Hard pill to Swallow

John Swallow resigned from office. 

Not because his antics were costing the taxpayers he was elected to represent a shitload of money.

Not because his office was a laughingstock and having trouble being effective.

Not because it was the best thing for the state of Utah, but because, in his own words, it was costing himself too much money and causing himself too much stress.

In my opinion, he did it because he knew that he violated several election laws and was about to have his election annulled.

And in a final act of self-serving narcissism, instead of making his resignation effective immediately, he made it effective on December 3^rd, two days after he becomes eligible for a $12,000 a year state retirement pension.

Makes me want to barf!

Especially since the Lt. Gov. of Utah is not going to push to have his election annulled.

Double barf!

Woo Hoo!

Well, it was over a lot sooner than I expected.  But that’s ok, because I’m happy with the outcome and I’m happy not to be staying up till the wee hours of the morning.

I was off by 2, maybe 3 states.  I gave Colorado, Virginia and Florida to Romney.  Florida is still undecided, but the other to went to Obama.

But at least I was more down-to-earth than those 5 GOP enthusiasts that predicted a Romney landslide.

And NO, I’m not going to wait up to see where Florida falls, I can wait until I wake up later today to find that out.

Sticking my neck out.

I’m going to make a prediction for the 2012 Presidential Election.  Wishful thinking?  Maybe, but I still would bet that I’m a damn sight closer than the 5 Republicans predicting a Romney landslide in this article.

So, here’s my prediction: Obama wins reelection with 281 Electors to Romney’s 257.

And here’s the Flat Earth Society’s prediction map:  Romney wins the election with 359 Electors to Obama’s 179.

We’ll find out who’s closer on Tuesday.

See ya at the voting booth…

The internet sucks.

Half an hour searching the internet looking for the results for the Granite School Board elections. Nothing. Channel 2 and 13 didn't think the information was important enough to even put it on the little ticker-tape blurb on the bottom of the screen. My blood pressure was so high I heard someone yell "SELL". Thank God for the Salt Lake Tribune. Trekking out in the snow in nothing but shoes, my sleepin' shorts and a coat was worth it, it had ALL the info. So, if you haven't heard, here's the results that interest me:

• Barack Obama - 52% of the popular vote (McCain 47%) and 349 electoral votes (McCain 163). This is the first time in years that I have felt proud to be an American, and Obama's speech last night actually brought a tear to my eye. He was eloquent, intelligent, passionate and didn't blow hot air up our skirts. I voted for him as a vote against McCain (Bush Light), but I have to admit I was truly impressed and inspired by his speech.
• Connie Anderson - beat Granite School Board incumbent Patty Sandstrom 55% to 45%. Way to go Connie!
• Dan Lofgren - The other Granite School Board candidate I wanted to see win. And he did, just barely with 52% of the vote. Connie & Dan are going to be the Dynamic Duo of the Granite School Board. I suspect the Superintendent is sweating a bit this morning, despite the snow.
• Chris Buttars - Um, UnbeFreakinleavable! 49% to 45% the boneheads in West Jordan sent this bigotted homophobe back to office. I think it's because Gayle Ruzicka threatened to move there if they didn't.
• Dell Schanze - 3% of the vote. I laughed histerically. Until I realized that there were 21 THOUSAND people who voted for him. I was amazed to realize that there were that manyu people on the 5 West wing of the University Hospital.

This is it folks.

Election day 2008. An unprecedented number of people are expected to vote today, at 30% of the registered voters taking advantage of early voting, we've already beat the average off-year voter turnout. Good for us.
I want to wish the best to all the election volunteers that are going to have a long day today - thank you for your help and time.
I also want to wish the best of luck to the following candidates;

• Barack Obama
• Connie Anderson (Granite School Board)
• Dan Lofgren (Granite School Board)
• Janet Cannon (State School Board)
• John Rendall (running against Chris Buttars)
• The guy I voted for that is running against Randy Horiuchi.
• and good luck to everybody else.
  

The deed is done.

Early voting rocks! I went up to the U for class early, because I knew they had early voting, and it took me a whole 15 minutes from beginning to end. I picked the perfect time, because on my way in there was no line at all, and on my way out I passed about 10 people waiting to get in. So now all I have to do is sit around for the next week and a half and wait to see who is going to be our next president. One of the teachers at school said he was going to have a 5th of whiskey for election night, either to celebrate the victor or drown his sorrows, depending on who wins. This is the first election in a long time that has had me on the edge of my seat. Not only do I feel that the future of our country depends on who wins, but it is also iffy enough that the victor is not a forgone conclusion.

Here's to the end of George W's reign of (choose one)

1. Terror
2. Ignorance
3. Self-serving
4. National Embarassment
5. Runaway National Debt
6. Lies & Deceit

Jimmy Carter in 2008?

John McCain just gave me another reason to vote for Barack Obama. Of course McCain thinks it's a reason to vote against Obama, for him it might be, not so for me. Saturday's Tribune included the article: McCain talking point: Obama is new Carter. Republican says his rival is 'dusting off the old, failed' policies of the former president. First of all, 'failed' policies does not mean bad policies, it just means that the powers that be were too beholden to special interests that they would not allow the president to implement them. Think about it, where would we be now if we had listened to Jimmy Carter? The national debt was some 900 billion and he was telling us that we could not leave this debt for our children, that is was our duty to tighten our belts and do something about it. Now it's 9 trillion, and climbing rapidly. (Carter considered a debt that was 35% of our GNP outrageous, while now it's 65% of the GNP). President Carter wanted to inact policies that would wean us from dependence on foreign oil, he understood how detrimental it is to our country. Tax incentives for solar heating, for both conversions and new construction, as with incentives for research into other alternative fuel sources. McCain's boogyman, which is his big argument about Obama, is a tax on windfall profits for big oil. Carter tried it and got shot down (figuratively) and Obama is now proposing it. Frankly, I think it's a good way of increasing tax revenue and driving the American public further away from their dependence on foreign oil.

The 1980 Election was my first presidential election. I'd been interested in politics since watching the Watergate investigations, so I had paid attention during the Carter administration. I remember 3 main themes of Jimmy Carter's domestic policies:

1. The federal debt was out of control and had to be eliminated.
2. We needed to wean ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil
3. It won't be easy, in fact it might hurt, but if we ALL pitch in and do what we can we can fix these problems.

Things weren't perfect, I'm not saying that. Inflation was high, gas prices were high (hmmm, something familiar there?) and we were rebuilding a country that had been ripped apart by Watergate. But we were respected (different from being feared) worldwide and we had a president that was willing to face serious problems head on rather than burying them under "feel good" short term fixes. I hope Obama is the Jimmy Carter of 2008. God bless him if he is, and us if we have the brains to listen to him.