A failed public school system has been revitalized, with 80 percent of the schools now charter schools.

Shouldn't it tell us something that Apple, the icon for innovation, once on the brink of failure, is now the most valuable company in history?

And that all the major areas where we are having problems are areas controlled or dominated by government?

Americans don't need to watch fancily produced political conventions to know that one question faces us this year: Do we want to be free?

Analysis: Brotherhood taking total control of Egypt
By ZVI MAZEL / Act for America
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=282258


With rise of Morsy, a new dictatorship may be replacing the old while world persists in looking for signs of pragmatism.

While the world persists in looking for signs of pragmatism in the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsy is quietly taking over all the power bases in the country.

Having gotten rid of the army old guard, he replaced them with his own men – officers belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood or known sympathizers. Then he turned his attention to the media, replacing 50 editors working for the government’s extensive and influential press empire – including Al- Ahram, Al-Akhbar, Al-Gomhuria. He is now busy appointing new governors to the 27 regions of the country.

Hosni Mubarak used to choose retired generals he could depend on for these sensitive posts; Morsy is hand picking party faithful. At the same time upper echelons in government ministries and economic and cultural organizations are methodically being replaced. The Muslim Brotherhood is fast assuming total control. For many observers, the deployment of army units in Sinai is more about proclaiming Egyptian sovereignty in the face of Israel than actually fighting Islamic terrorism.

Drafting the new constitution is their next objective. Brothers and Salafis make up an absolute majority in the Constituent Assembly. Liberal and secular forces are boycotting its sessions, and the Supreme Constitutional Court is examining a request to have it dissolved since it does not conform to the constitution because of its overly Islamic composition; a decision is expected in September.

The assembly, however, is not waiting. According to various leaks it is putting the final touch to a constitution where all laws have to conform to the Shari’a and special committees will supervise the media and forbid any criticism of Islam and of the Prophet. In the wings is the creation of a Committee of Islamic Sages supervising the law-making process and in effect voiding of substance the parliament elected by the people, though it is not clear yet if, when and how it will work. What is clear is that a parliament made of flesh and blood individuals is against the very nature of the Shari’a, where all laws are based on the Koran and the hadiths. This is a far cry from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Morsy has been careful to speak about creating “a civil society”; it is now obvious that what he meant was a society not ruled by the army, and not a secular society. Indeed he had promised to appoint a woman and a Copt as vice presidents, but chose Mohamed Maki, a Sunni known for his sympathy for the Brotherhood and incidentally or not the brother of the new minister of justice, Prof. Ahmed Maki, known for his independent stands and opposition to Mubarak, but who had carefully concealed his support for the Brothers.

It is worth stressing that the Brotherhood is still operating under conditions of utmost secrecy, as it had been doing during the decades of persecution. How it is getting its funds, who are its members and how they are recruited is not known, nor is its decision-taking process. The movement has no legal existence since Gamal Abdel Nasser officially disbanded it in 1954.

That state of affairs was not changed while the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ruled the country, since apparently the movement did not apply for recognition, fearing perhaps it would have to reveal some of its secrets. Now that it has created its own political party, that the members of that party make up nearly 50 percent of the parliament and that one of their own has been elected president, can the movement remain in the shadows?

Morsy did announce that he was resigning from the Brotherhood, but there is no doubt that he will remain true to the tenets and the commands of its leaders. This is making people increasingly uneasy. They had other expectations of the revolution.

Opposition to an Islamic regime is growing, though it is far from being united. The three small liberal parties that had had very little success in the parliamentary elections have now set up a new front, The Third Way, to fight the Brotherhood’s takeover. Hamdeen Sabahi, leader of the nationalistic Karama (Dignity) Party, who had garnered 18% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election, has launched “The Popular Current” promoting the old Nasserist pan-Arab ideology.

Some of the nongovernmental media are vocal in their criticism of Morsy, though it can be costly: Private television station Al- Pharaein – “the Pharaohs” – was shut down after it called to get rid of Morsy; its owner, Tawfik Okasha, well known for his hostility to the Brothers (and to Israel) and who called for a massive demonstration this Friday, was put under house arrest, as was the editor of the daily Al-Dostour that had criticized the president. The editors of two other dailies – Al-Fajer and Saut el-Umma – were questioned. Other papers such as Al-Akhbar stopped publishing opinion pieces from their regular collaborators known for their opposition to the Brothers; well-known publicists left their page blank in a gesture of solidarity for their colleagues.

Morsy knows that his takeover will strengthen the opposition. He has not forgotten that he barely mustered 25% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election – down from the nearly 50% who voted for his party’s candidates in the parliamentary elections. He also knows that the people are no longer afraid to take to the streets to protest – and that it is now said that a new dictatorship is replacing the old – the only difference being that the new ruler has a beard....

However, for now he is devoting all his energy to his fight with the judiciary, long known for its independent stands. The Supreme Constitutional Court is being asked to rule the Brotherhood Movement illegal, and therefore to proclaim that the Liberty and Justice party it created – and which won 50% of the seats in the parliament – is illegal as well, and therefore to invalidate the election of Morsy, candidate of a movement and a party that are both illegal. Morsy sent his new justice minister to browbeat the court, but the judges refused to back down. The president is now working to limit the prerogatives of the court in the new constitution and will start “retiring” senior justices appointed by Mubarak.

Friday’s demonstration will be the first real test for the Brotherhood. It is taking no chances and security forces will be deployed around its institutions throughout the country. A cleric at Al-Azhar issued a fatwa calling for the killing of whoever protests against the rule of the Brotherhood; the resulting uproar was such that he was disavowed by some of the leaders of the movement. However, whatever happens Friday will not deter them from their goal – a thoroughly Islamist Egypt.

The writer is a former ambassador to Egypt.

A “Who’s-Who” Of The DNC’s Anti-Family Speakers

 

By Dr. Kevin "Coach" Collins / The Western Center for Journalism

in

 

 

 

The Republican National Convention featured strong women reverently proclaiming God has blessed America and our need to follow His grace back to where He wants us to be.

 

The wholesomeness of the real America was highlighted by the many good decent women who rose to speak. We heard female governors, a female former cabinet member, and loving wives tell us they understand the threat the current administration is to real America. These Republican women showed America they understand personal matters are to be kept personal; love of country is their open passion.

The RNC celebrated  real families with strong women who are part of real families who love and protect children. In contrast, the Democrat National Convention will give us a three-day “Vagina Monologues” celebrating the most grotesque of the Left’s positions.

The DNC will give us a lesbian, an abortionist, a condom queen, a phony “Catholic” a women who has spent her life smiling while men destroyed the women in her family, an actress best known for promoting adultery, and a woman who thinks “You didn’t build that.”

Here’s the DNC list of women speakers:

Tammy Baldwin, the first speaker: an open lesbian recently separated from her gay partner.

Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth, endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America and EMILY’S List.

Sandra Fluke sees freedom as having others pay for the condoms her dozens of weekly lovers use to please her.

Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America: once a Special Education teacher caring for America’s most vulnerable children who now supports killing special needs children before they are born.

Lilly Ledbetter will remind viewers that women on Barack Obama’s White House staff are paid 18% less than men in violation of the law named after her.

Caroline Kennedy has spent her whole life silently smiling while the men in her family have abused woman, including her own mother; she has called Barack Obama a LIAR.

Eva Longoria, best known for using her acting talents to celebrate adultery on “Desperate Housewives”.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a putative Catholic with a 100% NARAL rating.

Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, advocates the slaughter of innocent children.

Kamala Harris, the 100% NARAL rated California Attorney General.

Massachusetts Senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren coined “You didn’t build that”, telling small business people they can’t succeed without government.

Let’s keep making the contrast at every opportunity.

2016: The Next GOP Generation 

By: Maggie Gallagher  / Townhall.com

The future of the Republican Party was on display in Tampa, Fla., as the roll of speakers before Mitt Romney provided a preview of nomination battles in 2016 and beyond.

Let's just say it: Paul Ryan hit it out of the park, delivering at long last what so many in the base have been hungering for: He didn't just attack -- he vivisected the Obama administration.

"I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power," Ryan said. "They've run out of ideas. Their moment came and went."

Red meat is the traditional veep specialty, but Ryan's attack was so rooted in undeniable big truths, it never came off as personal.

"The first troubling sign came with the stimulus. It was President Obama's first and best shot at fixing the economy, at a time when he got everything he wanted under one-party rule. It cost $831 billion -- the largest one-time expenditure ever by our federal government.

"It went to companies like Solyndra, with their gold-plated connections, subsidized jobs and make-believe markets. ... What did the taxpayers get out of the Obama stimulus? More debt. That money wasn't just spent and wasted -- it was borrowed, spent and wasted."

He went on:

"College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. ... None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers -- a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us."

Ryan's political future is now tied to Mitt Romney's success, that's the downside of being veep nominee.

Rick Santorum, who may be back in 2016 or 2020, delivered a rich, moving speech that showed why social and economic conservatism are not disjointed fragments cobbled together by electoral expediency, but together form a coherent governing philosophy, including this on marriage:

"Marriage is disappearing in places where dependency is the highest. Most single mothers do heroic work and an amazing job raising their children. But if America is going to succeed, we must stop the assault on marriage and the family in America today."

He, too, is an intellectual leader to watch for in the future.

But the biggest disappointment so far was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Christie's speech was exceptionally self-involved, bragging not only about his record but his bluster, and his mom.

"My mom, she was tough as nails and didn't suffer fools at all -- and truth was, she couldn't afford to. She spoke the truth, bluntly directly and without much varnish. I am her son."

Truth-telling as a brand has its limitations, especially when the truths close to Christie's heart are so gloomy.

"Paralyzed by our desire to be loved," he said, too many politicians think it's "more important to be popular, to say and do what's easy and say 'yes' rather than to say 'no' when 'no' is what is required."

We all have to share the sacrifice, he lectured. And on Medicare, he claimed Granny is willing.

"Seniors are not selfish. They believe seniors will always put themselves ahead of their grandchildren. So they prey on their vulnerabilities and scare them with misinformation for the cynical purpose of winning the next election."

Ann Romney that Tuesday night may have wanted to talk about love, but Christie was having none of it: "Tonight, we choose respect over love."

I don't think that's the speech of a winning presidential candidate. Not while women have the vote, anyway.

The breakout speaker of this convention may well have been the mayor of tiny Saratoga Springs, Utah -- ironically, a woman named Mia Love. She is a black Mormon convert, an articulate and attractive woman's voice for our shared American story:

"Our story has been told for over 200 years, with small steps and giant leaps, from a woman on the bus to a man with a dream, from the bravery of the greatest generation to the innovators and entrepreneurs of today," she said. "This is our story, this is our America, this is the America we know because we built it."

Amen.