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Poolflood

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Posts posted by Poolflood

  1. 2 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

    Man this could take a lot of time to really think through. So this is all just spitballing on the fly.

    1. I think your consul idea would cause more problems than it fixes. I like the idea of inertia preventing immediate and sudden changes in Executive policy but it seems like it would just increase divisiveness.

    2. Not going to take the time to get into specifics but I would include more specific details on exactly what the Executive branch is able to do. Direction of Executive policy? Yes. Foreign military operations that are wars but without using the word "war"? Hell no.

    3. System for increasing the number of representatives in the House. There are too few for the population right now.

    4. My Electoral College reform that I originally posted on shaggy and quoted somewhere here but can't find. (moved spoiler to end of post due to shitty board formatting)

    5. Codify that the Supreme Court and the Judicial branch are the interpreters of law against the Constitution instead of relying on Marbury. Explicitly authorize judicial review in the Constitution.

    6. Specific instructions in the Constitution that interstate commerce means INTERSTATE COMMERCE. Not the fact that when I sell a lemonade to you in Texas it affects the bottled water market in Massachusetts.

    7. Corporations aren't people. Yes, they are made up of people, but they are not people.

    I'm sure there are dozens more.

     

      Reveal hidden contents

     

    Obviously this topic comes up every four years, so here we are in 2016. In an effort to keep what could be a ridiculously long post as short as possible I will list some of the alternatives below, discussing each briefly, then conclude with the one I would favor most. This is intended to be a thought exercise where hopefully adult-type people can discuss things on a theoretical level and do so civilly. If you come into this thread and start any partisan shit then fuck you and stay out.

    A. Current system

    Nobody seems to like it all that much, but the people that really hate it are the ones that lose each election. I like the current system in one respect in that it is based on the idea that each State has an inherent value simply by being a member of the union but also reflects the idea that more heavily populated States reflect the will of a greater number of citizens. Detractors of the first part of that sentence like to say things like "land shouldn't have a vote" but I simply view that as far too dismissive of the idea that the nation is a union of distinct States. Those that are familiar with the political posts I've made over the years are well aware that I am a huge fan of the Federal concept in that I believe that the various States should be free to have far different laws on many topics because that presents American citizens with 50 choices of where they want to live. They can vote with their residence in such a system, and the voice of migration would over the long haul have a major say in laws and political developments.

    Why do I not like it? Because despite each State's ability to determine how they apportion the delegates the vast majority go with a winner-take-all approach and I simply don't like how that completely devalues votes in States that are solidly one party or the other. I think there is a happy medium in there somewhere.

    B. Straight popular vote

    Nonstarter for me because as noted above I like the fact that States have inherent value. Plus logistically at some point there will be a race so close that a recount is needed and all ballots nationwide will need to be transported to one location. Just an absurd visual. Plus then you raise the question of runoff elections if it's a straight popular vote considering that 17 times nobody has received more than 50% of the popular vote. Two-round systems are used in dozens of nations where a popular vote decides the chief executive.

    C. Electors assigned proportionally to popular vote

    This is just putting a different label on the straight popular vote. Basically holding on to the 538 electors simply for tradition's sake. Nah.

    D. Assign 2 electors to each State winner, the rest assigned proportionally

    This is an attempt to mimic the fact that the electors for each State represent their two Senators and their current Representative count. The reason I don't like this one is because it ignores the fact that Congress was actually set up so that bills must pass both the Senate and the House, so while the Senate is considered the upper chamber the fact remains that they are at least nominally equal in effecting laws. Which leads me to my two favorite options, one of which is I absolutely do not favor due to political realities.

    E. 2 electors assigned to each State winner, one elector assigned to the winner of each Congressional district

    This one gets to the heart of the people electing the President by speaking in place of their elected Congressmen. This would actually be great in a world where Congressional districts are drawn by computer based on population maps that are devoid of political or demographic information. But holy shit can you imagine the gerrymandering fights when each district helps decide the entire Executive branch instead of merely 1/535th of Congress? So it's a no-go for now. Which leaves me with...

    F. Half of a State's electors (rounded up for States with an odd number) to the winner, the remainder assigned proportionally

    The Senate being traditionally the upper chamber as mentioned, a State with an odd number of electors will assign the extra elector to the State winner. The remaining electors are assigned proportionally to the popular vote within the state. For example, in 2012 the Presidential results in Texas were

    Mitt Romney - 57.17%
    Barack Obama - 41.38%
    Other People - 1.45%

    In this system that would give Romney 19 electors for the State victory, then the remaining 19 would be assigned proportionally. Romney 10.86, Obama 7.86, Other People 0.28 which leaves us with Romney 11 and Obama 8. Romney takes the Texas electors 30-8 in that election instead of 38-0. Similarly California becomes Obama 44, Romney 10, Johnson 1 instead of Obama 55-0. Since I know people will wonder, the overall count in 2012 was originally 332-206 in favor of Obama, with this system it would have been Obama 303, Romney 234, Johnson 1.

    I'd be willing to calculate other elections if anyone's interested.

    Obviously this will never happen but I like it best so that means it's best.

     

    First, would love to buy you a beer one day.

    Regarding your sixth point would (if ever argued) the 9th amendment have been a great deterrent to Wickard/Filburn if not 8 of the 9 scotus judges not been appointed by FDR?

    The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people

  2. 20 hours ago, EZ$ said:

    We only have 13 commits, so space for at least 12 more for sure and maybe up to 15 more guys in the class

    As of now, I’m only seeing maybe 6-7 realistic (at least 50/50), quality (top 300 players) uncommited targets out there.  We already have a couple “projects” committed, so don’t see us taking 5 more of those types, so are we counting on flips and Jucos to fill out the class? Maybe go after new targets that we impress on the field, but then only have 2-3 months to recruit hard??  Is the staff more confident in the 5-Star out-of-state guys they are after than the $9.95’ers?

    I just don’t see Herman filling out the class with bread, so wonder where these championship-type recruits will come from?

    and 9 of those 13 are 4*.  pushing 70% "blue chip".  fuck Jimbo Fisher.

  3. Has it been mentioned on this page that the Missouri quarterback is a gaping pussy?  If it hasn't it needs to be mentioned that the Missouri quarterback is a gaping pussy that has about a half of ton of sand in his previously mentioned gaping pussy....

     

    so if there is any question.  Mizzu qb is a gaping pussy with an excess of sand if anybody asks.

     

  4. On 7/17/2018 at 7:51 AM, Js1 said:

    Some rumblings that Florida's pitching coach Rocha is "going home" to Norman.  While I see the going back to your alma mater appeal, I don't think Florida would be unwilling to match, considering they ponied up to keep Walton.  Rocha is probably heir apparent at Florida if/when Walton retires.  It's pretty clear that Patty is going to hand the program over to her son JT when all is said and done.

    Though good news for OU, CAN WE HIRE A HITTING COACH? Hopefully this means White is doing his due diligence and vetting candidates. I'm sure he has a decent list from his initial assessment of replacing Kolatis. Though I'm sure we are competing with Oregon/Lombardi for similar candidates. 

    Going home to Norman would be like McCain "going home" to Vietnam.... But I may be biased

  5. The National Poetry Contest last year came down to two finalists. One was a Duke University Law School graduate from an upper crust family; well-bred, well-connected, and all that goes with it. The other finalist was a red-neck from Southeast Tennessee A & M. The rules of the contest required each finalist to compose a four-line poem in one minute or less and the poem had to contain the word "Timbuktu". The Duke graduate went first. About thirty seconds after the clock started, he jumped up and recited the following poem: 

    Slowly across the desert sand
    Trekked the dusty caravan.
    Men on camels, two by two
    Destination Timbuktu.

    The audience went wild!! How, they wondered could the red neck top that?! The clock started again and the red neck sat in silent thought. Finally, in the last few seconds, he jumped and recited:

    Tim and me, a-huntin' went.
    Met three whores in a pop-up tent.
    They were three, we was two,
    So, I bucked one and Timbuktu.

     

    Grandfather told me a version of this joke 35+ years ago

    • Like 1
  6. 18 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

    It’s not a done deal.  They need every single GOP vote while the president is the subject of a criminal investigation involving conspiracy to defraud the United States.

    If I were a betting man, I’d say the GOP pulls it off but there is a bunch of shit that could come out in the confirmation process.

    K.  So you're saying it's gonna be close, but will probably happen but... Might not happen if something else happens.  Fucking in-depth analysis.

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