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Friday, January 25, 2013

Electoral College Rigging: The Latest Desparate GOP Tactic

     While in my last piece I suggested that on immigration at least, Jeb Bush may be as close as the GOP gets to a real reformer.

     Jeb Bush is for immigration reform-any GOPers going to follow him?

   

     Of course, he's not in Congress and won't be voting on any gun control legislation.

    In the larger picture, it's obvious that the GOP still doesn't get it, despite the supposed "soul searching" the party is undertaking. There's no question the party is in trouble. The grand old Nixonite himself, Pat Buchanan's "advice" suggests how desperate it is:

   "With the GOP splintering, with Democrats running the Senate and White House, conservatives must realize: They cannot make policy."

   "Let the Democrats take the lead, drive the car, propose the tax hikes, refuse to make the spending cuts and answer for where we are in 2016, because, right now, it looks as though we are headed for an even bigger cliff."

    "For the next two years, the best offense may be a good defense."
 
 
     Instead of just playing defense, the GOP is now considering another counterrevolutionary offensive measure. In 2012, the biggest paper tiger turned out to be voter id laws. State GOPs beginning with Virginia are tinkering with something even more drastic than voter id laws: changing the way electoral votes are apportioned. Mississippi is talking about something that sounds sort of like recession.
 
     "A pair of Republican lawmakers in Mississippi have proposed a bill to keep the federal government in its place, and laying out a plan to create a Joint Legislative Committee on the Neutralization of Federal Law, which would — well maybe you can already start to guess what the committee would do."
     "The bill, known as the Mississippi Balance of Powers Act, was authored by state Rep. Gary Chism (R), chairman of the House Insurance Committee, and Rep. Jeff Smith (R), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Earlier this week, the bill was referred to the House Constitution Committee."

     “The provisions of this act shall serve as a notice and demand to the federal government to cease and desist any and all activities outside the scope of its designated constitutionally enumerated powers, and that attempt to diminish the balance of powers as established,” the bill reads.

    http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/01/mississippi_sovereignty_bill.php?ref=fpa

    It's as if the Civil War never happened that settled that federal power supersedes state power, 150 years ago.

    "As you may have heard, Republicans are pushing for changes in the electoral vote system in states like Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Wisconsin — to maximize their advantage in future presidential elections in the face of demographic shifts that may be inexorably undermining their chances at winning national elections."

    "Republicans want these states, which went for Obama in the last two elections but are controlled by the GOP at the state level, to apportion electoral votes based on who wins each Congressional district. If just the six states above used this system, Mitt Romney would have been elected president. RNC chair Reince Priebus recently voiced support for the idea, while couching it as something that the states will decide."

     http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/25/dnc-slams-gops-electoral-vote-rigging-scheme/

   "The Dems are ready however, and can make this a national fight if necessary:"

    "Although Republicans are couching their proposals in language of fairness, the motivation for changing the Electoral College is purely partisan. The Republican party lost in 2012 because they failed to appeal to the majority of voters in states like Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin. They know they can’t win on the issues, so they’re resorting to underhanded tactics and undermining the majority of voters in blue states."


    I don't think these latest machinations will be successful, but it shows how desparate the GOP is becoming. It's something we defintely have to keep our eye on.

  
   

    

    

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