US Elections (& Politics) :)

[Armed&Overclocked]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but the Mail in voting (discounting absentee ballots) is kinda/sorta/maybe illegal.

I'm stating this using these two items (not that the law has any meaning any more):

Hatch Act Overview

osc.gov

I dont see how it could be construed as being illegal. The hatch act prohibits federal employees in engaging in certain political activities. Delivering ballots or ballot request forms would not sufficiently be enough to constitute a political activities. If it did somehow constitute a violation of the hatch act then that would also extend to any mailings sent out by political parties as those would definitely fall under "political activities", and i feel that the RNC and the DNC would not want to jeopardize their political mailings and shilling for $$.

Also mail in ballots and absentee ballots are the exact same thing. Some may present them as different, but in reality they are not. The only difference is the excuse for why you are absent is being expanded to include not showing up due to the pandemic, but most states don't require an excuse to be given anyway.

For some additional context here is an article by fox news on the subject

Everything you need to know about mail-in voting in 2020

With serious health concerns over in-person voting at polling stations amid the coronavirus pandemic, more Americans will send their ballots in by mail this year than in any election in the nation’s history.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Ssayer]

I'm just thinking about all the ballots that got "lost" while in the hands of federal employees...

 

[sebastiantombs]

There is a significant difference between asking for a mail-in ballot, absentee voting, and mailing a ballot to every person on the voting roles with no real controls in place. The number of dead people, people that have moved, dog names, cat names and who knows what else, on voting roles is very significant. While on the surface it appears to allow more people to participate many of those participants will not be valid voters. That, in turn, makes your and my votes worth even less than they are normally. The same is true of permitting non citizens to vote. Even the estimable Dr. Fauci has stated that there is no reason not to vote in person and he is the defacto expert and czar of the CCP Virus.

 

[Armed&Overclocked]

There is a significant difference between asking for a mail-in ballot, absentee voting, and mailing a ballot to every person on the voting roles with no real controls in place. The number of dead people, people that have moved, dog names, cat names and who knows what else, on voting roles is very significant. While on the surface it appears to allow more people to participate many of those participants will not be valid voters. That, in turn, makes your and my votes worth even less than they are normally. The same is true of permitting non citizens to vote. Even the estimable Dr. Fauci has stated that there is no reason not to vote in person and he is the defacto expert and czar of the CCP Virus.

Fauci's statement is under the pretext that it can be safe if the guidelines are adhered to; which i personally agree with. That said a lot of places seem to be going out of their way to let people buck the guidelines. Case in point are the various schools that have opened up where none of the kids are observing any sort of social distancing, or being required to wear face masks.

locally things have gotten a lot better about mask usage and businesses requiring them, but that largely took Gov Northam threatening to pull business licenses, and in a few cases that did happen, if companies did not comply. So the polling locations here, probably, would be fine however in other states or in other jurisdictions i wouldn't bank my personal health on that.

Here is fauci's quote
“I think if carefully done, according to the guidelines, there’s no reason that I can see why that not be the case,” Fauci told ABC News this week. “If you go and wear a mask, if you observe the physical distancing, and don’t have a crowded situation, there’s no reason why shouldn’t be able to do that.”

derived from this fox new article.

Fauci says there is 'no reason' Americans can't vote in person in November

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said this week there is “no reason” Americans can’t vote in person for the 2020 presidential election, so long as voters follow proper social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

www.foxnews.com

 

[sebastiantombs]

In other words behave like you're at WalMart, the grocery store, Lowes or Home Depot. The point being that the whole mail-in ballot thing is yet another pile of crap attached to the CCP Virus that is un-needed other than for purely political reasons. It amazes me that it's fine for people to work at Wally World, grocery stores, Lowes, Home Depot, Target and a host of other places, but teachers, being a "special class" would be put in danger doing their job. My feeling is that if only "distance learning" is offered by a school district 50% or more of the school taxes should be refunded to the tax payers since they are not getting what they are paying for.

 

[TonyR]

Here is fauci's quote
“I think if carefully done, according to the guidelines, there’s no reason that I can see why that not be the case,” Fauci told ABC News this week. “If you go and wear a mask, if you observe the physical distancing, and don’t have a crowded situation, there’s no reason why shouldn’t be able to do that.”

If Joe wins (God help us), Dems will say "...the mail-in functioned flawlessly and with few errors".
If Trump wins, Dems will say "....there were millions of errors, and much corruption."

I''l be surprised if all the votes are in within a week.

 

[mat200]

..My feeling is that if only "distance learning" is offered by a school district 50% or more of the school taxes should be refunded to the tax payers since they are not getting what they are paying for.

The rebellion has started.. at least at the higher education levels...

"At Rutgers University, more than 30,000 people have signed a petition started in July calling for an elimination of fees and a 20 percent tuition cut. More than 40,000 have signed a plea for the University of North Carolina system to refund housing charges to students in the event of another Covid-19-related campus shutdown. The California State University system’s early decision to go online-only this fall has incited calls for price cuts at campuses from Fullerton to San Jose.

At Ithaca College — student population, 5,500 — the financial services team reports more than 2,000 queries in the past month about financial aid and tuition adjustments. Some 340 Harvard freshmen — roughly a fifth of the first-year class — deferred admission rather than possibly spending part of the year online, and a parents’ lobbying group, formed on Facebook last month, has asked the administration to reduce tuition and relax rules for leaves of absence."

As Colleges Move Classes Online, Families Rebel Against the Cost (Published 2020)

Schools face rising demands for tuition rebates, increased aid and leaves of absence as students ask if college is becoming “glorified Skype.”

www.nytimes.com

 

[Armed&Overclocked]

I think the problem facing teachers with doing onsite classes is that our public schools are in no way designed to support social distancing among the children. Many schools are over crowded as it is. Add in the fact that younger children wont at all adhere to social distancing, or mask usage and you end up with a recipe for covid stew.
Children might be more resistant to the fatal effects of covid, but they can, and likely will, act as carriers much in the way they do for colds during cold and flu season.

As far as cutting taxes and what not due to distance learning, i could get behind that if there is an actual cost reduction. Some school systems might need some extra funding, if they havent already, to gear up for distance learning. Thankfully a lot of the schools locally already gave students chrome books as it was; it was just a matter of letting them take them home.

At very minimum colleges and universities need to cut the various fees they gouge students with. a lot of them are still hitting students with BS "campus fees" and "lab fees" to remote learning.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Frankly, do away with the whole public school system. All it is, today, is a day care center, diner, and socialist indoctrination center. Collect the taxes then give it out, equally, on a per student basis and use private education chosen by the parents. Of course that assumes the parents are responsible enough and smart enough to be able to make an intelligent choice.

The schools were closed about three months before the end of the last school year. What about all that money that wasn't spent? Maybe use that to "upgrade" for distance learning that isn't worth the bandwidth it uses? A few simple fans, an open window for venting and some masks will make a significant difference in spreadability. Just a bunch of whining children disguised as union members.

 

[bigredfish]

Frankly, do away with the whole public school system. All it is, today, is a day care center, diner, and socialist indoctrination center.

^^^^^
THIS

The education system is so infected with socialist teachers, corrupt, lazy, anti-American Teachers Unions, and left wing marxists that it needs to be wiped clean and start over.

 

[mat200]

..on a per student basis and use private education chosen by the parents. Of course that assumes the parents are responsible enough and smart enough to be able to make an intelligent choice.
..

Unfortunately, there are a lot of parents who are not well educated enough to make a difference in their children's education.

Certainly it is a good time to revisit the education provided in all levels of our society. No doubt too many proto marxists teaching.. too many anti-liberty people in the universities even...

 

[tigerwillow1]

Frankly, do away with the whole public school system.

Dream on. When did a government ever give up power and control without a lot of blood being spilled?

 

[bigredfish]

True unfortuately

 

[Arjun]

The only way to get sh!t in this country is to speak clearly and not with cliche. What the heck does "When they go low, we go high" mean? Too much emotional exploitation. Cut the BS and get straight to the point. There are plenty of bushes to beat on, but not on the major issues currently afflicting this nation.

 

[BobRegnar]

The lazy voters elect, or allow to be elected, the school boards who sign off or rubber stamp the anti-America agenda of teachers/principals/superintendents, and the city councilors who vote to tear apart their own cities and defund their own police departments.

A hundred and forty or fifty years ago a town's businessmen would have tarred and feathered such a mayor and city council or school board out of town and brought in Wyatt Earp to restore peace and order. Today folks just throw up their hands, pay the bill and blame Trump.

We still have the power to effect change in the voting booth if we treat it as the serious responsibility it is instead of how easy we can make it for the laziest peolpe who don't really give a damn anyway except for how many freebies they're promised. Before long if we allow the America haters enough control we'll lose the power to do anything about it short of revolution. And that's a lot harder.

 

[Arjun]

Off-topic, but this is how you wash your dishes Elected Officials would approve this too

 

[mat200]

Off-topic, but this is how you wash your dishes Elected Officials would approve this too

ah.. the BBC still upset that the British first gun confiscation failed in the American Colonies... ( hint: Lexington )

 

[Jessie.slimer]

Dems are just setting up their excuse for when they lose. It was the post offices. Russia 2.0

 

[Jessie.slimer]

 

[Armed&Overclocked]

Schools are a net benefit. They can, and should, be run better but not having a public school systems means an even larger amount of idiots running around. I'd rather correct any political idealizations being taught to my kid than deal with a populace quite literally illiterate, or unable to perform basic math functions.

yes some people were able to get an education before the public school system, but that was largely for people who could afford private tutors or if they belonged to a church where the leadership was actually inclined to education their flock.

For those who are disgusted by the way their local schools are run there is always the private school system, but the quantity and quality of those schools vary wildly place to place.

Home schooling is also an option, but frankly there isn't enough regulations in place to make sure home schooled kids, everywhere, gets a decent education.