Category: Politics

The Political Landscape for 2022 and 2024

George Noga

The chance of a Trump – Clinton rematch may be greater than you think .

The Political Landscape for 2022 and 2024

By: George Noga – May 22, 2022

It’s time for a political update. I modestly remind readers that my prior political posts have proven to be accurate – not only in picking winners and losers but in analyzing the electoral forces that decide elections. For example, I wrote that Trump would lose in 2020 if suburban women deserted him and that is precisely what happened.

The Outlook for November 2022

Every pundit and pollster is predicting a Republican tsunami this November and it does not require a genius political IQ to understand why. Biden’s job approval rating is abysmal, Kamala Harris is an embarrassment and Nancy Pelosi remains radioactive. The Republicans have a wide margin in the generic ballot. Redistricting following the 2020 census will help the GOP – but only marginally. There are a slew of Democrats not seeking reelection and that benefits Republicans. Polls show Hispanic voters with only a 29% job approval of Biden – which should scare the bejesus out of Democrats.

And then there are the issues. It is a political axiom that people vote their pocketbooks; remember: “It’s the economy stupid”. No issue is greater than inflation because it is impossible to spin. Every time voters buy gas, food or just about anything, they are rudely reminded about inflation. This issue alone will sink Democrats, but they are underwater on virtually every other issue including: national security (Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iran), immigration, crime, Covid, supply chain, education and energy.

The GOP will win the House in 2022; the Senate is uncertain

Given the extreme unpopularity of top Dems and their positions on issues, it would be easy to go along with the herd and predict a Republican sweep this November. I am more cautious. In midterm elections, the party in power usually loses around 40 House seats; most observers are predicting a Dem loss of 60 or more seats. I believe the GOP gain will be more like 20-30 seats, in large part because they already gained about 20 seats in the 2020 election – directly reducing their potential gain for this year.

In the Senate, the mathematics are daunting for the GOP; they are defending 22 seats while the Dems are defending only 12. Much depends on the quality of the candidates the GOP is able to run. With strong, well-funded candidates, the GOP is likely to gain control of the Senate, but it is by no means a certainty. However, in 2024 the calculus is bleak for Dems who must defend 23 Senate seats versus only 10 for Republicans.

The Outlook for 2024

I have difficulty seeing Biden run; he may not complete his current term. I have greater difficulty seeing Harris as the nominee; she would lead her party to disaster. The US will be such an economic wreck in 2024 that neither Biden nor Harris is viable. I see Hillary Clinton making another run and it would be sheer folly to count her out. The Dems (with one exception) do not have candidates who are not extremists. Their best chance to win is with Amy Klobuchar, who also happens to be a woman.

On the Republican side, it is all about Donald Trump, who was a great president if you judge him solely on accomplishments. He would have won in a shoo-in if it were not for the pandemic. Even with the pandemic, he would have won handily but for his persona and so-called mean tweets. Nonetheless, he is the only Republican nominee who could lose – quite possibly to none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Age also could be a factor; Clinton would be 81 and Trump 83 when their terms ended. After the Biden fiasco, the country may not be in the mood for another geriatric presidency.

Any Republican but Trump will be heavily favored in 2024.

Unlike the Dems, the GOP has a strong bench: inter alia, Cotton, DeSantis, Pence and Cruz. Any one of these (plus some others) would be heavily favored to win – easily defeating Hillary – who still has ultra high negatives. The only election Hillary can win is against Trump and for the same reason he lost in 2020 – suburban women.

With the sole caveat noted supra, the Republican nominee will be an overwhelming favorite in 2024 – mainly because the US will be an economic basket case with either continuing high inflation or a deep recession – or quite possibly both. Democrat failures in handling defense, foreign affairs, immigration, crime, energy and education all will come home to roost. The presidency will be the Republicans to lose; however, they are fully capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

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Next on May 29th – A Catalog of Government Abominations

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Identity Politics and Tribalism

George Noga

Identity politics is a cancer growing in America; we must not let it metastasize!

Identity Politics and Tribalism

By: George Noga – November 28, 2021

With progressives, it is identity politics uber alles. This is reflected in Biden’s cabinet, which includes the first African-American defense secretary, the first gay cabinet officer, the first woman of color to head OMB, the first woman DNI, the first Hispanic secretaries at Homeland Security and HHS and the first woman treasury secretary. Checking off all the PC racial, ethnic, gender and LGBTQ boxes is all that counts.

This monomaniacal focus on identity comes at a steep price. To begin, there are nagging doubts about merit, competence and true equality. Progressives wield diversity mainly as a weapon to silence criticism and opposition. They have created a tyranny of diversity which undermines other values. Moreover, identity politics harms those who putatively benefit from being placed in exalted positions; they are subject to lingering but sub-rosa questions whether they owe their positions to identity or to merit.

Identity politics leads to tribalism, misunderstanding, anger and hostility.

Identity politics inevitably intensifies tribalism, which is anathema to the body politic. Tribalism has been the default condition for most of human history, but life in a tribe is easy in all the wrong ways and for all the wrong reasons. Tribal members don’t ever have to think; they just believe whatever the tribe says is right. Now, due to identity politics, we are seeing more and more Americans becoming tribal about where and how they live, work, socialize, vacation, marry and educate their children. This leads to anger, misunderstanding and hostility. It is a cancer we must not let metastasize.

Identity Politics is a Marxist Construct

Identity politics has a Marxist provenance. At the heart of Marxism lies class struggle, the belief workers, abused by capitalism, would arise, seize the means of production and create a workers paradise. However, as Ludwig von Mises pointed out (see our 10/3/21 post at www.mllg.us), Marx did not see workers also as consumers; he believed they were slaves under capitalism and would remain slaves under socialism.

In actual practice, Soviet-style Marxism brutally murdered over 100 million of its own people. It was a economic disaster; see our 10/24/21 post about the Trabant compared to the Mercedes. The human carnage and economic destruction were so monumental, that even die-hard Marxists understood that workers in Western Europe, North America, Japan and elsewhere would never accept the idea of class struggle.

Marxists desperately needed an alternative, so they substituted race and ethnic struggle for class struggle, which led directly to identity politics and Critical Race Theory. They mean to end private property and redistribute everything according to race. They aim to abolish individual rights in favor of group rights based on race and ethnicity.

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Fortunately, many things unite Americans: culture, history, language, traditions, flag, manners, landmarks, national symbols and sacrifices of past generations. In closing, we recall the salving words of Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural address.

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely as they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Next: Our Christmas special features that great humanitarian, Ebenezer Scrooge.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Blexit: Black Exit From Democratic Party

George Noga
A 10 point shift (from 90% to 80%) in the Democrat share of the black vote makes AZ, FL, MI, NC, OH, PA and WI reliably red and it turns CO, MN and NV purple.
Blexit: Black Exit From Democratic Party
By: George Noga – June 2, 2019

          It’s happening! There is an unmistakable shift underway in black voting patterns. MLLG was among the very first to recognize it in our February 12, 2017 post, on our website: www.mllg.us. Now, the rest of the political world is catching up. This movement has a name, blexit, a term coined by Kanye West and Candace Owens. Blexit is the black exodus from the Democratic Party, but it also includes Latinos and other minorities. Google “blexit” to find a cornucopia of additional information.

        Let’s begin with numbers. To utterly transform American politics, Republicans don’t need to win the black vote; they only need to win an additional 10 percentage points more than in 2016, i.e. to increase their share from 10% to 20%. This would shift 2 million Democratic votes to Republican – a swing of 4 million votes.

          MLLG analyzed such a hypothetical shift on a state-by-state basis. Using official 2016 vote data, we calculated the results of moving an additional 10 ppts of the black vote from Dem to Rep. The results were shocking. Arizona, Florida, Michigan North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin all would become reliably red states. Moreover, Colorado, Minnesota and Nevada would go from being blue to purple.

       The black vote during Obama’s two elections was 95% and 93% Democratic respectively. In 2016 it reverted back to pre-Obama levels of 88%-90%. However, recent polls show Trump getting 20% of the black vote. Democrats are faced with the Sisyphean task of needing 90% of the black vote; if they win only 80%, they are sunk.

There is absolutely no room for Dems on the upside; it is all downside risk for them.

          This shouldn’t come as a surprise to Democrats, who pander to blacks in election years. Afterward however, blacks still live in the same dysfunctional, crime-infested neighborhoods with the same failed government schools and the same desperate economic prospects. Progressive policies don’t alleviate problems of black Americans, they exacerbate them. Blacks understand this and resent that their votes are captured. 

        Democrats must quit seeing racists behind every tree. Racism has been thoroughly delegitimized; every white supremacist and klansman in America likely could fit inside a high school gym. Blacks in America today are victims of progressivism, not racism. The best antidotes to progressivism’s failures are education, personal initiative, free markets, hard work, thrift and family values. After 70 years of horribly failed liberal policies devastating inner cities, blacks are beginning to push back – hence, blexit.

“Blacks in America today are victims of progressivism, not racism.”

       One issue driving blexit is school choice, which is the civil rights issue of our time. Black leaders (unionists, politicians, educrats) stand in the schoolhouse door keeping poor black children hostage in failed government schools. Black and Hispanic voucher moms are responsible for the 2018 gubernatorial victories of DeSantis and Ducey in Florida and Arizona respectively. If Republicans make school choice a national issue in 2020 as they should, it would scare the bejesus out of progressives.

         Liberalism has failed miserably to improve the daily lives of blacks despite 70 years of progressive rule in inner cities and in deep blue states and after eight years of a black president. Meanwhile, in just a few years, Trump virtually eliminated black unemployment. Blacks, in ever increasing numbers, and led by a new cadre of smart, articulate, conservative leaders like West and Owens, understand they have nothing to lose by abandoning their unquestioned allegiance to failed progressive policies.

         The blexit movement is catching fire and has an aura of historical inevitability. As Trump constantly reminds blacks, “What the hell do you have to lose?“

Next: Hotel Europe – You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave.
More Liberty Less Government  –  mllg@mllg.us  –  www.mllg.us 

Enduring Principles of American Politics

George Noga
The first and foremost principle is that America is a center-right country. 
Enduring Principles of American Politics
By: George Noga – May 26, 2019

           Judging by our feedback, readers can’t seem to get enough of our non-partisan political analysis. Many readers have requested a posting that contains a complete listing of MLLG’s principles of American politics. This post fulfills that request.

 

          Presidential elections are influenced by, inter alia, parties, candidates, events, issues, ads and debates. Based on American political history and tradition, MLLG has identified eight enduring principles that exert an outsized effect in determining who wins; such principles usually transcend parties, candidates, issues and events. These principles provide you a strong foundation to better understand the 2020 election.

1. America is a center-right country. Forget this principle and you get a Goldwater or McGovern-like outcome. This remains true in 2020; all the prattle about democratic socialism is limited to about 20% of the population. The only center-left candidates elected in the past 75 years were Carter and Clinton, southern state governors, and Obama, who ran as a centrist, was a rare political talent and faced insipid competition.

2. Economics trumps all else. Clinton’s mantra “It’s the economy, stupid.” was exactly on target. If the economy in 2020 remains robust, it creates a powerful tailwind for the incumbent. Every econometric model shows Trump winning handily if the economy remains strong. Voters always reward a politician who makes them better off.

3. There are no permanent majorities. Issues, positions, alliances and demographics continually shift and minority parties skillfully adapt. Movements of all types get subsumed into larger groups. This principle is not relevant to the 2020 election.

4. Money is important but not dispositive. Clinton spent $1.2 billion to Trump’s $600 million in 2016 and still lost. Any serious candidate will get the necessary funding. Spending money has diminishing returns and, at some point, negative returns – a case in point being Huffington’s 1994 CA senate race. Money will not be a factor in 2020.

5. Incumbency is powerful. In the past 126 years, only 2 elected presidents lost head-to-head elections. Americans always vote for the fool they know over the devil they don’t. This principle, ceteris paribus, confers great advantage to Trump in 2020.

6. The longer a party is in power, the more likely it is to lose. With only the exceptions of FDR and the post Civil War era, we must go back 225 years to see any party in power for more than 12 consecutive years. This is not a factor for 2020.

7. Define yourself before your opponent does; as a corollary, define your opponent before he does. It is essential to define who you are with the electorate; failure to do so lets your opponent define you. Like a good joke, defining yourself and your opponent must contain some truth to be effective. Trump is a master of this principle and he employed it to great effect in the 2016 primaries and general election.

8. Polls and approval ratings have limited value. The value of polls lies in identifying issues and sentiment more than who is ahead or behind. Polls today are notoriously inaccurate and undercount Trump support by 3-5 points; no major poll predicted a Trump victory in 2016. Don’t get too worked up over early polls, or any polls for that matter. Remember that many Americans don’t seriously focus on elections until after Labor Day and often don’t decide until weeks, or even days, before an election. Carter led Reagan well into October, yet Reagan ended up winning 44 states.

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       As you watch the 2020 election drama unfold, there is one wild card with the potential to utterly disrupt politics as usual. I am referring to the “blexit” movement, i.e. the black exit from the Democratic Party. MLLG was among the very first to identify this trend in our February 12, 2017 post (see it on our website: www.mllg.us). Next week’s post is devoted 100% to blexit. This is a post you won’t want to miss!

Blexit – the black exodus from the Democratic Party – is next up on June 2nd.
More Liberty Less Government  –  mllg@mllg.us  –  www.mllg.us

Political Principles and Fake Media Honors

George Noga
Americans prefer to vote for the fool they know rather than for the devil they don’t.
Political Principles and Fake Media Honors
By: George Noga – April 11, 2019

          Previously, we blogged about some key non-partisan principles of American politics ; (1) there are no permanent majorities; (2) the longer any party is in power, the greater the chance it will lose; and (3) the role of money. Now, another principle, i.e. the power of incumbency.  We will identify more principles in future postings.

Principle: The Power of Incumbency

           In the 126 years since 1893 there have been only two elected presidents who lost reelection in a head-to-head race. Hoover lost because of the Great Depression and Carter lost due to economic disaster and fecklessness. Throughout history, Americans strongly prefer to vote for the fool they know rather than for the devil they don’t.

       And yes, this bedrock principle of American politics applies to our current president. According to econometric models with sterling track records for picking presidential winners, Trump would be a heavy favorite if the election were held today. Donald Luskin of TrendMacrolytics, which tracks GDP growth, gas prices, income, inflation, tax burden and payrolls, has Trump with 294 electoral votes in a blowout. Yale/Fair asserts Trump will win 54% to 46% even with just a mediocre economy. Politico says Trump has a strong shot at winning reelection in a landslide.

           Anything can – and likely will – happen between now and November 2020, but it would be a huge mistake to underestimate the power of incumbency. By the way, you won’t see anything like this (see infra) in the New York Times or on CNN.

Democrat Party 2020 Platform

          Based on their own proclamations, democrats stand for: reparations for slavery, a new wealth tax, impeachment, late-term abortion and infanticide, 70% top income tax rate, giving felons and 16-year-olds the vote, refusal to repudiate anti-semitism, free college tuition, Medicare for all, abolition of the electoral college, amnesty for illegal aliens, packing the Supreme Court, federal jobs guarantee for all, $15 minimum wage, green new deal (no air travel or cows and one car per family), abolishing ICE, major cuts to defense, abolishing filibusters, single-payer (government) health care, federal licensing and control of large corporations, gun control, nationalizing voter registration, abolishing or changing the Senate, imposing democratic socialism, statehood for DC and Puerto Rico and tearing down the existing walls on our southern border. With popular ideas like these, how can democrats possibly lose?

Journalistic Honors: The Pulitzer Prize and The Cronkite Award

          Recently, my wife and I spent a few weeks in a remote venue with access only to the New York Times and CNN. I had forgotten how truly horrid they are. There was no line demarcating news and opinion; they covered only stories fitting their narrative; and much of it was fake. They persisted in ballyhooing Trump-Russia collusion long after it was dead obvious to most regular people that it was mighty thin gruel.

         It is therefore fitting that the most prestigious journalistic honors are named after purveyors of fake news. Joseph Pulitzer was a scurrilous, muck-raking yellow dog publisher, best known for his fake news promoting the Spanish-American War. Walter Cronkite achieved his acclaim based on fake reporting of the Tet offensive. Moreover, these awards are given only to progressive journalists who toe the party line.

Fake reporters reporting fake news receive fake journalism

awards named for fake journalists famous for fake reporting.

       These journalism awards are so fake they inspired us to come up with similar awards for other professions such as: the Kevorkian/Gosnell Prize for Excellence in Medicine, the Bernie Madoff Award for Distinction in Finance or the John Gotti Prize for Accomplishment in Law Enforcement. We could go on, but you get the drift.

Next on April 14th – Did HRC really win the 2016 popular vote?

Why the Left is Unhinged

George Noga
This special MLLG posting explains why the left is so apoplectic after the election.
With a government so powerful it could incarcerate Mother Theresa, no one is safe.
Why the Left is Unhinged
By: George Noga – January 17, 2016
     Many of our fellow citizens on the left have become unhinged in the election’s aftermath. The main reason, thanks largely to Obama, is that presidents have become more like kings, wielding enormous power unthinkable to the founders. If presidents and all elected and appointed officials honored the Constitution, it would matter little who occupied the oval office, Congress or the judiciary. We are supposed to have a national government of few, limited and enumerated powers within a federalist system. Who is mayor or governor should be more important than who is president. However, kings affect our lives infinitely more than presidents acting within the Constitution.
     For those on the latte-left, government has supplanted religion. There was a time when we Americans saved most of our passion for religion. No more. The progressive herd not only has abandoned religion but now mocks and condemns it. They have transferred all their passion to politics, explaining much of their post-election angst.
     They not only lost an election but now see a veritable Lucifer wielding the same unchecked power Obama usurped. The progressive religion explains why libs have a messianic fervor about climate, guns, environment, identity, etc. They regard honest differences over policy as apostasy. If you have a different view about immigration, you are a racist, Islamaphobe and xenophobe – no discussion permitted. Moreover, they want to criminalize expressing your views as hate speech and to throw you in jail.
     Thirdly, everything is now political, including many things never before considered political such as science, religion, news, media and education. Science has been corrupted due to the vast quantities of federal money doled out in grants. The federal government spends $3,000 to every $1 spent by others for climate research. You get what you pay for. The media are now advocates; honest reporting has disappeared and fake news proliferates. Even fact checkers are corrupted. Facebook employs liberal censors and uses tainted, ideological fact checkers to control content.
    Finally, there is SCOTUS with one seat open and the federal judiciary with 100 open seats. There was a time when seasoned (older) largely apolitical judges were chosen on merit, served for a limited time (10-15 years), retired and soon moved on to the great court in the sky. Today, young judges are appointed because they don’t have a record that can be used against them and more importantly because, with today’s longer life expectancy, they can serve forever. As a result, the stakes for SCOTUS are sky high.
     I close with a favorite anecdote to illustrate the frightening power of the federal government. During the 1980s when Rudy Giuliani was US attorney for New York, he and his staff had a favorite game. They would select well known people from all walks of life and determine for how many federal crimes they could be indicted. Everyone, no matter how good his/her character, could be sent to prison. Included in this group was Mother Theresa. And that was 30 years ago; today it is worse – infinitely worse.
Next on January 20th is our special MLLG Inauguration Day posting.

Les Deplorables – Special Posting

George Noga
The 2016 election will be decided by les deplorables – good-hearted, hard-working
Americans branded as racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamophobic.
Les Deplorables – Special Posting

By: George Noga – September 20, 2016

       I tuned out election prattle all summer, knowing nothing much matters until after Labor Day. Back in the loop and with fresh eyes and ears, I now sense a denouement to the election coinciding with Hillary’s “basket of deplorables” comment. I don’t purport to know who will win the election, but I now know how it will be decided.

     The 2016 election will be decided by les deplorables, i.e. those who are fed up with political correctness, which is really about coercion, intimidation and control with the ultimate objective of criminalizing speech distasteful to elites. It will be decided by the  basket of deplorables in rust belt America whose jobs and income have stagnated for a decade but are patronizingly scolded that all is well. It will be decided by coal miners and energy workers victimized by elitist environmental zealots. Les deplorables even have a theme song, “Do you hear the people sing?” from Les Miserables.

 

“Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!”

     The election will be decided by les deplorables, good-hearted, hard-working Americans branded as racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamophobic. That remark was no slip of the tongue; it was an insight directly into the dark soul of progressives and their loathing of fly-over America. It will be decided by legions of 29ers, 49ers and victims of Obamacare’s high premiums, deductibles and co-pays.

     The election will be decided by les deplorables revulsed at the latte-left’s perversion of American history and its role in the world and by repugnance over campus idiocies such as trigger warnings, microaggressions and safe rooms. It will be decided by deplorables’ disgust at legalized theft by public sector unionism and particularly by teachers unions standing in the schoolhouse door blocking poor children from leaving.

     The election will be decided by les deplorables‘ outrage about being lied to ad nauseam. Elites lie congenitally about terrorism; they always opt for lies over truth.  Hillary lies so often it is hard to keep track; there was Whitewater, cattle futures, White House travel office, sniper fire in Bosnia, emails, Benghazi and now pneumonia-gate.

     Les deplorables will decide the November election; the only questions remaining are how many of them turn out and will it be enough. I can hear the people singing; it is the music of a people who will not be slaves again – slaves to political correctness, slaves to name calling, slaves to a moribund economy and slaves to progressive lunacy and lies. Could there be a new life about to start – when November comes?

Hypocrisy of Jefferson-Jackson Day

George Noga

Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinners are now being held. The hypocrisy

in its honoring of slaveholders and genocidal Indian fighters is too rich to ignore.

By: George Noga – April 10, 2016 

   Although this posting has Democrats in its cross-hairs, I am obliged to repeat that our MLLG blog is non-partisan. We disdain both major political parties. Our lodestar is the same as our name, i.e. more liberty and less government. Sometimes however, hypocrisy is so glaring it cries out for attention; this is one of those times.

    The Democratic Party’s annual gig is the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, so named  because they regard Jefferson and Jackson as the founders of the Democratic Party. To say it is pregnant with hypocrisy is an understatement. Let’s review the historical record of Jefferson and Jackson as it pertains to slavery and Native Americans.

  • Both Jefferson and Jackson owned slaves. Jefferson was the only founder and president who did not free his slaves – even upon his death.
  • The cruelty of Jackson’s Indian removal policy (“The Trail of Tears“) is legion and remains an enduring stain on American national honor.
  • Jackson was ruthless in the Creek War and in later wars against the Choctaws, Cherokees, Chickasaws and Seminoles. His nickname was “Indian killer“.
  • Jackson was in command while his troops butchered Indian women and children following battles or massacres; some called it (and still call it) genocide.
  • Jackson was an aggressive defender of slavery; this was in sharp contrast to Washington, Madison and Monroe all of whom regarded it as a moral evil.
  • Jackson supported the spread of slavery to the territories and he once publicly called opponents of slavery “monsters“.

    Contrast the above with recent events where obsequious Democrats caterwauled over perceived transgressions regarding confederate flags on license plates or flying on state capitol grounds – which incidentally were first put there by Democrat governors. Unctuous Democrat leaders used terms such as bigotry, racism and oppression while calling for boycotts of any events held in South Carolina or any other offending state.  

    Republicans have their annual event, the Lincoln-Douglass Day Dinner, named after Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Imagine if the Republicans’ annual dinner was called the Custer-Duke Day Dinner after George Custer and David Duke? The yowling and mewling of Democrats and their media sycophants would be incessant.  

    Democrats are considering a name change but can’t find prominent Americans of Democratic persuasion to use in place of Jefferson and Jackson. It seems they consider all potential historical figures imperfect and can’t find even one who passes through every politically correct filter extant. They may just abandon people’s names altogether and go with something anodyne like the “Fairness and Equality Day Dinner”.

    Since all historical figures now are imperfect to progressives, where does it all end? Can we judge a person as a whole giving credit for accomplishments while being less judgmental about flaws that were not considered as such contemporaneously but only now in today’s uber-correct political atmosphere? If the present trend continues there will be no statues or portraits left standing or hanging anywhere in America.  

    For now, let’s simply savor the juicy hypocrisy of the most politically correct and intolerant group in America naming its greatest honor for unreformed slaveholders, racists, genocidal Indian fighters and the perpetrator of the infamous Trail of Tears.  

If the Election Goes to the House of Representatives

George Noga
What happens if the presidential election goes to the House of Representatives?
You could be in for a surprise; the process may not work the way you believe.
By: George Noga – March 2, 2016

      MLLG is providing this post as a service to our readers. It is way too early to speculate about the outcome of the election; however, the possibility of a third (or fourth) party candidate is much greater this year. Michael Bloomberg is poised to enter the race and to spend billions of his own money under a variety of scenarios such as a Trump nomination or a Clinton indictment or medical crisis. Trump could run if denied the Republican nomination. There are some other plausible scenarios as well.

    Most Americans know if no candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College, the election goes to the House of Representatives (“House”). Once the election goes to the House however, the process operates much differently than is generally believed. You may want to print this post and retain it for future reference just in case.

    In early January 2017 in a joint session of the new Congress, the President of the Senate opens the Electoral College ballots; tellers count them; and the results are announced by state in alphabetic order. If there is no majority, the Twelfth Amendment prescribes what happens. The House must choose among the top three receiving votes in the Electoral College – the 12th Amendment says this is to be done “immediately”.

    Each state gets one vote regardless of size; Wyoming counts the same as California. To be elected president, the winner must receive 26 votes. Under a rule of the House (not a Constitutional provision) a majority of each state’s delegation must vote for one candidate. Florida has 27 house members; a majority of 14 is needed for Florida’s vote to count. There are 7 states with only one house member (AK, DE, MT, ND, SD, VT and WY); how they vote determines their entire state. If there is no majority (a tie for example) that state’s vote is not recorded. The process continues as long as necessary.

    Meanwhile, the Senate chooses the vice president from the two highest vote getters for vice president. Each senator gets one vote and a majority of 51 is needed for election. There is no requirement that the Senate coordinate its vote with the House and it is possible the president and vice president could be from different parties. Note: The 12th Amendment requires a quorum of two-thirds of the Senate to be present before voting for vice president; thus, any party with 34 senators could prevent a vote.

    The term for President Obama and Vice President Biden ends at noon on January 20, 2017. If the House has not acted by that time but the Senate has, then the Senate’s choice for vice president becomes Acting President. If neither the House nor the Senate has acted by January 20, then the Speaker of the House becomes Acting President with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate next in line.

    The president has been elected only once before under the 12th Amendment. In 1824, a four way election between Andrew Jackson, John Quincey Adams, William Crawford and Henry Clay left Jackson 32 votes short of an electoral college majority. Clay threw his support to Adams and on the first ballot Adams received 13 votes of the 25 states then extant – giving him a bare majority and the presidency.

    The next time you find yourself in a conversation and someone brings up the possibility of the 2016 election going to the House, you will be loaded for bear.

 The next post on March 6th revisits our favorite topic – climate change.
MLLG

My Days with Jeb Bush and Rand Paul 

George Noga
By: George Noga – January 10, 2016

     I have spent the better part of entire days one-on-one with Jeb Bush and Rand Paul; this is a simple account of the time I spent with each. Let’s begin with Jeb.

In the 1990s I founded the first school choice program in Florida by raising money to pay for private school for disadvantaged kids. The program was an instant success and I asked Jeb to speak at our inaugural banquet. While conversing with Jeb at the dinner, he asked if there was anything further he could do to help. Not being one to pass up an opening of such magnitude, I averred that since we had a waiting list of over 2,500 children, he could help me raise more money to fund these kids.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Jeb committed a day of his time to help raise money. The arrangements soon were made; I was to pick up Jeb at the airport one morning and drop him where he had a speaking engagement later that afternoon. Jeb was by himself, without staff or security, and we spent the day driving from meeting to meeting with heads of foundations and corporations. Jeb was well briefed and did his best to help me raise money. He solicited my thoughts about how best to expand school choice in Florida. He always was pleasant, modest and unassuming.

Jeb later got a corporate tax credit scholarship bill through the legislature permitting businesses to obtain dollar-for-dollar tax credits for donations to qualified scholarship funding organizations such as the one I started. Fast forward to 2016; the organization I founded now raises $300 million annually to fund nearly 70,000 scholarships for children from poor families attending failing government schools.

My day with Rand Paul occurred recently. Senator Paul and his family had planned a vacation to Disney World and, being a low handicap golfer, he wanted to play a great course while here. I serve as co-chair of the Center-Right Coalition of Central Florida and am known in political circles; further, my son had once done volunteer work for the senator. To complete this circle, I happen to belong to a club with a highly regarded golf course. The arrangements soon were cemented.

Rand drove his wife and children from Kentucky to Orlando without staff or security, He arrived at my club precisely on time. We practiced, played 18 holes (sharing a golf cart) and had a two hour lunch afterward. He never once used or even looked at any electronic device. He was an accomplished golfer and shot his handicap on a difficult golf course. At lunch, where we were joined by a few others I had invited, he solicited advice from each person about what needed to be done for the good of the country and answered all questions in a straightforward manner.

Both Jeb and Rand met Teddy Roosevelt’s famous approbation of “Hale fellow, well met“. They were unerringly pleasant, modest and solicitous of others. They did exactly what they said they would. Our beloved republic would be in good hands with leaders that had the character of Jeb Bush and Rand Paul.
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The next MLLG post identifies the keys to the 2016 election – look for it in about a week