Texsox

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 28, 2011 -> 12:04 PM) I am saying we have done everything under the sun to make voting easier. We had literally hundreds of hours of early voting time available to people, in addition to absentee balloting that only required a phone call and a stamp as a registered voter. We also have multiple ways to register to vote, including going to the DMV for anything, the courthouse, running into any candidate at all during election season, or again through mail. I have a hard time looking at all of this and taking charges of disenfranchisement seriously, when turnout ends up being around 20% for a general election. Short of putting it on facebook, it is about impossible to make it easier for people to vote than it is today. We haven't done everything under the sun, but I agree in principle with all you wrote. While you jest regarding putting it on Facebook, why not on-line? It won't necessarily help the poor voters, but it would help some groups. And the fact you can't take this seriously is one of the complaints that Dems have traditionally addressed while Reps seem to dismiss it. Poor people are complaining and one party doesn't take them seriously. Isn't listening and serving part of government?

Thank you sir. A follow up question. What is the commonality in limestone and what would make one area's limestone different? All of the dikes we saw were rolling up and down, never of the same height. As I understand they were formed by molten rock squeezed up through openings, it is just a small sample size that caused us to only see the rolling dikes or is there some factor I am missing that causes rolling waves?

A few questions about the geology of Big Bend National Park Any idea what this is and how it formed? We viewed a formation where a gray/cocoa layer, very thin, seemed to have formed over some pink (limestone?). Was this rock or perhaps a lichen? There is a layer of limestone that the park rangers called Santa Elana limestone. How is limestone named and are there significant differences between limestone in various locations around the world? The area was overgrazed which set up a series of events leading to the desert environment there now. There are many minor and major washes crisscrossing the desert. Were these a result of the increased run off as the area changed from grasslands to desert? I may need to hire you for a week, the area is so fascinating. We wore out a couple rangers with questions.

SS I am certainly conflicted here, but shouldn't voters in every state have the option to vote for any of that party's candidates? Why should one state be given the choice of nine candidates and another state only two? I see Rex's point that a candidate should show some organization in a state, but if someone can win a stae without much organization,doesn't that say a lot about that candidate?

Alpha, you a certainly right that people need to out effort in. But there should not be a price. But we each have a different perspective on poverty in America.

SS are you suggesting that a low voter turnout is evidence that people are not kept from voting? I am not following your argument. I would think that is evidence that there are barriers to voting that people are not willing to overcome. Wouldn't making it easier increase turnout?

The team's fortunes hinged on Dunn's bat. Statistically it was a good bet. I don't think Oz had much of a choice. The annoying part is I believe Oz enjoyed it.

Only in the gulf.

Just another thought, how do the voters in a state where the candidate is left off the ballot benefit? Their state gets ignored.

I agree for the parties knowing which candidates have a campaign presence is a good thing, I don't believe it is as valuable to the voters. In a prequel to a national election, isn't it valuable to know how every candidate performs in every state? In the general election everyone will have the same choice, shouldn't that also hold true in the primary?

Again, if they are not voting now, even more reason to work towards eliminating those barriers. Both in registering and in voting. Doesn't matter if they are poor people in the sticks or soldiers away from home.

My girlfriend and I will be spending a couple of days in San Antonio then on to Big Bend.

I was joking about Joe and Jay, but I thought literary villains were allowed. They dominated my list.

So do we sink to the lowest standard? They did it first? When will it end? Can it end before it is too late?

Right, and if those 50 states could agree on the same requirements, I believe it would be a nice step forward. We know who the main candidates are for the two major parties well in advance. Wouldn't it be nice if the top six or eight are on every ballot? What would it hurt? It seems like it hurts that, for example, in Virginia they will not have the same choices as someone in the next state over.

Actually campaigns, Churches, and other groups do offer transportation to the polls on election day. You believe it is lame, I've volunteered in some very poor areas of this county. People who barely survive. Living in colonias with no running water or electricity. Are they really going to spend even $1 in trying to vote? That $1 is a week's worth of tortillas or a couple pounds of beans. You may believe that it doesn't matter if they can vote or not. I believe every citizen should be allowed to vote and we should work to eliminate any barriers to that basic and fundamental right. You spoke of those soldiers. Several of our wars have been to being democracy to other countries. We are willing to invest time, treasure, and talent for people in other countries to vote, why seek to prevent citizens here from voting?

alpha, there is an expense to get to a facility for the id. In many places there is no public transportation to get to the facility. Also, the hours are an issue for the working poor who do not have the benefits of taking off to go get the id. It is a barrier that is more of an issue for the poor than anyone else. So it may be a stretch, but a small one, to call it a "tax". It is an expense that is more of a burden on the poor and unemployed than anyone else.

I can't believe Cowley or Jay didn't make the list.

Dems shut up about getting soldiers votes? I am offended by that remark.

What he did was vote in an incorrect precint and served on a local board. He was eligible to vote, he just may have voted in a local election in which he was not eligible. He also prevented someone from the local area to serve on that board. How major do you consider that to be? I believe you used the phrase "all he needed to do" . . . Should he be punished and removed from office? Yes. Should the power shift in Indiana at the level it may? No.

Thank You Knight.

Thank you for sharing, that is so cool. I could live in that home.

I would like to see states come up with a national plan for Presidential races instead of the state by state method. I understand it will cause some small states to receive even less attention from campaigns, but this always seems too random.

You are right, all he had to do was stop serving on a board and vote in the correct location. That is a very minor thing to do, almost of no consequence or inportance. Yet those two minor things may switch the political balance in Indiana and negate what the voter's want. All this over serving on a local board and voting out of his area. Neither of which has any consequence on him being in office. I agree the law must be followed, and when it is, not only will White suffer, but every voter who voted for a Republican majority in Indiana will be punished as well.

As SS mentioned, it was a statewide election. My guess is the voters really didn't care which town he was from. I believe I am pretty consistent in this, not matter which party is involved. Did the person that the voters want get elected.