Republicans Compromise on Ideological Test

A potentially divisive dispute over a Republican National Committee “purity resolution” that would require candidates to commit to a series of conservative positions – or face a cut-off of party funds – has apparently been averted.

A late-afternoon meeting of Republican leaders produced agreement on a watered-down resolution that would require only that party leaders consider whether potential candidates adhere to the core principles of the Republican Party, as laid out in the Republican Party platform. There would be no penalty for candidates who did not subscribe to all the core principles, party officials said.

Michael H. Drucker
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New Idea for Independent Voters in Primaries

Alaska state representative Harry Crawford (D-Anchorage) has introduced HB 288, which would establish a new, additional primary ballot (in partisan races) just for independent voters. Alaska has registration by party, and over half the voters are registered independents. The primary ballot for independent voters would include the names of all candidates running for partisan office, from all the qualified parties.

The votes cast in the independent voters primary would be tallied into the vote tallies for the partisan primaries.

Under existing Alaska law and procedures, the Republican Party has its own primary ballot, and independents and Republicans are free to choose that primary ballot. Then there is a blanket primary ballot, which contains the names of all Democrats, Libertarians, and Alaskan Independence candidates. Any voter is free to choose that ballot.

But if HB 288 became law, an independent voter would be free to vote for any candidate of any party, so that the independent could vote for a Republican for Governor and a Democrat for U.S. Senator.

It seems that the idea behind HB 288 is a new idea, something that has never been tried before.

What do you think of this type of open primary?

Michael H. Drucker
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And Now, A Word From The Independents

The latest Op-Ed from Jacqueline Salit, New York, NY, the President of the Committee for a Unified Independent Party, Inc. (CUIP) and IndependentVoting.org. A longtime journalist, political strategist and “on the ground” organizer, she is the executive editor of The Neo-Independent magazine. In the Op-Ed, Salit lays out a four-point crash course for the Obama team on what they need to know about the independent movement.

"Anger is a consuming emotion, as anyone who has been betrayed, insulted or manipulated can tell you. But what’s dangerous, psychologically speaking, is if you’re angry but you have no productive way to express it. And when the object of your anger – the political establishment that is densely woven around the two parties – is also the only available solution to your anger, the problem is compounded. That is the psychological and political bind that most Americans find themselves in. And, it is also the catalyst for so many millions of Americans – 40% in some polls – becoming political independents. They are looking for a way out of the maze that only leads back to itself."

Use the above link to read the Op-Ed.

Michael H. Drucker
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The 'Purity' Test

One of the top items of business for the Republican National Committee, as it gathers in HI, is to pass a so-called “purity” resolution being put forth by some of its more conservative members.

The resolution, named after former President Ronald Reagan, would require that Republican candidates agree on at least eight listed conservative positions – like gun control, same-sex marriage and abortion financing – or face a cut-off of party money and support.

If the resolution had been in place, would the national committee have been barred from doing anything to help Mr. Brown in his campaign against Martha Coakley, the Democratic attorney general?

Use the above link to read the article by ADAM NAGOURNEY, The New York Times.

Michael H. Drucker
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My Ramblings

In short videos, members of the President's Cabinet reports on their progress this first year and outline what lies ahead for their departments and agencies to keep America moving forward.
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Dem plan: Split GOP, tea party
“Given the pressure Republican candidates feel from the extreme right in their party, there is a critical — yet time-sensitive — opportunity for Democratic candidates,” the DSCC writes. The memo urges Democratic candidates to force their opponents to answer a series of questions on health care, taxes and some of the favorite causes of the far right:

“Do you believe that Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen? Do you think the 10th Amendment bars Congress from issuing regulations like minimum health care coverage standards? Do you think programs like Social Security and Medicare represent socialism and should never have been created in the first place? Do you think President Obama is a socialist? Do you think America should return to a gold standard?”

If a Republican candidate says no to any of the questions, the memo says Democrats should “make their primary opponent or conservative activists know it. This will cause them to take heat from their primary opponents and could likely provoke a flip-flop.

Jackie Salit, head of the Independence Party in New York City, said Obama has lost touch with the independent voter and has been too focused on tending to the Democratic base. Salit, in an email to supporters, said that Obama could lose the White House if he keeps this up.

"While the progressive leadership of the movement played the key role in swinging independents to Obama in 2008, the Obama team has turned a blind eye since then, choosing instead to focus only on the Democratic Party base. But if you do that, instead of finding ways to cultivate the progressive voices in independent politics, you're going to lose elections like the one yesterday, in MA. And, you might even lose the White House if you don't wake up to the fact that there is an emerging political universe - the independent movement - that you know nothing about."

We also need to understand that local conditions also play a part in this election year. Any incumbent that take his electorate for granted, has a great chance of becoming unemployed. For me, the response of the new MA Senator, Scott Brown, to the question in a debate of how he felt on replacing the "Kennedy Seat" said "This is not the Kennedy seat, or the Democratic or Republican seat, this is the "Peoples' sat." is what could change the look of our government after November.

Michael H. Drucker
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MA Special Election Lesson

Jackie Salit, President of IndependentVoting.org, issued the following statement today re: the special election in Massachusetts.

"The Obama team needs to learn a lesson from Massachusetts,” said Jackie Salit, president of IndependentVoting.org. “If you don't attend to the political dynamics in the independent movement, you'll pay the price. That movement is in the early stages of its development and is subject to many pushes and pulls. While the progressive leadership of the movement played the key role in swinging independents to Obama in 2008, the Obama team has turned a blind eye since then, choosing instead to focus only on the Democratic Party base. But if you do that, instead of finding ways to cultivate the progressive voices in independent politics, you're going to lose elections like the one yesterday. And, you might even lose the White House if you don't wake up to the fact that there is an emerging political universe - the independent movement - that you know nothing about.”

What is interesting is Brown ran on the Republican line but presented himself as an independent. Now we need to watch how he performs as a senator.

Michael H. Drucker
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The Kennedy in the MA Special Election

His campaign headquarters are in his home. No one on his campaign staff works full time, and he cannot afford to pay them anyway. He can hardly believe he’s on the ballot himself. Meet Joseph Lewis Kennedy, who wants to be the next US senator from MA. He is an active Libertarian and advocates a diminished role for the federal government.

Will his name confuse the voters and create a FL. type results?

Use the above link to learn more about this Kennedy.

Michael H. Drucker
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Course Of Bloomberg's Charter Commission Still Uncharted

Now that the NYC mayor's election is over, we want to know what had come of the Bloomberg administration’s promise to form a 2010 charter review commission—a promise that paved the way for a third Bloomberg term.

Given the still simmering anger over the term-limits extension, most observers believe that Bloomberg will not break his promise to put a measure on the 2010 ballot, which would settle— perhaps once and for all—whether the city’s term limits should be repealed or set at two terms or three.

Good-government advocates say that if Bloomberg is indeed serious about a sweeping charter review, appointing a chair who is seen as independent from the mayor would be a critical first step. (The chair of a 2005 commission, Ester Fuchs, had been serving as a senior advisor to Bloomberg.) The three commissions Bloomberg has formed during his tenure have largely consisted of close allies.

If there is to be a commission, Bloomberg would call it, and as mayor, he has exclusive authority over how many people—up to 15—to appoint, as well as who those people are. The mayor also picks the chair of the commission and sets the agenda.

But under " Sec. 36 of NYS Municipal Home Rule law also gives the City Council the power to call a commission (paragraph 2), and allows for a commission to be created by petition of the voters (paragraph 3).

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Finally Poised to Give Up Lever Voting Machines

Say goodbye to the voting booth with its quaint little curtain. Say goodbye to pulling the lever for your candidate. And say hello to filling in SAT-style ovals on Election Day.

After years of delays and missteps, the city’s Board of Elections is expected to choose new electronic optical scanning voting machines on Tuesday that will be rolled out in time for the September primary. In so doing, New York City will become one of the last places in the country to get rid of its lever-operated voting machines.

Use the above link to read the entire article By DAVID W. CHEN, The New York Times.

Update
NYC choose the ES&S system.

I recommended this system to the Board of Elections in meetings in 2007.

Michael H. Drucker
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Curing the mess in Congress

I am passing this on as requested by an Independent friend:

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below:

A. Two Six year Senate terms
B. Six Two year House terms
C. One Six year Senate term and three Two Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension:

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.

Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress looses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.

The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

Michael H. Drucker
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NYS Needs Nonpartisan Municipal Elections

Francis S. Barry, a speechwriter for Mayor Bloomberg and author of a controversial analysis of reform movements in New York, explains why NYS should adopt non-partisan municipal elections in an exclusive interview published by the Empire Page.

Non-partisan elections would solve the problem that exists in New York City and elsewhere around the state where "nearly all elections for nearly all offices are decided in the Democratic primary, when turnout is very low."

I was part of the effort to bring Nonpartisan Municipal Elections to NYC in 2003, NYC Ballot proposals: Question 3. We lost that effort with only 30% of the vote. We hope to try again with Mayor Bloomberg's help in his third term.

Use the above link to read the entire article.

Michael H. Drucker
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