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Reform Political Commentary
This 30 second commercial by the Bob Barr 2008 campaign says it all about the "bailout of Wall Street" voted "Aye" by both the major party candidates. Click the link to see this 30 second commercial on You-Tube: This commercial says it all so I will not comment further -Frank October 31, 2008 Comments of the day My comments on this last day of October once again relate to the upcoming election of a new President of the United States. In the past I have always "voted my conscience" and this year will be no different. Many of those who "jump on the bandwagon" for the candidate they think will win may be very sorry when the one elected comes into office and makes a big mess worse. I worry that if we give either major party candidate the nod, after the election they will steamroller over the people and do what their "corporate masters" tell them to do. I refuse to hold my nose and vote for either major party candidate because I don't think either is qualified to run the country, and because they are both so beholden to the big corporations, they will do as they're told. The 3rd party candidates are NOT bought and paid for to the same extent, and I will therefore be voting for a 3rd party candidate. The 3rd party debate between Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and Chuck Baldwin was excellent and if you have C-Span on cable or satellite, look for reruns. These people talked about the real issues important to the average American. Whatever you do, I urge you to look at ALL the candidates very carefully before you go to vote. I will continue to do so right up until I enter the voting booth next Tuesday (Yes- it is on Tuesday that we vote). Thanks for reading another rant. - Frank October 25, 2008 Comments of the day My commentary today is about "paper ballots". Comments I have seen on various TV reports are saying the electronic voting machines can be hacked into and votes changed to whatever the hacker so desires. The answer according to some is to go back to paper ballots. Then the answer given is "Oh -- We just don't have time to print and distribute paper ballots before the election. I have an answer to that one 1 - The daily newspapers in most jurisdictions publish a "sample ballot" so that people can decide before going into the polling place how they are going to vote. 2 - If these same newspapers can print a "sample" ballot, then they can surely print a "real" ballot, just by changing the name from "sample" to "real". The people could then take the "real" ballot to the polling place and stuff it through a slot in a box labeled "Ballot Box - place your vote here". The beauty of having the newspaper print the ballots is that it would cost the taxpayers zip, zero, de nada, and the newspapers would probably be glad to do it because they would sell more newspapers by just changing one word "sample" to "real" (or "official"). The printing and distribution networks are already in place to do this, wo what's the big deal. It's so simple it might just work, but don't expect any pol's who read this to jump on it. If they did do it they'd have to stop whining about how bad the electronic voting machines are. They would also probably get flak from the people who make the machines because the makers may have spent lots of lobbying money to get the machines accepted in The first place. If they decided to do this in Westmoreland County, PA, I would gladly volunteer to come down on election day and help count these ballots. On the other hand the absentee ballots all have to be counted so there's a mechanism already in place. OK -- I've had my rant for the day! Get back to me if you think it's a good idea. P.S. Can't help adding another comment that got generated by all the talk by the "major" media about "who, among the candidates running for President is qualified for the job. IMHO Sarah Palin is probably the most qualified of the four major Prez and Vice Prez candidates. It takes lots more administrative skills to be a state governor than to be a senator or representative. A governor does more things a president does, but it's just on a smaller scale, and it's confined to whatever state they are running. Senators and Representatives concentrate mostly on passing laws and don't really have the same kind of broad responibilities a governor has. IMHO she is the eagle that stands out in the herd of turkeys running now. Too bad, but I am probably going to vote for Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate, not because he is going to win (which he could), but because I think he better represents my values, (and I think the values of many other people who are for smaller government. Got that off my head so I'll quit now. -- Frank October 17, 2008 Comments of the day I received this message from the Bob Barr campaign and am passing it on as I received it with a link to the site. It was a little slow on my 56K dialup so be patient if you don't have all that "hispeed" stuff.
Hi. Americans deserve to hear from more than just two
presidential candidates -- especially when McCain and
Obama both support dangerous policy proposals like the
recent "surge" of bailouts. Former Congressman Bob Barr
has been speaking out against issues like this, but
many people aren't sure where he stands on the important
issues this election cycle. Please check out
Bob Barr TV October 15, 2008 Comments of the day A third party Presidential Debate will be held at Columbia University On Sunday October 19, 2008 at 8 PM. According to the news article I read in the Greensburg Tribune Review, Ralph Nader, independent, Cynthia McKinney, Green Party, Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party, Bob Barr, Libertarian Party, Barrack Obama, Democrat Party, and John McCain, Republican Party have been invited. The article further states that Bob Barr has a scheduling conflict. (IMHO Bob has his priorities wrong and is hurting himself by not appearing). As for Obama and McCain, I think they think they are above such a debate, because of their campaigns' misguided idea that they have nothing to fear from any of the 3rd party candidates, and could only damage their own chances by appearing there. (IMHO again - They are too CHICKEN (BUC!-BUC!-BUC!) to be on stage with these 3rd party "rabblerousers!" They might raise some REAL issues rather than talking canned, pre-programmed garbage and mud slinging!). October 8, 2008 Comments of the day
Bob Barr has a website for his run for President of Bob Barr's 2008 campaign website October 5, 2008 Comments of the day I found a neat video in an email from Breakthematrix.com. Breakthematrix has a website that promotes 3rd party candidates (not just one but the several who will beon the ballot in enough states to win the election for President of the United States in 2008. In my September 29 post I ran on-and-on about the importance and the real chance for third party candidates. I personally have decided to vote for Bob Barr. My hope is that Bob will get enough votes to keep either of the major party candidates from getting over 50% of the electoral votes. A powerful message would be sent by such an event. I am adding this video as a link. If you fell inclined to do so, please follow the instructions on how to forward the video to your friends, or if you have a website of your own, cut and paste the code for theis video so it can be seen by lots more people. Thanx -- Frank. P.S. - For those of you who might not remember, Russ Verney, Bob Barr's campaign manager was also Ross Perot's campaign manager during Ross's run for president on the Reform Party ticket. Having worked with Russ on past Reform Party campaigns I know he is doing a great job for Bob Barr. If you thought "taxation without representation" was bad, what about taxation with misrepresentation. Both Specter and Casey voted "yea" on the "supersized" ($850,000) U.S. Senate Wall Street bailout bill. I don't claim to have polling "evidence" that the people of Pennsylvania are against the bailout, but most of the people I know are against it. If either of these Senators are reading this "SHAME ON YOU!" AND I hope you pay dearly the next time you come up for re-election. I don't know about the other people but I will NOT forget this slap in the faces of your constituents. September 29, 2008 Comments of the day Today I am publishing a letter from myself concerning the "2008 presidential race". The "race" isn't really a race at this point. All the races I have seen, horse, auto, track and field, etc. have more than 2 people trying to be the fastest so they can win. Of two who have been chosen by the major parties, neither one IMHO is capable of running the country as it should be run. Yet the major media in the country is dwelling on these 2 (and their veeps who IMHO are also not qualified to lead this country should something happen the the president). These major media have spent tons of money financing these 2 candidates and so naturally they don't want anyone else winning. Othewise why would they spend all the money they do? They are counting on making fools of all of us by arguing that, A)You will waste your vote, or B)You will be draining votes from one or the other of the 2 major candidates if you don't vote for a major candidate. I think the only way you can waste your vote is by not voting at all. If you don't vote you are helping the major media "bullies" to continue their control over all of us. Well--- EXCUUUUUUSE MEEEE!!! as Steve Martin would say--- MM (Major Media) is beginning to lose its grip and influence on internet savvy people like you and me. Bloggers are cutting into the major media's influence and they are feeling the pinch. You might ask "what can I do to help fight the MM domination?
1) Tell 10 or more of your friends about my website Footnote - I am trying not to sway you to one candidate or another. That said -- I am trying to convince you that voting for a major party candidate is a big mistake. If enough people vote for minor candidates either by voting for those written on the ballot, or by "write-in", we just might derail the MM domination by throwing the election into the U.S. House of Representatives. If the constitution is followed, if neither of the candidates receives a clear majority (that is receive over 50% of the vote, then the election is "thrown into the House). By doing this the voters are sending a powerful message to the leadership that they are not happy with the "major party" candidates. This might also lead to a stronger "third party movement" in the future. And that IMHO would be GREAT! Note - The comments above and comments to be made in the future in this reform political commentary reflect the views of the authors of this column and of submitters of commentary published here
If you have comments or a "letter to the editor" you would like published here, please send such comments and/or letters to frank@frankernhart.com and we will do our best to publish them here. Please limit letters to 250 words or less. Also please include your name, address and telephone number. The only purpose for this requirement, is to allow us to verify that the letter is indeed yours. If you wish to remain anonymous, please let us know, otherwise we will publish your name as author of the letter Political links you may find interesting:
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