Absentee Ballot
I was getting a bit worried, my home state’s election day is February 12th, but my absentee ballot has arrived. I declared myself as a Republican for the primaries so I can vote for Ron Paul, although now I’m kinda wishing I chose the Democrats instead so I could vote for Barack Obama.
Below is the front and back of the ballot, along with a checklist booklet and form… (btw, WTF is Alan Keyes doing on the ballot!?)
Obama, yuk. Well I see another Jimmy Carter comming into power.
Comment by winter, "Yea, Proton Power, now in remission" — Mon, Jan 28th, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
And those old people were complaining about the ‘butterfly’ ballots. Nothing is as complicated as an absentee ballot. This one is simple enough, but Phil be sure to post the one for the General Election when you get it.
I last voted absentee in 2000. I had a ballot from NY and it was huge. The best was seeing the reaction from my schoolmates when they saw it.
Comment by Fred Fry — Mon, Jan 28th, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
I’m retarded, but why can’t they just put all the candidates’ names on the ballot ?
Pre-pick side, pre-vote and vote.
Comment by Keksi — Mon, Jan 28th, 2008 @ 10:51 pm
Great chart: Know before you vote.
Comment by Liber Al — Mon, Jan 28th, 2008 @ 11:15 pm
Obama, yuk. Well I see another Jimmy Carter comming into power.
Well whomever is coming into power is going to be immediately handed a big shit sandwich by your buddy Bush, the U.S. is in a recession.
Comment by Phil — Mon, Jan 28th, 2008 @ 11:39 pm
@ 5.
True, but with any luck, within a few years, the price of real estate could drop about 30% in Finland
And no, I don’t need an analyst to tell me how it is, you’re wrong because the answers are only guesses. I don’t need any of you people who predicted the IT business will continue to grow in a exponential trend forever, to tell me what the future looks like. Just saying, shut it before you even start it
Comment by Keksi — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 12:11 am
@ 4. Great chart indeed, but don’t you think it’s a bit biased ?
Works for me though, I’d vote for Paul in heartbeat.
Comment by Keksi — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 12:14 am
I am getting ready to vote in Massachusetts super tuesday circus…
Mitt Romney is my man!…Every American should get out and vote!
Comment by infinndel — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 12:44 am
I don’t know if I would vote for RP anymore. I mean if I was american. He would strip a lot of power from federal gov and I’m not sure if it’s such a good thing right now. USA is full of these jesus-talebans and federal courts have kept religion away from public sector so far. If states would get more power, there would probably be several states replacing their own constitution with bible.
Comment by al bundy — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 1:34 am
“U.S. is in a recession”
you mean exactly what Clinton handed Bush? With higher Unemployment to boot?
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission†— Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 2:26 am
Great chart indeed, but don’t you think it’s a bit biased ?
Actually, no. Every item is sourced, and at the bottom they provide a contact address for corrections. The only way it could be said to be balanced is in its selection of points to compare. But, save one or two that come directly from the Paul platform, these really are the most important issues for US.
The chart looks the way it does simply because it brings to daylight the mind boggling stupidity of the other candidates.
Comment by Liber Al — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 8:09 am
. If states would get more power, there would probably be several states replacing their own constitution with bible
Could be. But that’s better than the country’s constitution turning into the bible. At least you’d be able to easily move to a state that would fit your lifestyle the closest.
Imagine if the individual EU countries had more power instead of the EU, that could be nuts!
Comment by Phil — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 9:45 am
I showed my California absentee ballot to my colleagues, and they asked why propositions are on the ballot when elected officials should take care of business.
Word.
Comment by Ari Sawyer — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 11:58 am
Oh yeah,
Cynthia McKinney in 2008.
Who is she?
Green party candidate, former member of congress, reforming Democrat.
Comment by Ari Sawyer — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 12:00 pm
I don’t quite understand this. You register with the voting authorities as a member of a political party? Have I understood correctly? If so, is it to only me that that sounds a bit strange.
Comment by JG — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 12:38 pm
“you mean exactly what Clinton handed Bush? With higher Unemployment to boot?”
Winter: Big bad recession is now happening what I have been predicting for many years except it is even worse than I expected. But you will deny it until you hit the brick wall. USA probably will hit 20+ percent unemployment rate by 2010-2011 and all-out collapse soon after that. 20 years after USSR…
Comment by tim73 — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 1:56 pm
Timmy Timmt Timmy
Have we had the 2 bad quarters that even define a recession?
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission†— Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 2:19 pm
Tim, did you just open another bottle or swallow another pill? 20+% unemployment in 2-3 years? Total Soviet like collapse soon after? Tell me oh Mr. Tim, what will be the new system in place Stateside then? Do share your wisdom oh mighty one as I want to get a bet on with Ladbrokes before this all becomes general knowledge.
Comment by Punter — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 2:54 pm
“A recession is defined as two successive months of negative growth”
Timmy Timmy Timmy, can you prove your point? Please?
Comment by winter, "Yea, Proton Power, now in remission" — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 3:58 pm
“20+% unemployment in 2-3 years? Total Soviet like collapse soon after? Tell me oh Mr. Tim, what will be the new system in place Stateside then?
USA is following similar path as Finland and Sweden in the late 80’s except it is much much worse there. Housing bubble bursting while consumer savings rate is negative and are maxed out. US also has a huge trade deficit.
US government and states are all heavily indebted already and budget deficits are about to get a lot worse because of tax revenue collapse of this and next year. 40 percent of tax money going to military (all direct and indirect costs: 1100 trillion). Total waste of money.
If the severity of recessions in Finland and Sweden were about 3.5 out five, US is about to experience 7 out of 5, total ueberclusterfuck, full system meltdown. The Collapse is very possible few years from now.
Comment by tim73 — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
If so, is it to only me that that sounds a bit strange.
I too find that very strange. How can you guys have a secret ballot if you tell your choice before hand? Secret ballot is secret for a good reason.
I find the entire US political system to be kinda odd. Two-party system is hardly any better than one-party system! How can you choose between Kang and Kodos, they are both alike.
Comment by Leevi — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
“Initial jobless claims this past week, for instance, showed that job losses were far below recession levels.”
Humm, so the job market is OK.
“Caterpillar, which announced record profit for 2007 on Friday”
Humm, so a evil corporation is doing OK
National Bureau of Economic Research has not decided that a recession is occurring
Humm, where does Timmy get his point of view? The media?
Comment by winter, "Yea, Proton Power, now in remission" — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 4:53 pm
Phil, Alan Keyes is probably running because G-d told him to. He’s out there spreading his religious message. His campaign never got any traction. I don’t think he even gets to be on the ballot in all states but Maryland is his home state. So if you want to vote for your homeboy, vote Keyes. At least he’s still running, Tancredo, Hunter and Thompson have all called it quits. It’s possible to vote for them, though, and for Thompson delegates. Apparently there are no Keyes delegates on the ballot even in MD.
Comment by Helsinkian — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 5:34 pm
Since Alan Keyes has completely failed to have any impact on the Republican race, there is the slight possibility of him going for the Constitution Party nomination later on. He could even win that one!
Comment by Helsinkian — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 5:48 pm
@21 I too find that very strange. How can you guys have a secret ballot if you tell your choice before hand? Secret ballot is secret for a good reason.
But publicity is good… you know like in tax records… oops *brain meltdown*
Yeah, I can’t understand either. In Finland its forbidden even to show party colors at an election site.
Comment by Hank W. — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 6:09 pm
Recession? Please. All of these businesses are crushing under full order books. Lets atart talking about recession when people start lining up for bread. The last time I saw that was in……Helsinki.
Comment by Fred Fry — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 8:46 pm
Tim, answer the question. Total meltdown as you forecast will be replaced by what? Give me the end game. Ladbrokes are waiting.
Comment by Punter — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
I was impressed by what Ron Paul has to say. His idea of 0% income tax is interesting, especially when America doesn’t hold to a strong social welfare system (as we are led to believe).
The U.S economy is more robust than people think and I predict that by the end of this year oil prices will be down, interest rates will be low and banks will be recapitalized. There’ll be money in the system. A low flat rate of income tax (non-progressive) would work well and the new president will make sure the economy is the number one focus. I also predict a slow withdrawal from Iraq, a decreasing of tensions with Iran, increased competition with China becoming the main focus again and a general return to optimistic markets. The U.S would never get into such a financial state that a Roosevelt ‘New Deal’ would be required. The economy will pick up late Q4 2008 - Q1 2009. Whoever becomes the next president would do well to focus on domestic issues and they will be lucky because the economy should pick up just as they enter their first term.
Comment by Andy Campbell — Tue, Jan 29th, 2008 @ 10:30 pm
I don’t quite understand this. You register with the voting authorities as a member of a political party? Have I understood correctly? If so, is it to only me that that sounds a bit strange.
Each state is different. In some states, you could be a Dem but show up and vote Rep. In other states this doesn’t work. I remember back in 2000 in Maryland, Independents and 3rd Parties could vote in the Republican Primaries, all 3rd parties except the Libertarians. It is a bit strange.
Comment by Phil — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 12:41 am
“Lets atart talking about recession when people start lining up for bread. The last time I saw that was in……Helsinki.”
Which, apparently, has never decreased in numbers since the early 90s recession.
Tim is just jerking himself off with wishful thinking as he’s too stupid to figure out that if the US tanks that badly that Finland will, too. The EU market crash last monday wasn’t due to the US but the French surprise $7billion fraud in the central bank.
Phil, in MA I’ve registered as ‘undecided’. That way I can take my pick of which scum sucking politician to vote for. Fuckers. God, I hate election years.
Comment by hfb — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 2:30 am
“Tim, answer the question. Total meltdown as you forecast will be replaced by what? Give me the end game. Ladbrokes are waiting.”
Why it should be replaced? You Anglo-Saxon idiots actually do not produce anything except this universal language chosen by random. Do you see superior Australian, English, Yankee cars? No, no and no. You are just….shit.
Comment by tim73 — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 2:34 am
Lovely language though.
Comment by tim73 — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 2:37 am
“Tim is just jerking himself off with wishful thinking as he’s too stupid to figure out that if the US tanks that badly that Finland will, too”
Yeah, sure. About SIX PERCENT of EXPORTS goes to USofA. But since when facts have like had an impact to your family?
Comment by tim73 — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 2:40 am
But hfb, do not worry my dear lady! You and your family are about to experience the real big bad Depression.
Comment by tim73 — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 2:43 am
The U.S economy is more robust than people think…
Which planet are you on? The U.S. has never seen anything even resembling what she is facing at the moment. The country is bankrupt.
Watch Glenn Beck’s report The Real Story, Touching the Third Rail (9 mins.) from January 9th.
Comment by Liber Al — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 9:00 am
Wow! I haven’t commented in so long that your site’s cookie actually disappeared from my computer.
New York City votes on Tuesday. Big day ahead for us. Wish you were here!
By the way, that’s not all you’re missing, babes. I had my “In the Flesh Erotic Reading Series” debut. Since you’re on the other side of the pond, I posted the video on my YouTube and Facebook. Enjoy! 
When are you coming to these parts again?
Comment by funkybrownchick — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 9:27 am
@35 The video you linked to was very interesting and could be made into a topic of it’s own here. However I still don’t think things are as ‘broken’ as the video suggests. Firstly military spending and costly foreign engagements will be cut allowing short-term deficits to be plugged. Secondly large amounts of money as foreign investment (a lot from the middle-east) are and will be coming into America and the dollar will continue to be weak. Thirdly money supply is not as transparent as it has been in the past meaning that as long as inflation is kept under check the treasury can basically put more money into the system.
I agree that the deficits need to be addressed but the U.S is one side of a world economic system that is slightly unbalanced at the moment. The U.S economy is out of whack but is still robust enough not to collapse mostly because it is supported by other economies.
Comment by Andy Campbell — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 1:58 pm
liber al - Glen Beck is a nutjob who is a sensationalist for his show on CNN.
Comment by hfb — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
hfb, if you actually watch the clip you will see that it’s not about Glenn Beck. What makes the clip interesting is what Beck’s interviewee, the head of the government accountability office (GAO), Comptroller General David Walker has to say.
Andy,
- I don’t hear the presidential candidates (other than Ron Paul) talking about seriously cutting military spending. McPain, for example, says he would be fine with U.S. staying in Iraq for 100 years. U.S. military overseas costs 1 trillion a year. The only way to even attempt to save U.S. economy would require bringing home troops from all 750 military bases around the world.
- the treasury putting more money into the system is what creates the inflation. Every new dollar created inflates the value of all existing dollars.
- China and Japan are increasingly uninterested in continuing to fund the U.S.
- slightly unbalanced you say?
- U.S. economy will crash in 2008, that’s not the question. The question is when exactly. The reason this is interesting is because of the election. It may well affect the outcome.
Comment by Liber Al — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 11:22 pm
Liber - What, you think Social Security will actually still be around in 10 years? I worry less about SS than about the price of fuel and food these days which have skyrocketed in just the last year. There was an interesting graph in the Economist showing how sharply food prices have risen in the past few years and even I was surprised. Forget retirement, what about surviving on an average middle-class salary?
Comment by hfb — Thu, Jan 31st, 2008 @ 12:18 am
“Why it should be replaced?”
Timmy Timmy Timmy replaced with what? Come on, we asked, now you tell the blog.
Gee
Comment by winter “Yea, Proton Power, now in remission†— Thu, Jan 31st, 2008 @ 3:21 am
@ Liber Al - You make some good points. I just hope it doesn’t happen as you and others are suggesting and I just find it hard to believe that we are back to Keynesian big boom big slump theory.
One thing that happened in 2006 was that the treasury stopped reporting on money supply. The idea was to hide the extent to which the government could interfere with or prop up the markets. The effect of not knowing how much money the treasury is putting into the economy generally acts to weaken the dollar over the long term and a weak dollar obviously increases the cost of imports like oil etc. The nightmare scenario for the states would be high inflation, weak dollar, high oil prices. Hopefully Bush won’t be a Hoover and the economy won’t tank as bad as you think.
If the U.S can keep inflation under control and restore some transparency to money supply and thereby start to strengthen long-term faith in the dollar then we’ll see lower oil prices and increased confidence in the market.
Personally I think a republican president would make things a lot worse. My guess is that the Clinton team will get the nod. People want to see Bill back in the White house.
Comment by Andy Campbell — Thu, Jan 31st, 2008 @ 4:55 am
Winter, you fucking idiot. System collapse doesn’t mean that you have to convert to communism. It just means really bad next ten years. See: Britain after empire fell.
Comment by Juho Salo — Thu, Jan 31st, 2008 @ 12:56 pm
National Taxpayers Union: Only Ron Paul Would Cut Spending
“According to the report, Congressman Paul’s proposals would cut government spending by over $150 billion, a conservative estimate of the spending reductions Dr. Paul has proposed. The report concludes that the other remaining Republican candidates, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Mike Huckabee, have proposed spending increases of $19.5 billion, $6.9 billion and $54 billion respectively.”
Comment by Liber Al — Thu, Jan 31st, 2008 @ 2:39 pm
The only conclusion one can make of this is that the neocons actually want to bankrupt the country. Perhaps in preparation of introducing the Amero?
Comment by Liber Al — Thu, Jan 31st, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
Each state is different. In some states, you could be a Dem but show up and vote Rep. In other states this doesn’t work. I remember back in 2000 in Maryland, Independents and 3rd Parties could vote in the Republican Primaries, all 3rd parties except the Libertarians. It is a bit strange.
Yes, it sounds it. To me it sounds like everything is geared up - even to the extent of officialdom - to support the two parties and ensure that it’s very difficult for others to get a foothold. I really find it hard to think that the state authorities organising the elections for what should be internal party matters is that compatible with democracy. It at least hinders it for the anyone who’s not a (D) or (R).
I’d find it quite troubling if the authorities started collecting details on political party affiliations and then the Elections unit of the Justice ministry organised the vote for party chairmen.
Comment by JG — Thu, Jan 31st, 2008 @ 3:45 pm