We are at war! While we enjoy our comfortable homes, food on the table and clean water to drink, thousands of brave men and women of the armed forces are defending our homeland in constant danger, lack of sleep, cold, wet, filth, dust, trenches, hunger and longing for home, so that we may enjoy our freedom. They have put their personal lives on hold, left their families, comfort and all they know to go to another country and fight for not only the U.S.A. but the whole world. The United States is the only country who defends other countries and then returns it back to its people, enabling them to enjoy their new found freedom from tyranny. The military prevents terror from spreading throughout the world. So let’s get behind our troops!

Terrorists are brutal murderers without conscience. It is their determination to take out the U.S.A. at any cost and are currently infiltrating and targeting many strategic places of work, including government. They will be ready to strike again when the command is given just as they did with the Twin Towers. You can do your part to help prevent this again. We must be prepared.

We, who have been left at home can also defend our country and there are many ways to do that, first, by defending and supporting our troops. Families should support their sons and daughters in their decision to defend our country. Suspicious activities should be reported. The media should also be supportive. Think how we could lift our troops morale knowing they have our full support.

So the next time you are eating, drinking or having a wonderful evening of dancing, remember, remember who you owe that enjoyment to. Remember those families who kissed their sons and daughters good bye and had the heart wrenching experience of waving their heroes good bye; watching them until they are out of sight, not knowing when and if they will return. How can we ever repay our debt to these brave souls and their families? God bless and protect our heroes, our military men and women! God Bless America!

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Keywords:
reform, election, popular vote, electoral college, president, Senate, constitution, amendment, plurality, winner-takes-all, candidate, campaign

Consider the presidential election system we have today: Every state has a number of electors, equal to their amount of representatives and senators, who vote for the President of the United States. In most states, every elector goes to the candidate who achieves the most popular votes, regardless of his margin of victory. This means:

1. Presidential candidates have little reason to campaign to the whole country. If partisan or personal loyalty makes victory certain in a state, a candidate can safely ignore it in favor of other states. Conversely, if a candidate will definitely lose in a state, then he won’t waste his time there. Only competitive “battleground states” see much activity.
2. We have less national turnout. If a state will assuredly support one candidate, why bother voting? Also, lack of vigorous campaigning in a state might contribute to voter apathy during an election.
3. With the winner-take-all plurality system, candidates try to attract moderate voters, so to avoid turning people off, they emphasize their personalities more than their policies. This results in bland, visionless candidates who take those traits into the White House.

I believe a new presidential electoral system is in order. We need something that rewards candidates who have bold ideas, while drawing more voters into the process as well.

Therefore, I recommend we emulate the French.

Hear me out! The French have an excellent method by which to elect their president. It is a two-stage electoral process. In the first part, candidates from all the country’s parties can run. Candidates who mobilize partisans with daring policy agendas will perform best here. Afterwards, during the second stage runoff, the first and second place finishers of the first round compete. Whoever achieves a majority vote wins. This requires the candidates to make themselves as palatable toward the center as possible.

Eliminating the Electoral College and implementing two-round direct popular vote elections here would deliver many benefits. It would reward courageous candidates with striking ideas in the first stage, but it would weed out dangerous fanatics in the second stage. It would allow smaller parties to achieve greater prominence than they could achieve in a winner-take-all elector paradigm. It would give candidates reason to campaign to every American. And it would give each voter a larger role in determining the outcome of the election.

As a German friend also pointed out to me, ìI don’t quite get it that in the US, votes for the Greens i.e. are all lost, even help a candidate from the right to get into office (see 2000) — a second turn of the elections would allow Green supporters to vote for the Democrat.î This is an important point. The major parties would have to give adherents of smaller parties reasons to vote for them. This would force the Democrats and Republicans to take other parties, such as Greens and Libertarians, seriously, and perhaps heed some of their political desires. This would make more Americans feel as if they play an important role in the republican process.

To complete the reform, we also need to make going out to vote easier. Right now, we seemingly make voting as hard as we can. Elections take place on weekdays, so if Americans want to vote, they must take off work or rush to the polls before or after work. When they get there, they must wait a long time to finish the process, because the volunteer polling coordinators are old, retired people. (Young people have to work, after all.) All this makes voting seem not worth the hassle to millions of Americans.

To change that and increase turnout, Election Day should become a federal holiday. That would allow Americans to vote without worrying about missing work and forfeiting pay, or hurrying through throngs of people in the morning or evening. Younger Americans would also be able to volunteer to oversee the polls, thereby making voting a smoother and faster experience.

While we’re on the subject of changing our electoral system, let’s consider this: At the time the Constitution was drafted, one of the Anti-Federalist objections to the document was to the pluralistic election of representatives. The Anti-Federalists argued this could allow the election of representatives whom most of the community despised, but who still managed to get more votes than anyone else. Instead, according to the Anti-Federalists, districts should select their representatives by majority vote.

I believe that Anti-Federalist objection has merit. How can a representative represent a district if most of the people there hate him? Changing congressional elections to two-stage elections, similar to what I outlined above for presidential elections, would be a good idea. That way, we could ensure the majority of citizens in a district would have voted for their congressman. All the benefits of switching the national presidential election to a two-stage majority vote model would apply here.

Many conservatives would object to the national scope of my reform plan. Theyíd correctly point out it would erode federalism. Because population centersócitiesówould yield greater power, our executive branch might also shift to the left. Given the power of the presidency, this might produce a government similarly inclined to governments in Europe. Anathema to conservatives, that would be.

To counteract the leftward effect and to placate conservatives, I suggest we repeal the 17th Amendment. Let the state legislatures elect senators again. Senators who don’t rely upon the people as an electoral base would be a lot more willing to challenge the president. Not only might the Senate be more conservative than the President, but theyíd feel safer defying him since the people who put him in office wouldnít be the same ones who put them in office. They wouldnít have to worry as much about the Presidentís popularity.

In addition, with the people electing both the House of Representatives and the President under my plan, we’d need more checks against the tyranny of the majority. Election of federal senators by state legislatures would constitute such a check.

No electoral procedures could solve all problems. But this extensive reform plan would eliminate many of them:

* Campaigns focusing only on battleground states.
* Nullification of millions of votes.
* Candidates whose only goal is to win a plurality of the ballots.
* Victories by candidates whom most of the community doesn’t support.
* Apathy of the electorate toward politics.

We especially should not underestimate the importance of the last element. Only an interested and engaged citizenry can serve as the foundation of a republic. Without it, a republic cannot stand.

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I guess Obama kept one campaign promise, he would be a people’s President. The common, uneducated, ignorant people’s President. Grow up. The guy was sitting in front of you at the ceremony. Could you be any more rude? You are the President. When are you going to wake UP!!!

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Ok let’s get a few facts straight. Number one, Harry Reid has been Nevada’s Senator for many years. He has undoubtedly done some great things for Nevada. We can not sit here and say that he has not. However, we can not sit here and say that the man who was in charge of the Senate throughout the Bush Presidency and now throughout the Obama Presidency is not somewhat responsible for what has happened to our country. The president is he man with a veto- a small one. The Senate and the Congress make and pass the laws. Let’s be fair here. The fighter has been busy fighting for almost everything but Nevada.

Here is the evidence. Our unemployment rate is the highest in the nation. Some days Michigan’s is higher, but most of the time it is ours. We do not have any new job creation on the way. Harry is the leader of blocking all nuclear energy, but is somewhat into this solar energy.Solar Energy is so great! However, ask the failing country of Spain about solar jobs. They spend something like 70 million dollars on one solar job that the pay may be 70 thousand dollars a year.for the employee. The numbers do not add up, and the debt keeps on rising. This is a downward spiral to more debt for Nevada. Reading another comment today, someone called about these solar jobs and was told by the company that yes they had openings. 1 was in Nevada and 23 were in California.

The Race is a toss up, at least according to the Barack Obama polls. November is a long time away, but this time the fight matters. Whoever wins needs to take this state out of a deep recession. It was touted today that when this administration came into office we were facing one of the worst recessions in the nation. Make note, our unemployment was 9% back then. Now we are closing in at the top of 14%. Maybe someone needs to explain how that is better. That is the political buzz for today. You decide.

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As far as independents go, they are all but lost to Obama in Nevada according to the latest polls. Done, Gone. Remember, Nevada is one of the biggest Tea Party states and the Tea Party is thriving in this city. It is no longer about Republicans or Democrats as Sharon Angle proved to the world, it is about who is best to lead this state back to a livable economy.

We are a state in trouble. We have the highest unemployment rate in the country. Harry Reid and Barack Obama are busy raising taxes. Sure, I would like free health care, but what about the taxes. What society needs to understand is free is not free. These two are getting ready to let go of the Bush Tax cuts. These two have had plenty to say about even coming to Vegas which has completely hurt us. Remember the Presidents words about Vegas. Yet he is here for 4 days? Meanwhile in the past 24 hours he has suggested a new tax called a transaction tax. This means that if you take 300 dollars out of the ATM you will be charged 30 dollars. Go Harry! Oh, and let us not forget the massive 3rd appeal going on over the gulf coast oil drilling moratorium.

I hope today’s events go well. I also hope that some of these issues come up and they are answered honestly and I have something to say about it in the morning. In the meantime, this is the political buzz for today.

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I am sick and tired of watching CNN kill BP over this. Yes, BP was irresponsible. However, CNN needs to stop being so ridiculous and start putting pressure on the federal government. After all, it is CNN and MSNBC who worship the President- their choice, but try to be fair when reporting. Seriously. The President could do soooooo much more. Has he evendelcared this a National Emergency yet?

Just today I heard that our fine nation is going to allow help from other nations. Meaning, we are lifting the Jones act and telling the Unions this is not working, we need help. We all know Obama is in bed with the Unions so I give him props for this, but I sure hope it is not too little too late. ANd I pray we do not have a terror attack in this nation, because if this is how our Commander- in -Chief handles a war, we are in trouble. Also, on a side not, CNN and Anderson Cooper, don’t worry about BP’s transparency. This is one incident. Worry about the massive, massive rolling tide of non transparency that is blinding you coming from out country’s leaders. Good Grief.

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By J.W. ELPHINSTONE, AP / June 29, 2010

New York

Home prices in April rose for the first time in seven months as government tax credits bolstered the housing market. But the rebound may be short-lived now that the incentives have expired.

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The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday posted an 0.8 percent gain. It had fallen in each of the past six months.

Eighteen of 20 cities showed price increases in April from March. Washington, San Francisco and Dallas each posted gains of 2 percent or more. Eleven cities reversed their declines from the month before.

Only Miami and New York recorded price declines. Prices in New York were the lowest since 2004.

Nationally, prices have risen 3.8 percent from their April 2009 bottom. But they remain 30 percent below their July 2006 peak.

The overall price gains highlight the impact of the federal tax credits for homebuyers at the start of the traditionally strong spring selling season. Buyers rushed to purchase before the tax credits expired at the end of April. The numbers are likely to drop in the next report.

“Demand for homes has softened since then, and that is likely to weigh on prices, particularly in May and June,” wrote TD Bank Financial Group economist Martin Schwerdtfeger Tuesday. “Weaker sales and still-high foreclosures will likely drive month’s supply higher in the near term, and this will put lid on home prices.”

David M. Blitzer, the S&P’s index chairman, said the recovery is not getting a consistent and sustained boost from the housing market. He doesn’t expect that to happen until next year.

“Other housing data confirm the large impact, and likely near-future pullback, of the federal program,” Blitzer said.

Last week, the government reported that new home sales fell in May to their lowest level on record, plunging 33 percent from the month before. That was the slowest sales pace on records dating back to 1963. Sales of previously occupied homes edged down 2.2 percent.

Also, homebuilders KB Home and Lennar Corp. both reported sharp declines in new home orders in the three months ended in May.

Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight, expects prices to resume falling through next year and lose another 6 percent to 8 percent. The declines will be widespread, he predicts.

“In two to three months, the indexes for almost all the cities will begin falling again,” Newport said.

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On the other end of the spectrum and back to Mel Gibson, I am just saying, gee whiz Mel, can’t you keep it together? Hollywood is crazy enough. You are supposed to be a Christian. You are supposed to offer the opposite of what mainstream Hollywood and the media and the left (G-20) offer us. Yet, you are acting just as bad or worse then the rest of them. What credibility do you have? Maybe it is time to get out of the spotlight. Figure out what you are really supposed to do. Please. We need good leaders and role models, not washed up ones.

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