Comments on: What happens if there’s a tie in 2012?

By: Edward King

Edward King — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 01:53:38 +0000

Apropos the original topic, when the House votes to break a tie in the Electoral College [1], they vote as states as per the 12th amendment. That is, each state’s delegation gets one vote, the vote being cast for the candidate who gains a plurality from the congressmen of that state. California thus counts the same as North Dakota in this instance. I suspect this would generally help the GOP, though given the new House majority I doubt it makes much difference

Senators vote individually for the Vice President.

[1] The 12th amendment requires a majority in the Electoral College, so if a candidate only had a plurality the Congress would be called in. That’s how John Quincy Adams became President in 1824 despite not having a plurality in the college – Andrew Jackson got more electoral votes than him.

By: Edward King

Edward King — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 01:39:11 +0000

Kim du Toit said:

It’s not just Californians, either: New Hampshire is almost Massachusetts Lite

What, the New Hampshire where the GOP swept the federal races and the Executive Council, and got veto-proof majorities in both houses of the General Court?

There are fortunately enough smart ex-Bay Staters coming North to help offset the Massholes, for now…

By: kennycan

kennycan — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 09:54:15 +0000

If I were the Republican President who had a Dem VP forced on me I would make sure he spent the whole 4 years in the most uncomfortable “undisclosed location” I could dream up. Or else send him on lots of diplomatic missions to Vladivostok, especially in February.

By: Kim du Toit

Kim du Toit — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 03:30:48 +0000

Paul, if Plato could see these pampered princes of education who claim to be his descendants, he’d call for them to be scourged.

By: Paul Marks

Paul Marks — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 01:10:16 +0000

“You do not know what we will happen between now and then” – two years is a long time.

Yes I do.

California is going to go down the toilet for a start (which will mean that it will be a dreadful example – and even the brainwashed products of its schools and universities will start to have second thoughts).

Ditto New York State and (very sweet) Barack’s Illinois.

Meanwhile the Federal Reseve’s latest money bubble will fail – it will be a total cluster f****.

And Federal government entitlement program spending will continue to run out of control.

And the unions will go bankrupt – they have spent the money that should have gone to the pension funds on political campaigns.

And the MSM will continue to collapse – indeed the collapse will speed up.

And General Moters will be exposed as a vast fraud (dishonest accounting, Chevy Volt a fake – just another hybrid, and so on).

Anything else you want to know?

I am afraid I can not tell you who will win the Kentucky Derby, but the economics and politics is plain.

The United States economy (especially in certain States) is going to go down the plughole – and FOR ONCE the statists are going to get the blame.

The unions are in no position to save them – and neither are the media.

There are even plans to deal with academia (including teacher training). “It is not your collectivist politics, but the taxpayers are very hard hit in these harsh times and they can not afford to fund you as lavishly as in the past”.

The words may only be being spoken in Texas for now – but they are soon going to be spoken in many States. The academics are going to be made to crawl.

Payback against those children of Plato would be wonderful indeed.

By: EvilDave

EvilDave — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:10:26 +0000

Sadly true Kim. Shame we can’t restrict immigration from these contagion states.
.
With the modern electoral college voting it is impossible to get a tie (in the Constitutional sense).
FL in 2000 was a tie. But it was not a tie of the Electoral College. It was a state level tie, and they had no way to break that tie.
Instead of getting tossed to the Congress (as an Elec’ Col’ tie would have) the state tie had to be broken ad hoc by the courts (with the FL Supreme State court trying to piss the SCOTUS off as much as possible.)

By: Alisa

Alisa — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:34:08 +0000

Exactly, Kim.

By: Kim du Toit

Kim du Toit — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:22:51 +0000

“residents of liberal states (such as CA) moving to conservative states (such as CO) to escape the direct and unavoidable economic consequences of their own liberal voting.”

The problem is not that Californians escape California — the problem is that when they settle in their new state, they start voting in precisely the same manner as they used to, thus allowing the same cancer to take place in their new domicile.

It’s not just Californians, either: New Hamphire is almost Massachusetts Lite, and Virginia and N. Carolina are becoming New York Lite.

By: Owinok

Owinok — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:33:49 +0000

Paul, have you considered the probability of all your forecasts coming true? However, good luck to the brave forecasters. Who knew two years ago that there would even be something called a Tea Party? if you knew then, I will take your prediction very seriously.

By: smitty

smitty — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:37:17 +0000

Paul Marks has the right of it, and also a clear head.
The soundtrack of the Progressive Era is all disco.
The presence of the internet means that small amounts of pointy-headed people will have diminishing opportunity to micro-manage the lives of others.
Notwithstanding the excellent Daniel Hannan, the girls in Brussels need to grok this truth.

By: Alisa

Alisa — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:31:17 +0000

Oh, and if anyone is interested, I seem to have found the answer to my OT question. So far it looks like this election turnout is mostly similar to the previous mid-term, which adds validity to the WSJO article I linked to.

By: Alisa

Alisa — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:26:27 +0000

Antoine, on Californication: the no-kids factor is a real one, but not between now and 2012 – it is much more long-term than that. What I’m talking about is what Sunfish, for example, knows of all too well: residents of liberal states (such as CA) moving to conservative states (such as CO) to escape the direct and unavoidable economic consequences of their own liberal voting. As opposed to the procreation factor, this one is sure to be felt in two-years time – in fact, I think it is being felt already.