Picking a U.S. President… in 2012… Now Just One Day Away From a New Start

Picking a U.S. President

Every four years, American voters head to the polls to elect a president and a vice president. Yet those votes are just part of a detailed system known as the Electoral College, which is used by the U.S. to determine its executive leaders; a system set up by the Founding Fathers of our nation.

The founding fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. However, the term “electoral college” does not appear in the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to “electors,” but not to the “electoral college.”

Since the Electoral College process is part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution it would be necessary to pass a Constitutional amendment to change this system.

Note that the 12th Amendment, the expansion of voting rights, and the use of the popular vote in the States as the vehicle for selecting electors has substantially changed the process.

The Electoral College is made up of 538 electoral votes divided among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to be elected.

The number of electoral votes each state receives ranges from 3 to 55 based on the number of Congressional seats the state holds, which is essentially linked to the population of the state. The District of Columbia gets 3 votes because the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution grants it the same number votes as the least populated state in the union. The territories of the U.S. like Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa, etc. get no Electoral College votes.

The Electoral College system does not provide for residents of U.S. Territories, such as Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa to vote for President. Unless citizens in U.S. Territories have official residency (domicile) in a U.S. State or the District of Columbia (and vote by absentee ballot or travel to their State to vote), they cannot vote in the presidential election. Note that prior to the adoption of the 23rd Amendment, DC residents could not vote in the Presidential election.

The political parties may authorize voters in primary elections in Territories to select delegates to represent them at the political party conventions. But that process does not affect the Electoral College system.

The voting public’s ballots make up what is known as the “popular vote”, and in 48 of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, the candidate receiving the most popular votes in a state will receive all of that state’s electoral votes. Only Maine and Nebraska split their electoral votes among candidates through their state’s system for ‘proportional allocation’ of votes.

In the rare event that no candidate gets the necessary 270 electoral votes to win the office, the House of Representatives elects the president from the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each state only gets one vote, so it could be a long process and full of contention among the state representatives to decide on that vote.  That has never happened in U.S. history. 

However, in the Presidential election of 1836, the election for Vice President was decided in the Senate. Martin Van Buren’s running mate, Richard M. Johnson, fell one vote short of a majority in the Electoral College. Vice Presidential candidates Francis Granger and Johnson had a “run-off” in the Senate under the 12th Amendment, where Johnson was elected 33 votes to 17.

Over the decades the discussion of doing away with the Electoral College has arisen often, but after studying the process, one sees that there is a reason the Founding Fathers put it in place. Little that our Founding Fathers put in place has needed to be altered or changed. Many feel that these scholarly men were inspired and guided by a higher power while creating Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.

Many different proposals to alter the Presidential election process have been offered over the years, such as direct nation-wide election by the People, but none have been passed by Congress and sent to the States for ratification as a Constitutional amendment. Under the most common method for amending the Constitution, an amendment must be proposed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the States.

Reference sources indicate that over the past 200 years, over 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College. There have been more proposals for Constitutional amendments on changing the Electoral College than on any other subject. The American Bar Association has criticized the Electoral College as “archaic” and “ambiguous” and its polling showed 69 percent of lawyers favored abolishing it in 1987. But surveys of political scientists have supported continuation of the Electoral College. Public opinion polls have shown Americans favored abolishing it by majorities of 58 percent in 1967; 81 percent in 1968; and 75 percent in 1981.

Opinions on the viability of the Electoral College system may be affected by attitudes toward third parties. Third parties have not fared well in the Electoral College system. Candidates with regional appeal such as Governor Thurmond in 1948 and Governor Wallace in 1968, won blocs of electoral votes in the South. Neither come close to seriously challenging the major party winner, but they may have affected the overall outcome of the election.

The last third party, or splinter party, candidate to make a strong showing was Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 (Progressive, also known as the Bull Moose Party). He finished a distant second in Electoral and popular votes (taking 88 of the 266 electoral votes needed to win at the time). Although Ross Perot won 19 percent of the popular vote nationwide in 1992, he did not win any Electoral votes since he was not particularly strong in any one state. Any candidate who wins a majority or plurality of the popular vote nationwide has a good chance of winning in the Electoral College, but there are no guarantees (see the results of 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000 elections).

The Choice for 2012:

In some elections there hardly seems to be a difference between the two tickets and in others the two candidates and their party’s platforms could not be further apart. That is where we find ourselves this time, the election of 2012.  In recent years the two parties and their platforms have generally moved farther and farther apart.  America has become a ‘house’ divided which is at the heart of many of our problems.  And in the election of 2012 the top of the two tickets represent two completely different philosophies of government, leadership styles and experience.  Yet, had the Republicans chosen someone like Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Sarah Palin or even Ron Paul the differences would be even greater and that point should appeal to many of the Independents!

2012 is perhaps the most important election in America’s history and definitely of our lifetimes because it is a defining election. 2008 was an election that will go into the history books because it proved America had moved beyond the question whether Americans would ever elect a president of color.  The race also included only the second women and first Republican woman ever to be on a National ticket.  But, 2012 will be the election that will decide whether America will continue down the entitlement path, becoming a Nanny State, where Americans choose Big Brother and less individual freedom and opportunity in order to guarantee themselves benefits and cultural equality, like Europe has over the past two decades, a socialistic democracy type of system over a return to American Exceptionalism that guarantees everyone an equal playing field but not governmental mandates and guarantees of welfare or equality and is based on the foundation and documents our Founding Fathers left this country.

So before you vote, if you have not already, make sure that you really know what you are voting for.

A vote for Barack Obama, a community organizer, is a vote for more government control in every aspect of our lives. Four more years of his administration will take us from the position of strength, though waning, on the world scene to one of weakness because his style of leadership will take you and your children… and grandchildren further down the road to greater debt owed to foreign powers who will then control us which will not lead us to a domestic recovery or prosperity. The job numbers we have now or worse will become the norm and so will our dependence on the government and in-turn the government’s control over us.

A vote for Mitt Romney, a successful businessman and a man with experience in turning things around, like the failing Utah Olympics into a financial success and win for America, will turn around our economy, put Americans back to work and as the our debt declines our position in the world will be revived as number one. He will also overturn ObamaCare and will replace it with real reform… something that will work and that we can afford as a nation.  He learned from Romneycare and believes in states rights and individual choice.

And another thing to consider is that we now know, thanks to a few patriotic insiders and a few reporters who are doing their job instead of promoting their political agenda, that President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, VP Joe Biden and other leaders in the Obama Administration knew in advance that a terror attack was coming on 9.11.2012; They knew that Ambassador Stevens and others at the Libya Embassy/Consulate in Benghazi were asking for more help with security because they knew they could not defend themselves against an attack, and that the aforementioned leaders watched the terror attack in ‘real-time’ on a video from fed directly from the Consulate and did nothing. Instead they actually told teams and individuals who were in a place to help, to stand down while they watched our Ambassador and his team being murdered.

Can you really trust your life and the life of your children, grandchildren and the future of this country to a Commander in Chief who watches his Ambassador and other Americans being murdered and does nothing and then lies to their families and to you, to us… the American people? What else is he lying about? Think about it before casting your vote.

23 million people are out of work, our national debt has grown to a number that most of us never could have imagined  and our economy is worse under President Obama… and he has no new plan for the next four years; America cannot afford ObamaCare and there are hidden surprises in the Affordable Care Act that you won’t like… And then there is Benghazigate that Team Obama is doing their best to bury until after the election, as the Obama-Hillary foreign policy is unraveling.  Will you let them ‘cool out’ your vote?

"Democracy, as well as the survival of our Republic, demands an educated and informed electorate"

Know why you are voting for the candidate, party and issue you have chosen and the truth behind the issues…

Ask Marion~

Voter fraud complaints may be directed to any of the local U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the local FBI offices or the Public Integrity Section (202-514-1412).

Whether Romney or Obama wins tomorrow… America will begin down a new path, which path is in the American voters’ hands.

h/t to NARA – the Electoral College

Related:

References

Read The Federalist Papers at: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html for the founders' views on the Electoral College:

• Alexander Hamilton's design for the Electoral College in Federalist No. 68
• James Madison's views on the republican form of government in Federalist No. 10

Search the writings of Thomas Jefferson for his views on the Presidency (especially, Letter to George Hay, August 17, 1823) at: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/

U.S. Presidential Libraries

Technorati Tags: history,informed choices,U.S. Presidents,former presidents,elections,Election 2012,2012 Election,Electoral College,The Choice,informed voters,U.S. Constituion,educate yourself,U.S. Elections,picking a president,popular vote,23rd Amendment. Mitt Romney,Barack Obama,Romney-Ryan,Obama-Biden,Federalist Papers,U.S. territories,voter fraud,civics

Watcher’s Council Nominations – Summer Trip Edition

JoshuaPundit on Aug 01 2012

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

This week’s contest is dedicated to Bob Costas. Just because.

Council News:

First off I want to share with you an excellent video made by our own multi-talented Tom White over at Virginia Right!, who’s working on getting George Allen re-elected to the Senate:

This week, The Pirate’s Cove, Ask Marion, Maggie’s Notebook and Appellate Sky took advantage of my generous offer of linkage and earned honorable mention status with some killer pieces they submitted.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address ( which won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category.

Then, just return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week after it comes out Wednesday morning.

It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

sigh…those Watcher’s Council entries just do something special to me…

‘Nuff said.

OK, without further ado let’s see what we have this week…

Council Submissions

• The Right Planet – Obama’s Islamic Agenda
• The Noisy Room – Romney Tells Israel: “You Built That!”
• The Independent Sentinel – U.S. Fast Becoming A Totalitarian State While the Media Ignores the Story
• The Colossus of Rhodey – The difference is coercion
• The Political Commentator – Is the Cold War being reheated by the Russians?
• Joshuapundit-The Obama Media And The Unbelievably Negative Coverage Of Mitt Romney’s Trip
• Simply Jews – Hungary: still too many Jews there, it seems
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – The Little Satan Factor
• Gay Patriot – Emmanuel Goldstein’s Chicken Chain
• VA Right! - Obama: “I got Bin Laden BUT YOU didn’t Build that Business”
• The Glittering Eye - Acceptable Owners Only, Please (Updated)
• Rhymes With Right – Effete WaPo Columnist Fears Americans Will Believe It Isn’t Racist To Vote Against Obama
• The Razor – Break Up the Banks and Unleash the Future of Capitalism
• The Mellow Jihadi – A Marine Corps Mom Writes to Dear Abby
• Bookworm Room – More random observations from Japan

Honorable Mentions

• Pirate’s Cove – Warmist May Not Have Children Because Of Globull Warming Fears
• Maggie’s Notebook – DOJ Top Appointees Stopped New Black Panther Voter Intimidation Prosecution – Must Pay Attorney Fees
• Appellate Sky – Prying My Insurance Card From My Cold Dead Hands: My Totally Rational Opposition to Obamacare
• Ask Marion – Must Reads Before Election 2012

Non-Council Submissions

• Daily Caller – Book says U. of Chicago Medical Center VP bribed Jeremiah Wright submitted by The Right Planet
• Sultan Knish – Invaders from Outer Space submitted by The Noisy Room
• Vision To America – NY Mag’: Hitting Obama for ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Is Racist submitted by The Independent Sentinel
• Tablet – The Diplomat of Shoah History submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Townhall/Bruce Bialosky -Obama’s Second Term submitted by The Political Commentator
• Guri Weinberg – Why the IOC Will Never Memorialize The ’72 Munich Massacre submitted by Joshuapundit
• Richard Millett’s Blog – The cowardly Zionism of Jonathan Freedland. submitted by Simply Jews
• Danger Room Wired – Air Force’s Mega-Bunker-Buster Bomb Is Finally Ready submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Da Techguy’s Blog - Can we stop calling the Washington Post a “newspaper” now? submitted by Gay Patriot
• Shark Tank – Wasserman Schultz Waiting for “More Favorable Political Environment” to Roll Back Gun Rights submitted by VA Right!
• Gene Expressions/Discover Magazine – We are all Anglo-Saxons now submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Big Jolly Politics – Doug Weiskopf: A Modest Proposal submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Breitbart.com – Does Obama Think U.S. Troops Use AK-47′s? submitted by The Razor
• TigerHawk – Should we bring back Congressional junkets? submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Daled Amos – World Bank Wakes Up To The Fact That A Palestinian State Is Not Economically Feasible submitted by The Watcher
• Paul Weston/Gates of Vienna – Olympic Opening Ceremony Hijacked by Far Left submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!

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Must Reads Before Election 2012

Today… Sunday, July 29th marks 100 days until Election Day… Probably the most important election of our lifetimes… maybe ever in America’s history!

Therefore, Below Are Some Suggestions of Books That Everyone Should Read Before November.  There Really Are a Wide Array of Informative Books Out Right Now! And Those Listed Below Are Just the Short List…

We have less 4-months until the election so this would be a great time to start if you haven’t already!  It Is Also a Great Family or Group Activity… Reading Discussing and Getting Ready for the Election!  There is a lot of information to cover, so having different people in your family or reading group read and report on different selections would certainly help to get through as many of these books and more as possible.

The future of America is at stake in the upcoming election. Below are a four book reviews plus links to a lot of other reading suggestions. (The reviews are adapted from reviews written by TownHall’s Katie Pavich author of Fast and Furious and the staffs of WND and the Blaze.)

Voting is no longer enough, and is actually harmful if people do not know who, what and why they are voting for someone or for a proposition, etc.  Politics and continued involvement must again, as the Founding Fathers warned, be part of our lives.  We must have an educated and engaged populace!

The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama’s War on the Republic 

David Limbaugh is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller Crimes Against Liberty, which documents the atrocities of President Obama’s first half of his first term. Now he is back with the rest of the story.

In The Great Destroyer, Limbaugh documents the many different wars Obama has been waging against America: the war on the Right, the war on those who disagree, the war on the economy, the war on our culture and values, the war on oil, the war on other energy, the war on our future, the war on business, the war on America’s National Security, the war on guns, and the war on the dignity of the office of the President of the United States. He also completely rips apart the idea of President Obama as the great uniter who believes not in a "red America," not in a "blue America," but in the "United States of America."

Limbaugh proves this administration is constantly attacking the things that make America great — and that Obama is doing it on purpose. He documents extensively the destructive policies and actions that have landed America where it is today.

“It is my hope that the sheer volume and nature of Obama’s misdeeds documented herein with will shock the conscience of fair readers and demonstrate the gravity of the condition in which America now finds itself after nearly four years of his socialistic and lawless behavior, and underscore the urgency that he can be defeated in 2012,” Limbaugh writes.

Limbaugh’s book, combined with Crimes Against Liberty is really an encyclopedia of Obama’s radical actions and lawless presidency. It’s easy to forget the many failures and crises this administration has created for political gain, but Limbaugh gives the reader many reminders without pulling any punches, and without watering down the Obama presidency.

“It’s all together and I really think that’s very beneficial for people to see, because if you don’t see it all together, you don’t have any idea of the magnitude of what’s going on,” Limbaugh told Townhall. “They keep us busy. There are so many things we have to fight and they’re operating on all of these different fronts at one time that we don’t have the man power and the attention span.”

Limbaugh makes it crystal clear in his book that President Obama’s bad decisions aren’t simple mistakes with no consequences; in fact, he argues defeating Obama is crucial to the survival of America as we know it.

“He does intentionally want to impose policies that will inevitably take us over the financial cliff,” Limbaugh says. “I am so concerned about the future of the country. I’ve got five kids who I want to inherit the same glorious nation, the same Constitutional Republic and robust freedom and strong nation that I inherited from my parents and their parents and their ancestors and I am very fearful that if we don’t turn this guy around, his policies around very quickly, we’re not going to be able to and we’re going to lose the America we love. We are approaching $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, we are growing those at a rate of $10 trillion a year, we are growing our deficit at a rate of $1 trillion a year at the same time Obama says he isn’t adding a dime to the deficit.”

What the (Bleep) Just Happened?: The Happy Warrior’s Guide to the Great American Comeback

Do you have days when you wake up and ask, “How did President Obama become…President?” That’s what Fox News Contributor Monica Crowley is asking and answering in her new book What the (Bleep) Just Happened.

“We have been hoodwinked,” Crowley told Townhall, describing her hilarious take on Barack Obama’s first term as President. “I wanted to make this book really funny because in the age of Obama, if you’re not laughing, you’re crying.”

But what did just happen to America? Crowley answers this question in light of what has happened to our strength and greatness, our powerful free-market system, traditional path of economic growth, American jobs, American prosperity, the greatest health care system in the world, our status a superpower, our respect from the world, how the hell we are in debt $16 trillion and more. Crowley shows Americans how to take back their country, pointing out along the way that regular Americans are Obama’s targets. Why?

“Everything has been designed to gut the middle class for one reason, to get the middle class dependent on the government,” Crowley says. “All of his policies have been aimed at decimating the middle class.”

But despite Obama’s efforts to destroy America, Crowley has faith America can be saved.

“We only have a very short window of time to save her,” she says. “Through guts and through being a happy warrior.” She add that negativity is the province of the Left: “Let them wallow in it.”

Crowley explains to readers with chapter titles like “The Skinny Socialist is a Big Fat Liar” and “Dr. Strangeleader or: How I learned to Stop Caring and Love American Decline,” that not only America can be saved from a “band of leftists that have hijacked the country,” but that America is worth saving.

“This is a new battling cry for those of us who want to restore America back to the founding principles,” she says. “I wanted to create a new template for America in the 21st century.”

Barack Obama and the Enemies Within

Exiting new book by Trevor Loudon, a good friend of one of my PPP Friends Terresa Monroe-Hamilton of the NoisyRoom

As readers of this blog know, I review books. Lots of them. This book, in my opinion, is the most important book you will read to date. If you really want to know who Barack Obama is and his connections, this is the book for you. No one has done more research and investigation into Obama and his cohorts than Trevor Loudon. I told Trevor long ago, that I believe if there is one person to be selected above all others who Americans should thank for waking them up, it is him. Thank you my friend. It is a debt we can never fully repay.

Many of you know that it was Trevor who broke the story on Van Jones, which was then picked up by patriots such as Glenn Beck. Trevor has spent his own money (and lots of it) flying to the US to go through old libraries and archives to dig for the truth and it is not pretty. Along with others who love America, countless hours of research has been done on the web and in interviews. The work will never end. But America’s survival depends on this truth and it getting out there. This is the first book in a series that gives you that truth.

Barack Obama and the Enemies Within is a compilation of Trevor’s blog postings and research that he has done over a number of years. This work shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that a Marxist was elected to the highest seat in our land. A Marxist who has surrounded himself with radicals and progressives of every size, shape and leaning. Every American should read this book – study it and disseminate it.

I have been blogging now for better than 10 years. In that time, I have done tremendous amounts of research, but my efforts pale compared to Trevor. Most of the research can be found at KeyWiki.org and on Trevor’s blog, New Zeal. I thought I knew everything. I was wrong. I read the entire book and there is so much American’s don’t know. And what we don’t know is what will bring us to our knees.

Not only is this an excellent book, it is vital. Buy it, read it and do your homework. We are where we are today in America because we got lazy, content and apathetic. We never thought communism could happen here. The truth is, it’s been with us for a 100 years and is about to conquer us if we don’t get our house in order. My friend Trevor Loudon is helping us save America. It’s amazing to me that the help we so desperately needed is coming from New Zealand first.

I’m not telling you to read Trevor’s book simply because he is my friend. I respect Trevor more than anyone I know. Anyone. It is very, very rare that you find someone that is as honest and hard working as he is. And he does it for a very simple reason… As America goes, so goes the world. China and Russia are salivating in the wings, just hoping that we implode from within. And if they defeat America, New Zealand will fall as well.

By TMH

Fool Me Twice: Obama's Shocking Plans for the Next Four Years Exposed

See Video: Fool Me Twice: Obama’s Devastating 2nd Term Plans Revealed! Below

“Fool Me Twice: Obama's Shocking Plans for the Next Four Years Exposed” is a  game-changing election book that will reveal the blueprint for a second Barack Obama presidential term.  It is for release Aug. 7 by WND Books, “Fool Me Twice: Obama's Shocking Plans for the Next Four Years Exposed” uncovers the template for Obama’s next four years – the actual, extensive plans created by Obama’s own top advisers and progressive strategists.

The explosive book unveils all the main areas of Obama’s second-term domestic policy onslaught – jobs, wages, health care, immigration “overhaul,” electoral “reform,” national energy policy, Pentagon plans and much more.

“Just as ‘Unfit for Command’ provided the margin of defeat for John Kerry in 2004, ‘Fool Me Twice’ will ensure Obama serves only one term,” said WND Books publisher Joseph Farah.

“Fool Me Twice” is written by New York Times bestselling author, journalist and radio host Aaron Klein, together with New York Times bestselling author and researcher Brenda J. Elliott.

Just as in 2008, when Obama concealed his true presidential plans behind the rhetoric of ending partisan differences and cutting the federal deficit, his 2012 re-election theme of creating jobs conceals far more than it reveals about his true agenda for a second term.

Most conservative books about Obama focus on his radical background and what he has done until now. A small number of ambitious projects attempt to show what America may look like after four more years of Obama based on generalities and what the president has already done.

While many are expressing general concerns over Obama’s future ambitions, “Fool Me Twice” lays bare the devastating details and consequences of a second Obama term as president.

The book is based on exhaustive research into Obama’s upcoming detailed presidential plans and policies, as well as the specific second-term recommendations of major “progressive” groups behind Obama and the Democratic leadership – the organizations that help craft legislation and set the political and rhetorical agenda for the president and his allies.

Here are a few highlights of dozens and dozens of second term plans uncovered in “Fool Me Twice”:

• An expansive, de facto amnesty program for illegal aliens via executive order and interagency directives linked with a reduction in the capabilities of the U.S. Border Patrol and plans to bring in untold numbers of new immigrants with the removal of caps on H-1B visas and green cards.

• Government-funded, neighborhood-based programs to better integrate the newly amnestied immigrants into society, including education centers and healthcare centers. A “federal solution” to ensure that the amnestied immigrants are treated “equitably” across the United States.

• The recreation of a 21st century version of FDR’s Works Progress Administration program within the Department of Labor that would oversee a massive new bureaucracy and millions of new federal jobs;

• Specific plans for a National Infrastructure Bank. This entity would “evaluate and finance infrastructure projects ‘of substantial regional and national importance” and would finance “transportation infrastructure, housing, energy, telecommunications, drinking water, wastewater, and other infrastructures.”

• Wresting control of the military budget from Congress by attempting to place an ”independent panel” in charge of military spending while slashing the defense budget in shocking ways.

• The vastly reduced resources of the U.S. Armed Forces will be spread even thinner by using them to combat “global warming,” fight global poverty, remedy “injustice,” bolster the United Nations and step up use of “peacekeeping” deployments;

• A new “green” stimulus program and the founding of a federal “green” bank or “Energy Independence Trust,” which would borrow from the federal treasury to provide low-cost financing to private-sector investments in “clean energy.”

• Detailed plans to enact single-payer health care legislation controlled by the federal government.

Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief for WND and hosts “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” on New York’s WABC Radio, the nation’s largest talk station. Klein’s program is one of only two weekend shows in the U.S. to make the Talkers Heavy Hundred official list of top American radio shows.

His previous books include “Red Army,” “The Manchurian President,” “The Late Great State of Israel” and “Schmoozing With Terrorists.”

Brenda J. Elliott is an award-winning historian, researcher and New York Times bestselling author. She is the blogger who created RezkoWatch, The Real Barack Obama, RBO and RBO2. She has appeared on hundreds of radio shows, contributed to numerous investigative articles and publications and is the co-author of “Red Army” and “The Manchurian President”.

The Communist

Imagine an American man so devout in his Communist beliefs, that during the Cold War the FBI placed him on its security index – meaning that if an armed conflict were to have erupted between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Federal authorities would have looked to him as a prime suspect for treason.

Now imagine that man mentored the leader of the free world.

On July 17^th, Mercury Ink and author Paul Kengor, PhD, will introduce the world to the real Frank Marshall Davis – the card-carrying member of the Communist Party U.S.A, and who all accounts indicate was Barack Obama’s closest role model and mentor. Devoid of outrageous conspiracy theories or sensational claims, Kengor painstakingly documents the historical facts of this dynamic, at times even sympathetic character, who walked the path from Republican roots clear through to the radical fringe of unfettered Marxism.

Presently, certain news and commentary outlets are focusing on the more outrageous aspects of Frank Marshall Davis’ life, such as his self-admitted penchant for perverse sexual escapades as well as for taking photos of naked women (including of Stanley Ann Dunham, Obama’s mother). In fact, the recently released documentary, “Dreams From My Real Father,” even posits that Davis is the president’s true biological father. While much of Davis’ bizarre fetishes and sexual peccadilloes provide subject matter worthy of consideration, Kengor believes that his book, “The Communist,” focuses on the substantive ideological, rather than sensational aspects of Davis’ past.

Related: Exclusive: See This Clip About Obama‘s Relationship With Communist Frank Marshall Davis From Dinesh D’Souza‘s ’2016′ Film – President Obama’s half brother, George, appears in the film 2016 with some politically incorrect comments about Brother Barack.

At the end of the day, according to Kengor, mentors matter – and in no small amount. The book opens by explaining how Ronald Reagan and Hillary Clinton’s role models were extremely influential in each of their lives, respectively. In fact, typically the first task of any biographer is to examine the mentors of the subject he or she is writing about. Oddly, when it comes to our current president, left-wing biographers have somehow avoided this topic altogether.

Presidential mentors

During Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign, the media and members of the far left ignored discussing his influences and role models, leaving conservatives in shock over how lax the vetting process turned out to be for the man who would come to hold the highest office in the land. As The Communist reveals that the “transformative change” Obama promised to deliver (and did) eerily find their origin in the words and deeds of his closest mentor.

And therein lies the rub. Examining the mentor is perhaps one of the most significant aspects of the presidential vetting process. Those who came before Obama all acknowledged the profound impact their mentors had on them, both growing up, and into adulthood. Of course the reason is clear – exploring who a presidential nominee’s influences are provides key insight into that candidate’s world-view.

Kengor notes that although both Ronald Reagan and Hillary Clinton’s role models were indeed of great import to each of them, their names were rarely mentioned in each of their biographies. Ironically, however, Obama mentioned “Frank” by name no less than 22 times in his memoir, “Dreams From My Father.”

“We’ve had 44 presidents and they’ve all had mentors,” Kengor told me during an exclusive Blaze interview. “Yet never before in the entire 200-plus year [presidential] history of this country, have we had a president with a mentor who was a card carrying member of the Communist Party.

Kengor takes issue with the fact that no liberal biographer acknowledges that Frank Marshall Davis was Obama’s mentor, yet those same biographers have never denied that Don Jones mentored Ronald Reagan, just as Ben Cleaver guided an impressionable, young Hillary Clinton until her departure to university. Perhaps the reason no one cares, according to Kengor, is because both Cleaver and Jones “loved America” and were not “pro-soviet members of the Communist Party.” He believes journalists, biographers, and the media in general are guilty of “scandalous neglect” when discussing Barack Obama.

“The problem with Obama,” said Kengor, “is that he was never vetted, so you have skeletons in the closet.” He explained that while there has been no shortage of coverage from the right in exposing Obama’s ties to Reverend Jeremiah Wright or the Weather Underground’s Bill Ayers, “no one talks about Davis, and Davis was far more radical [than either Ayers or Wright].”

In fact, Kengor maintains that Ayer’s most radical university lecture, or Wright’s most flagrant sermon pales in comparison to any of the volumes Frank Marshall Davis espoused in his columns for various Communist newspapers across the country.

“When you read his columns it’s very clear you are dealing with a Communist Party U.S.A. member from the ‘Daily Worker’ crowd — a loyal Soviet patriot.

“To think he had an influence on the president.”

“Imagine if there was a GOP nominee with a mentor this extreme to the right. They would never have escaped the media scrutiny.”

Historically, Kengor observed a pattern among the left in which its adherents are never vigilant when it comes to Communism. Even American Civil Liberties Union founder, Roger Nash Baldwin, wrote a book entitled, “Liberty Under the Soviets” demonstrating progressives’ sympathy for all things Communist.

As we near the July 17^th release date of “The Communist” The Blaze will be releasing two more “sneak preview” articles detailing some of the shocking revelations Kengor discovered along the way.

For instance, you will learn that Frank Marshall Davis actually started out as a member of the GOP, reviled Democrats (in particular Harry Truman and Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and only turned to Communism after being fully duped by a Soviet propaganda campaign that convinced him the USSR had abolished racism of all kinds.

You will also see laid out in black and white, the stark parallels between Frank Marshall Davis’ words and deeds and those of the Obama administration — from universal health care to the catch phrases, “hope and change” and “forward!” (all of which find origin in Obama’s Communist mentor).

If it sounds too unbelievable to be true, just remember the adage: “Truth is stranger than fiction.”

See related videos HERE

If you want to understand what is at stake in the next election and hear the information you don’t hear on the mainstream evening news, you must read The Communist by Paul Kenger,  The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama’s War on the Republic by David Limbaugh, Fool Me Twice: Obama's Shocking Plans for the Next Four Years Exposed by Aaron Klein and What the (Bleep) Just Happened?: The Happy Warrior’s Guide to the Great American Comeback by Monica Crowley plus some additional selections from the list below and then pass them along to your “undecided” or decided but “uninformed” voter friends.

Some Additional Reading Suggestions:

The Amateur, Screwed!, Cowards: What Politicians, Radicals, and the Media Refuse to Say, Hostile Takeover, The Jefferson Lies, Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot, Fast and Furious, The Shadow Party, Barack Obama: The Story, Stop the Islamization of America and Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him,

And be sure to watch the new video:  Dreams From My Real Father: A Story of Reds and Deception – reading Dreams from My Father would be a great idea as well but conveniently it is not available on Amazon right now… try to borrow a copy because they are probably re-writing it and you want to read the original.

Earlier Books by/or about Obama:  The Audacity of Hope, The Obama Nation, The Roots of Obama’s Rage, Where’s the Birth Certificate?, The Plan, Obama Zombies, The Manchurian President, The Case Against Barack Obama, Welcome to Obamaland

Earlier Books by/or about Romney: The Real Romney, No Apology, Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games

Last night on Huckabee he interviewed Jeb Bush and they discussed a new book with a solution for our economic woes: The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs He made it clear that defeating Obama is crucial to reviving the American economy and said he felt that Mitt Romney was the guy with the experience to move us toward recovery.

The books above are just a place to begin and a small slice of the information out there… but the elections are drawing near so time is running short.

Related:

W.I.Nning! – Women Impacting the Nation – WIN – Start or join a group and get involved in some aspect contributing to the outcome of the November 6th Election.

By Ask Marion

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Education: Indoctrination Special – A Must Watch If Are You Worried About Your Kids, Grandkids and America’s Youth

There was a report out this week that only 22% of 8th graders passed a basic civics test. The conclusion? Millions of young Americans will be unprepared to be informed and engaged, which is required in a healthy democracy. When the news last Sunday came out of Osama (Usama) Bin Laden’s death, the number five search on Google was “Who is Usama or Osama Bin Laden?”. 25% of all searches overall came from those under 24.

Beck held a live audience discussion with 35 to 40 teachers.  This is an important watch for anyone who is concerned about the education in America.  Even if you are not a Beck fan, it is an important watch.  Don’t miss the message just because you don’t like the messenger!!

Video:  Indoctrination Through Education Special

The book Ronald Reagan wanted taught in high schools:  The Five Thousand Year Leap  and A Patriot's History of the United States...

“My dad was a man who loved this country. It was always 'morning in America' for him.” said son Michael in a recent interview about Ronald Reagan   Michael Reagan also said: Look Beyond My Dad for a New GOP Leader

Related:

Indoctrination vs. Education of our Kids

Why the United States is Destroying Its Education System

Flunking the Citizenship Test

The Dumbing Down of America Series

Deliberate Dumbing Down of America - E Book download is NOW FREE TO ALL!!!
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Jefferson, Education and the Franchise

By Professor Thomas Jewett

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." (as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 89)

". . . whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right." (as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 88)

The above quotes were the cornerstones of Jefferson's interest in education and the franchise. He placed education as the foundation of democracy and a prerequisite to vote.

Ignorance and sound self-government could not exist together: the one destroyed the other. A despotic government could restrain its citizens and deprive the people of their liberties only while they were ignorant.

Jefferson could never completely separate education from government. With the fullest faith in the ability of man to govern himself, Jefferson nonetheless realized the responsibility of self-government could be assumed successfully only by an enlightened people.

The habit of thinking of public education in essentially political terms, as an auxiliary of free government, naturally suggests a common father for both. In associating manhood suffrage with education, Jefferson was in the forefront. It was his belief in universal suffrage that made necessary the accompanying idea of universal education.

Only popular government can safeguard democracy. . . . Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories. And to render them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree. . . ." (as cited in Koch and Peden, 1972, p. 265)

The preparation of the voter so that he might express his opinion by means of the ballot, thus insuring political liberty, was one of the main goals of Jefferson's plan for education which asserted four basic principles:

1. "that democracy cannot long exist without enlightenment.
2. that it cannot function without wise and honest officials.
3. that talent and virtue, needed in a free society, should be educated regardless of wealth, birth or other accidental condition.
4. that the children of the poor must be thus educated at common expense." (as cited in Padover, 1952, p. 43)

Jefferson felt so strongly about education that he, as a strict constitutional constructionist, submitted to congress an amendment to the constitution to legalize federal support for education in his State of the Union Address, December 2, 1806. "Education is here placed among the articles of public care. . . " (Honeywell, 1964, p. 63).

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories. And to render even them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree. . . . An amendment to our constitution must here come in aid of the public education. The influence over government must be shared among all people. (as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 87)

The amendment was never considered, so, Jefferson turned his efforts to his beloved state of Virginia. He developed a comprehensive plan for education which encompassed elementary, secondary, and university levels.

I think by far the most important bill in our whole code, is that for the diffusion of knowledge among the people. No other sure foundation can be devised for the preservation of freedom and happiness. (as cited in Padover, 1952, p. 87)

Jefferson believed the elementary school was more important than the university in the plan because, as he said, it was "safer to have the whole people respectfully enlightened than a few in a high state of science and many in ignorance as in Europe" (as cited in Peterson, 1960, p. 241). He had six objectives for primary education to bring about this enlightenment and which highlighted what he hoped would make every person into a productive and informed voter:

1. "To give every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business;
2. To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express and preserve his ideas, his contracts, and accounts, in writing;
3. To improve, by reading, his morals and faculties;
4. To understand his duties to his neighbors and country, and to discharge with competence the functions confided to him by either;
5. To know his rights; to exercise with order and justice those he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those he delegates; and to notice their conduct with diligence, with candor, and judgment;
6. And, in general, to observe with intelligence and faithfulness all the social relations under which he shall be placed." (as cited in Peterson, 1960, p. 239)

Omitted from the Bill for Virginia's school system, for political reasons, was the provision requiring literacy for citizenship. Jefferson felt strongly that society could rightfully disfranchise those who failed to avail themselves to free education (Malone, 1981, p. 270).

Jefferson expressed this view in a letter to his friend du Pont in 1816:

. . . in the constitution of Spain as proposed by the late Cortes. . . that any person born after that day should ever acquire the rights of citizenship until he could read and write. It is impossible sufficiently to estimate the wisdom of this provision. Of all those which have been thought of for securing fidelity in the administration of the government, constant reliance to the principles of the constitution, and progressive amendments with the progressive advances of the human mind, or changes in human affairs, it is the most effectual. Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppression of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day. . . . the diffusion of knowledge among the people is to be the instrument by which it is to be effected. (as cited in Mapp, 1991, p. 266)

The omission of the provision tying literacy and the rights of citizenship did the bill little good. All that the Virginia Assembly basically passed was Jefferson's plan for a university, which became the University of Virginia. But, the issue of education and the franchise brought forth a dichotomy in Jefferson's own thinking. Jefferson knew that a democracy could only exist with an educated and informed electorate. Yet, he, who abhorred any restrictions or shackles of the mind or body, was proposing such a stricture by melding education with franchise.

Thomas Jefferson on education:

“Let us in education dream of an aristocracy of achievement arising out of a democracy of opportunity. I have no fear that the result of our experiment, the Great American Experiment, will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master!  But to ensure that outcome and educated, informed and involved citizenry is necessary, for information, education and participation are the currency of democracy.”

2008 Presidential Candidate Comparison Talking Points

THESE ARE THINGS THAT EVERYONE SHOULD BE THINKING OF WHEN THEY GO INTO THE BALLOT BOX IN NOVEMBER. 

ISSUE		McCAIN		OBAMA
Favors new drilling offshore US		Yes		No
Will appoint judges who interpret the law not make it		Yes		No
Served in the US Armed Forces		Yes		No
Amount of time served in the US Senate		22 YEARS		173 DAYS
Will institute a socialized national health care plan		No		Yes
Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy		No		Yes
Would pull troops out of Iraq immediately		No		Yes
Supports gun ownership rights		Yes		No
Supports homosexual marriage		No		Yes
Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase		No		Yes
Voted against making English the official language		No		Yes
Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals		No		Yes
CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN	0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA	28% on profit from ALL home sales.  (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)
DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN	15% (no change)
OBAMA	39.6% - (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.')
INCOME TAX
MCCAIN (no changes)	Single making 30K - tax $4,500 Single making 50K - tax $12,500 Single making 75K - tax $18,750 Married making 60K- tax $9,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250
OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)	Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!
INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN	- 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA	Restore the inheritance tax Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.
NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet.  New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already) New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)  New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!

You can verify a lot of the above at the following web sites:

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html 

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/  

The freedom and right to vote is cherished and envied by people in many parts of the world, yet most Americans don’t vote or vote for people or propositions they don’t understand and haven’t researched… which is almost worse than not voting at all.  Be informed. So your homework.  Don’t let them media or uninformed friends and associates lead you to the wrong decision!!  Voting is one of the blessings of being an American.  Getting the information to make an informed choice is one of the responsibilities of being an American.  ...Ask Marion at the Daily Thought Pad