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Author Topic: News and Current Events - 2017 - 2022  (Read 753188 times)

Offline Gazapete

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1980 on: June 16, 2018, 03:57:33 AM »
It's a bit embarrassing, butI haven't really understood what's chosen in the midterm elections. It's the congress, isn't it? And the presidential is only for the president?

Offline morrobay

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1981 on: June 16, 2018, 07:50:49 AM »
Congress and senate seats are up for grabs in the mid-terms, the dems will try to take over but with reps afraid of 45, they may retain control.

I had to look this up...

Major cities which are holding mayoral elections in 2018 include:

Newark, New Jersey: Incumbent mayor Ras J. Baraka was re-elected to a second term with 77.05% of the vote.

Phoenix, Arizona: Thelda Williams is the incumbent and acting mayor after Greg Stanton chose to resign on May 29, 2018, to seek election for the United States Congress.

San Francisco, California (special): London Breed was elected to succeed the deceased mayor Ed Lee.
Washington, D.C.: Incumbent Muriel Bowser (D) is running for reelection.

Nashville, Tennessee: Acting Mayor David Briley won election with 54.47%, avoiding a runoff.
Louisville, Kentucky


and there are some gubernatorial elections in some states, but not sure which ones...
Bye, Felicia

"What a maroon."  Bugs Bunny

"I try to be good...I only manage it in streaks."

Offline Gazapete

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1982 on: June 16, 2018, 08:33:51 AM »
But can the president overrule the congress? In Spain the president (or prime minister, actually) is elected by the congress and cannot overrule congress' decissions. There's not president figure like yours, the head of state is the king (yes, I know *eyeroll*) but he only has a symbolic status and no power whatsoever.

Offline fritzkep

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1983 on: June 16, 2018, 10:01:57 AM »
Every two years all members of the House of Representatives are up for election, as well as one-third of the Senate (whose terms last six years). So every even-numbered year there is an election for Congress, and every other one of these elections (the ones that occur during leap years), the President is up for reelection.

Local office elections can occur just about any time, but most also occur in November of even-numbered years, with some exceptions. Virginia, for example, as well as some other states, has elections on odd-numbered years (we just elected a new governor last November), and the legislatures are also up for election in those years.

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Offline fritzkep

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1984 on: June 16, 2018, 10:03:33 AM »
The President can veto a bill passed by Congress, and the Congress can override the veto by a majority of two-thirds of each house.

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Offline Gazapete

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1985 on: June 16, 2018, 10:16:07 AM »
Thank you, Fritz! It's a bit more complicated than here, but it's a much bigger country, it's probably very difficult to coordinate all elections.

Offline fritzkep

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1986 on: June 16, 2018, 10:27:47 AM »
Definitely. There's really no such thing as a national election, not even for the President, but rather a coordination of 51 elections (including DC), with that many different sets of laws governing them.

It also takes place over 6 time zones, which also makes things difficult. Some people think that people on the West Coast hearing of results in eastern states, that this knowledge tends to suppress the vote there in the West, especially if the election isn't all that close.

Werd ich zum Augenblicke sagen, "Verweile doch! Du bist so schön..."

Offline Lyle (Mooska)

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1987 on: June 16, 2018, 10:39:49 AM »
^^^

I wonder if any study of that has ever been done. I know there's "anecdotal" evidence.
To me it's just an eye roll. You're gonna vote or you're not. There's other things on the ballot.

Some of that is changing, too, because of early voting. One doesn't have to have an absentee ballot
ONLY if you're out of town. Anyone can get one if you "want" one. Plus, Oregon is all vote by mail now,
so hearing results on election day from the east coast wouldn't matter there.

(It's always been interesting to me that the three states that flipped giving the election to
his deficiency, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin...all of those states had no early voting.)

Frankly, I like to vote at the precinct. I really don't trust mail in ballots. In Oregon, do they have a way
that you can verify your vote was received?

Offline fritzkep

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1988 on: June 16, 2018, 10:42:00 AM »
I like to vote at the precinct too, a lot more fun. One of the precinct election officials is a neighbor, we socialize with her and her husband a lot.

A study would be interesting, the expression has been around for quite a long time, especially after the results started being televised. I can remember watching the Kennedy election back in 1960, it was quite fascinating. The previous one in 1956 for Eisenhower didn't have constant coverage, just brief summaries between the shows. People depended on newspaper accounts the next day back then.



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Offline Lyle (Mooska)

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1989 on: June 16, 2018, 11:00:19 AM »
...and there are some gubernatorial elections in some states, but not sure which ones...

I looked it up and there are elections for Governor in 36 states!
Most of the 12 that are not having elections this year are in the
mid-South and North West.

Governors serve 4 year terms, except in Vermont and New Hampshire, where the term is only 2 years.

Offline Lyle (Mooska)

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1990 on: June 16, 2018, 11:02:40 AM »
Fritz, the TV pundits think Tim Kaine is a sure thing to win his Senate seat in Virginia.
Do you think that's the case? His opponent is a piece of work, but who can discount
anything lately.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2018, 11:22:21 AM by Lyle (Mooska) »

Offline Gazapete

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1991 on: June 16, 2018, 11:08:39 AM »

Frankly, I like to vote at the precinct. I really don't trust mail in ballots. In Oregon, do they have a way
that you can verify your vote was received?

This is such a good point. I live in Germany but vote in Spain and every time I send the letter with the vote I have the feeling I am sending it into outer space. There's no way to verify that your letter arrived and that someone put it in the ballot. We have been protesting for years, because the exterior vote is mostly left and the conservative government has been making it more and more complicated in order to discourage people from voting, or even worse, there was the suspect that the consulates were boycotting particularly lefty areas.

Offline fritzkep

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1992 on: June 16, 2018, 11:19:53 AM »
Fritz,

The TV pundits think Tim Kaine is a sure thing to win his Senate seat in Virginia.
Do you think that's the case? His opponent is a piece of work, but who can discount
anything lately.

With such an opponent who is not (so far) getting support from the Senate Republican Election Committee, I think that Tim Kaine's election chances are pretty good, but that leaves no room for complacency. Who knows what dirty tricks the GOP has in mind to pull. And it wouldn't surprise me if the Senate Republicans eventually come around to supporting Stewart's candidacy, for the "good" of the party and for party unity. But I am feeling pretty good about Kaine. I've liked him for a long time, even before he was our governor.

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Offline Lyle (Mooska)

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1993 on: June 16, 2018, 11:23:34 AM »

Good to know.

Offline Lyle (Mooska)

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Re: News and Current Events - 2017
« Reply #1994 on: June 16, 2018, 12:07:19 PM »

Look what I get to vote on this year.

A billionaire with money to waste has gotten a ballot initiative to qualify for the next election, to separate California into three states.


Anyone with sense in their head knows that this will never happen. It's actually been tried before. Not once. Not ten times. Not even a hundred times. There have been at least 220 efforts to hack California up into smaller states, with at least five just since 2000.

This billionaire actually tried to get a proposal on the ballot in 2016 to break the state up into six separate states. This time he had the law proposal written so that it changes a statute, instead of a constitutional provision, so it required a lot less signatures to get on the ballot. Second, it is written so that the state does not have to give consent, it's written
so that the consent of the people is implied if it passes, so it would go directly to Congress which is required to approve such a thing.

As far as I can research, nearly all of the "break California up" proposals are started by Republicans and usually businessmen. It's so contradictory when you think that Conservatives are always railing against big government, less government is better, or no government, and yet instead of one Governor they think three would be better? Instead of two Senators they'd like to have 4 more? It makes no sense.

If it passed I guess I might be living in Lo-Cal.  :D
Or Medi-Cal.

One of the most complicated things in California that would cause the most trouble ever
if this really happened would be the hugely intricate and labyrinthine laws regarding the
water rights in this state. I can't imagine.

And just like another so-called bilillionaire you might know, he has his own college: Draper University.

The State Republican party at their recent convention even said NO to this.

The only poll that was done about this was asked once before it was confirmed as a ballot proposition.

72% said NO.
18% said YES.
10% were undecided or just don't like to answer polls.