Campaign finance

Ok I think it has become common to laud Bernie Sanders as the champion of campaign finance reform. This is true insofar as he has been yelling “Citizens United” and “billionaires” a lot recently, but the idea that Bernie is the savior and the Democrats want to promote the evil superPACs is blatantly absurd.

The instant the Citizens United v. FEC ruling came down, Democrats were instantly outraged and vowed to fix it. The problem is that it is no longer a legislative issue.

This is because Congress already tried to fix things with the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002 which was explicitly designed to decrease the role of soft money and prevent corporate sponsored campaign ads from appearing close to a primary or election (no that’s not redundant, primaries and elections are different things).

But then the “conservative non-profit group” (read: right-wing propaganda factory) known as Citizens United didn’t think this was fair. They believed their money was speech and managed to convince the supreme court that parts of McCain-Feingold were against the first amendment. In particular, they thought it was unfair that they weren’t allowed to air an ad called Hillary: The Movie within 30 days of the 2008 Democratic Primaries. This was of course the same nonsense slander the GOP has been perpetrating against Secretary Clinton since she entered the national conversation in 1992. Let’s back up a second. Citizens United wanted to attack Hillary Rodham Clinton and now Bernie Sanders is bludgeoning Hillary over the head with it. With the court case that was all about the right to ruthlessly attack her. Hillary was THE INTENDED VICTIM of the Citizens United decision.

Oh look it’s a white guy victim blaming. How very new and different.

My Esteemed Governor

Somehow through willpower, brown-nosing, and selling out his beliefs, my state’s governor has remained active on the national stage by hitching his gigantic wagon to Trump’s gold plated horse.

I am referring of course to Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey.

Many, including myself, were surprised that he endorsed Trump so early, since he was one of Trump’s many many many detractors. But Christie is also very politically savvy and losing a primary isn’t going to stop his national aspirations (especially since he is term limited and is going to need a new job as of Jan. 2018). However, I think there is more here than that. Christie managed to mellow out his persona for the primary, and this was particularly easy standing next to the Donald. Without the contrast of DT and the backdrop of insanity that was the GOP Primary, the world would have seen Chris for who he truly is: a self-interested bully steeped in scandal. Here are some highlights I remember being a citizen of the Garden State.

There was that time he shouted at a Navy Seal and called him an idiot. This was in the context of trying to merge Rutgers-Camden with Rowan University. Unless you are from NJ, you have probably only heard of one of those, which is why students and administrators at Rutgers-Camden opposed this idea. But I digress, apart from the fact that Navy Seals are some of the most rigorously trained members of our armed forces and take missions with the greatest risk to themselves, this was in 2012, just shortly after a team of Navy Seals had killed one of the most evil people in the world. So people were particularly reverent to them.

This is one of the worst incidents of Chistie yelling at someone, but there are many, many more. If you want more, check out videos on this Youtube channel of Christie yelling at people. He’s a class act.

He also once took an NJ state police helicopter to his son’s baseball game. Ok, so he paid the state back. Well, kinda. (notice that the second article also mentions his low job approval ratings in 2012. so how did he get re-elected in 2013? read on)

So bully cred solidified. Absolute bully. But what about scandal. Well there was that thing with hurricane Sandy ads….doesn’t that video make you feel all warm and fuzzy and proud inside. The New Jersey shore is so strong and resilient and aren’t we great? Also look there’s the governor. Huh, I guess he was pretty good on Sandy, I’ll vote for him. Yeah so these ads came out in 2013, which is in the obnoxious off-year-of-the-off-year system, an election year for Christie. That ad was not paid for by his campaign, it was paid for by the state of New Jersey to promote tourism. Oh and a lower quote was given by another firm, but it wouldn’t have “[given] Christie more exposure during a gubernatorial election year, and…introduced him to voters in other states in advance of a possible 2016 presidential campaign.” A campaign which definitely happened. Hmm.

Ok but that’s just misuse of taxpayer dollars and emergency relief funds to the tune of $2 million. And capitalized on a natural disaster in order to assure re-election. It’s bad, but it’s not that bad right?

Ok so bridge-gate. Everyone remember this, the scandal that literally has a wikipedia page? If you say “well it’s just a few lanes on a bridge and a little traffic, what’s the big deal?” you clearly have never tried to drive to New York. Unless you live or work in Los Angeles or Chicago, you can’t even begin to understand the traffic in New York. Even if you do, you only begin to understand. The George Washington bridge is one of two ways to get to New York from NJ by car and thousands of people depend on it every day to get to work. Closing a few lanes can (and did) cause hours-long delays getting into the city. How does your boss feel about extreme lateness? probably a fan right? (Of course, this matters very little to the Governor, who can just call his helicopter when he needs to get into the city.) Not to mention the fact that it was believed to be retaliatory (a mayor refused to endorse him) and a large conspiracy. AND it’s ongoing. There exists a list of un-indicted co-conspirators that media outlets in NJ are trying to acquire, with great difficulty. Honestly this sort of retaliation feels a bit like NJ politics as usual (which is NOT A GOOD THING).

So turns out Chris and the Donald have some things in common: they are opportunistic scumbag bullies who think only about themselves and getting ahead. They are brash, mean, and dirty. Kindred spirits.

 

Voter Disenfranchisement

(Here is why it’s blatantly stupid to argue that closed primaries are worse than Voter ID laws. Also if you are saying this, you are almost definitely a white person living comfortably. Congratulations on your life.)

Closed primaries require that you register with a party in advance of voting in that primary. Sometimes as early as months before, sometimes the day of. The point of this is to prevent insurgent voting and so the party can choose the strongest candidate for the general election. If you are not eligible to vote in a closed primary, it’s because for whatever reason, you have not declared a party affiliation. If you don’t want to declare a party nomination, that’s fine, but you can’t be mad when that party excludes you. We also don’t let foreigner nationals vote in our elections. Finally, and most importantly, this has no effect on the general (read: real) election.

Voter ID laws are a whole different story. Requiring photo ID to vote sounds like a reasonable countermeasure to voter impersonation. Except that voter impersonation is exceedingly rare. So it’s a countermeasure to a non-issue. It’s like requiring that all Colombians own fur coats. Yeah, they would need them if it got cold, but it’s almost certainly not going to happen and many people can’t afford to buy them.

So apart from being stupid, why are voter ID laws bad? Well because not everyone has ID. And if right now you’re saying “wait doesn’t everyone have a driver’s license they can just pull out it’s no big deal,” I again congratulate you on being a rich white person. The fact is that getting government ID is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. If your situation is relatively comfortable, this seems like not a big deal, you take a half-day at work, head over to the safety deposit box to grab your birth certificate, then to the DMV, fill out a few forms, pay a couple fees, and in just a few hours you have a government photo ID. But what about a poor single mom with two minimum wage jobs working to support her kids? Can she afford to take a half-day from work? And spend money on fees to get the necessary documents? (hint: she probably can’t) What if she shows up and discovers that her ID isn’t sufficient and will have to take even more time off to get other documents? (At a later time I may research exactly what it takes and costs to get the necessary ID) And of course, these poor people who can’t afford to get the ID they need? yeah, disproportionately minorities.

So in summary, you missed the primary because you didn’t check a box on a form, she misses the general because she is too poor to afford getting the required ID, despite unquestionably being eligible to vote. Check your privilege.

Voting and more

It has come to my attention that some people think that voting on principle is enough to show a good congressional record. That is the opposite of the case, and here’s why (very briefly):

The role of Congress is to create laws, ostensibly to improve the country. The only way Congress can affect the country is through legislation.

Therefore if you are in Congress and believe something would make the country better, you write legislation to that affect and try to have it passed. Or someone else writes it and you cosponsor it. And then you fight to pass it. This does not mean you just come in and vote. That’s not enough. You have to help proponents of the bill or resolution accumulate enough votes to get it passed (this is called “whipping votes”). If you really believe in something, there is no excuse for not doing this. Now why isn’t voting enough? Well it’s because if you’re on the losing side, your vote basically didn’t count. Yeah you can show your credentials and your beliefs, but on a real level, only the votes on the winning side mattered. Either the legislation passes or it doesn’t. How many votes it got or whose votes they were make NO DIFFERENCE to the people the legislation affects.

 

Twitter Harassment Gave Me Hope

Recently I was subjected to some verbal abuse on twitter. It stung a little, but I’m a pretty secure person and random trolls don’t really get to me with personal attacks. However, I was pissed, and I believe that people should be held accountable for their actions, so I reported him to twitter and asked my followers to do the same. The outpouring of support I received in less than a day (at the time of writing, that tweet is 15 hours old) was incredibly heartening. It built me up far more than that small, cruel person could ever tear me down. And it made me hopeful. Yes the original exchange shows there are still ignorant and mean people in the world, the support I received shows how far we’ve come. I was attacked in a homophobic way and received kind words and support from a huge diversity of people. That’s amazing. The fact that I as a Gay person can surround myself with supportive people, including supportive straight people, is an incredible testament to the progress we’ve made. Not that long ago such a thing would be completely unthinkable. This is not to say that homophobia is not alive and well in the world, it certainly is; but that I can find such a broad network of support is incredible. Thank you for being good people.

One final thought: I received not a single tweet defending what was said to me and the person who said it. Not one.

UPDATE: Trump troll posted meme against Bernie and Hillary. Or Bernie troll against Hillary. I don’t know. Blocked. Seemed like general spam so sticking with saying there were no defensive tweets.

Unfair Judgment turned to an attempt at Education

So #SignsYoureABernieSupporter got trending last night. I honestly don’t know how it started, who started it, etc.; Twitter is what it is. I, and many of my fellow Clinton supporters, delightedly ceased the opportunity to fire back at supporters of someone we don’t much love. Actually, most of us don’t have a yuge problem with Senator Sanders, we just like our candidate more. Many of us have had negative encounters with his supporters but that’s another show (post). It felt good, but it was ultimately immature. I’m sorry that I maligned a group who are, largely, earnest people and strong in their ideals.(1)

My most popular tweet of the night was about midterm elections and those who don’t vote in them. I made a judgment about who these people are. It was unfair.(2) 

While my tweet was judgmental, I stand by my larger point which is this: the midterms are important and not voting in them hurts your cause overall. Midterms are arguably more important than Presidential years.(3)  If you have skipped midterm elections and want to know more about why you shouldn’t, read on.

Another thing I tweeted last night was this: 435 + 33 = 468. 468 > 1.

If you know what those numbers mean, I commend you. You probably know what I’m getting at here.

If you do not, again, read on. I shall explain in a way that is both condescending and patronizing. (Well, hopefully not, but it helps to start with low expectations.)

Everybody knows that the President serves four-year terms. Many people probably know that Congressmen and women (the terrible name for members of the House of Representatives)(4), serve two-year terms. Senators serve six-year terms.

Our government is COMPLICATED everybody.

435: The way the election cycles work is that every two years, the ENTIRE House of Representatives is up for reelection. That means they always overlap with Presidential years, but also have elections in between Presidential years: the so-called midterms or “off-years.” (2008-pres, 2010-midterm, 2012-pres, etc.) In both cases, the entire House is up for re-election. That’s 435 Congressmen and women(5) all of whom can be reaffirmed or replaced based on their job performance, voting record, whether voters want to have a beer with them, etc.(6)

33: Even though all Senators have the same length of term, their terms are not all in sync. Every two years ⅓ of the Senate comes up for reelection.(7) There are 100 members of the Senate, therefore 33 come up every two years.(8) Again, one third of the Senate is up for reelection in Presidential years, and then another third is up in the midterm, etc.

468: This is all of the House plus one-third of the Senate: the number of Members of Congress who run in off-years.

1: The President is not up for reelection in the midterms. He (hopefully she soon) is the 1 for my mathematical metaphor. I assume most people know about the President’s term and election procedure so I won’t get into that here.(9)

468 > 1: Ok yeah duh there are more people in Congress than the one President. My point is broader than that. When it comes down to it, Congress has a lot of power, arguably more than the President.(10) Technically speaking, the President’s only power to legislate is the veto. Bills originate in Congress (that’s why their ID numbers begin S or HR, not WH). The threat of the veto is strong—it’s why the ACA (11) still exists—but the veto doesn’t give much affirmative power. That comes from being the leader of the Party. The President sets the “legislative agenda” and members of his party in Congress try to carry it out. This is very easy when his party is in power, not so much when it isn’t. This is why 468 matters. People who vote primarily for a candidate they really believe in often just check that party’s column on the ballot (though not always). This is what people mean by voting for the “top of the ticket” or electing others “on the President’s coattails.” The problem is that in off-years when there isn’t a Presidential campaign to interest voters, many fewer show up to the midterm and the balance of power can shift.(12) This can be a problem for a President, whose legislative agenda can be suddenly disrupted by an opposition (or even hostile *ahem* McConnell) Congress. This is why it’s so important to vote in the midterms. It is great to go vote for someone you believe in and get them elected to the White House. But if you really believe in them, you MUST continue to empower that person by voting to keep their party in power, rather than abandoning them halfway through while they’re trying to implement the agenda you wanted in the first place. (13)

So there you have it, a too-long, overly-complex explanation to why it’s so important to vote in the midterms. And remember 468 > 1.

The Late Mozart

Ingredients

  • Gin
  • Dry Vermouth
  • Tears
  • Olive
  • Ice

Procedure

  1. Put ice into shaker. Add ½ oz vermouth.
  2. Swirl and discard vermouth that doesn’t stick to ice.
  3. Add 2.5 oz Gin. Stir.
  4. Strain into glass.
  5. Cry about the premature death of a great genius. Add tears to glass.*
  6. Garnish with Olive.

*liquid from olive container may be used instead of tears.

Fixed: Trump’s Statement

Trump had some things to say when his campaign manager was arrested. It seemed a little off to me so I fixed it. Original video here.

I don’t discard people [except for being famous for saying “YOU’RE FIRED”]. stay with people [who agree with me] that’s why I stay with this country [huh?]. That’s why I stay with a lot of [white] people that are treated unfairly [feel their privilege slipping away as society starts to call them on privilege, sexism, racism, homophobia, etc.] that’s one of the reasons I’m the frontrunner by a lot [most of my wins have been pluralities and I might not get enough delegates to get the nomination outright. It’s also why I’m running far behind Hillary in terms of total number of votes I’ve accrued, net favorability and (stupid pointless meaningless) national head-to-head polling]

Learning about Super-delegates

Nobody seems to like super-delegates. Some even hate them. Those people generally don’t know who the super-delegates are, continuing the American tradition of hating people you’ve never even met (that may have been a bit harsh). Many people (*ahem* supporters of a very recent addition to the Party) claim that the Democratic party’s primary process is, um…undemocratic. This is due to a number of factors, but it’s mostly about super-delegates. First of all, I think to most people, super-delegates are a bit of a mystery. In fact, I would guess that for many people the whole system is a bit mysterious. So here’s a super-fast, no-frills explanation:

When you vote for a candidate in a primary, you are actually voting for a delegate—someone who has agreed to go to the convention and vote for the candidate you select. They are obligated to vote for this person during the first convention ballot (1). These are the “pledged” delegates. In the GOP system, this is all there is. In the DNC’s system, there is another kind of delegate, an “un-pledged” or “super-” delegate. These are party leaders who are free to vote for any candidate they choose, even on the first ballot. To many people this seems undemocratic, which is understandable, and, on its face, it sounds like we’re giving a few people an undue amount of power. However, it’s a lot more complicated than that.

One of the crucial elements of American government is that we aren’t a democracy. We are a republic. Individuals do not vote directly on every issue, because that would be absurd. No one has time to do that, nor interest, and we cannot possibly be experts on every issue in addition to going to work or school and having families, social lives, etc. Therefore we elect people that we trust to represent our interests, believing them to know more about the issues than we do. This is the fundamental principle of our system.

Ok so why does that matter, the superdelegates are faceless backroom political insiders wielding power that does not originate from the people because they were not elected…right? Well that is also more complex.

Let’s look into that with a quick case study. I will use Pennsylvania as an example, because at the moment, that’s where I live. I could just as easily have picked a state at random. Here are the 21 superdelegates from PA:(2)

  1. Richard Bloomingdale
  2. Brendan F. Boyle
  3. Bob Brady
  4. Matt Cartwright
  5. Bob Casey, Jr.
  6. Tony Coelho
  7. Ronald Donatucci
  8. Michael F. Doyle
  9. Chaka Fattah
  10. Penny Gerber
  11. Amanda Green-Hawkins
  12. Marcel Groen
  13. Gerald Lawrence
  14. Nancy Mills
  15. Ian Murray
  16. Michael Nutter
  17. Evie Rafalko McNulty
  18. Ed Rendell
  19. Marian Tasco
  20. Sylvia Wilson
  21. Tom Wolf (list from wikipedia)

The main argument against superdelegates is that they aren’t elected. Let’s examine that. While it is true that these delegates were not elected in the primary, many of them are current or former elected officials.

Tom Wolf is the Governor of Pennsylvania. Recently elected.

Several of them are members of the House of Representatives: Brendan F. Boyle for Pennsylvania’s 13th congressional district; Bob Brady from the 1st; Matt Cartwright, the 17th; Michael F. Doyle, the 14th; and Chaka Fattah from the 2nd.

Bob Casey, Jr. is a sitting Senator from PA. (The other, Pat Toomey, is a Republican.)

Sylvia Wilson is a member of the Pittsburgh school board. She was also a public school teacher for 26 years. Though she was elected in a small election, she certainly is an elected official. And “public school teacher” doesn’t exactly scream “sleazy backroom party boss.”

Ronald Donatucci is a former member of the PA House of Representatives and is currently the City of Philadelphia Register of Wills (a rather low-profile office, but elected nonetheless).

So a little over one-third of them currently hold elected office. That’s not that many, but it’s probably more than people think. Certainly the others are cigar-smoking, politics-manipulating, backroom bosses as some people are implying…well, not really. Many of them are former elected officials:

Marian Tasco just stepped down from the Philadelphia city council after 27 years. She has been on the Philadelphia City Council longer than I have been alive. Representing North Philadelphia. I challenge you not to love this woman.

Michael Nutter was the Mayor of Philadelphia from 2008 to 2016 (as if being Mayor of Philadelphia isn’t hard enough, that’s also right during the peak of the financial crisis). Elected for two terms.

Ed Rendell. Enough said….oh fine but you should really know that name. District Attorney of Philadelphia, elected for two terms. Mayor of Philadelphia, two terms. Governor of Pennsylvania two terms (term limited). See a pattern?(3)

Tony Coelho was a five-term Congressman from the California 15th and served as House majority Whip from 2 years. That’s a lot of times he’s been elected. Ok, fine, it wasn’t in PA but are you going to tell me you don’t like the man who was the primary sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the House? (Admittedly the one that eventually became Law was the Senate version, but they were identical)

Amanda Green Hawkins has served as a County Council Representative in Allegheny county (that’s the one with Pittsburg in it). She is also the Director of Civil and Human Rights for the United Steel Workers Union (see “contact information” on that page).

For those who are counting, that’s 9 who currently hold office and 5 who have held it in the past. That’s 14/21 who have at some point been elected by Democrats to represent our interests. But there’s more:

Richard Bloomingdale is the President of the AFL-CIO in PA. Not public office, but the AFL-CIO has arguably done more to promote the interests of laborers than any other organization. We Democrats rather like them, and we certainly need their support.

Evie Rafalko McNulty has had many roles in the PA Democratic party, serving on myriad boards and committees. Recently appointed to PA Commission on Women.

Nancy Mills is the Chair of the Allegheny Democratic committee. Ok so yeah a bit of a party boss. A party boss who is a lifelong Democrat and has worked diligently to get qualified candidates elected. She has taken a special interest in encouraging women to run for public office (something this government desperately needs!).

The remaining delegates are a lot closer to the party leaders some are imagining and information on them is a bit scarce. Marcel Groen is the chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party (casually “PA Dems”), Ian Murray appears to be a Lawyer and longtime DNC member, the same goes for Gerald Lawrence. Penny Gerber is sometimes reported as the vice chair of the PA Dems, but isn’t on their website. That remains a bit of an open question.

These are the superdelegates in Pennsylvania. They certainly wield a significant amount of power in the party, but I think it helps to remember that they are real people: many of them elected officials, all of them loyal Democrats.

I am not here to argue that the DNC’s system is perfect or has no bias. I do not mean to say that the super-delegate system is totally fair and democratic. It’s not. But no system is perfect. I just want to humanize them a bit and maybe get people thinking about them as people as well as abstract concepts.

I leave you with these parting thoughts:

In 2008 when it became clear that Barack Obama had a clear mandate, super-delegates pledged support for him, some even switching away from Hillary. They tend not to decide against the public. And it would take a large conspiracy to take the nomination away from a candidate with a strong lead. Nate Silver talks about it more here.

If the GOP had super-delegates, they would be in a much better position to stop Trump from hijacking their party with plurality wins.(4) 

Representative John Lewis is a super-delegate.(5)(6)

Finally, I concede that these people are members of the so-called “Democratic establishment.” I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I like the Democratic Party and I’m damn proud to be a Democrat. To the fiery supporters of that candidate: if your guy doesn’t like the DNC’s system and thinks that the Democratic Party is so fundamentally corrupt, he shouldn’t have run as a Democrat. As long as he is, he has to put up with the party rules.