I’m sure all of you know that the Dems did pretty well this election, but do you know how well?
- Democrats now have the majority in the House (Monday: 253 R, 147 D; Wednesday: 237 D, 163 R)
- Democrats now have the majority of the executive council. (Monday: 3 R, 2 D; Wednesday: 3 D, 2 R)
- Democrats now have majority in the State senate. (Monday: 16 R, 8 D; Wednesday: 14 D, 10 R)
I wonder what will happen over the next two years with a democratic majority. Maybe they’ll actually do something about the education problem. It should be an interesting couple of years.
I pretty sure Sununu and Gregg are both glad they weren’t up for re-election this year.
If you plan on voting you should do it today. I went this morning and found out few things:
- the polls opened at 8am not 7,
- most people also thought the polls opened at 7 (or the ~100 people in line make me think so),
- it was cold outside,
- the Diebold Accuvote scanner did not work and there was quite a bit of confusion. I’m hoping there is a hand count because, if not, I’m pretty sure that some people’s votes may not be counted, and I include myself in that group. Who does one contact about this sort of thing? Why is there always so much confusion surrounding elections?
I wont get into Diebold poor name choice, but this is why it is important to have a paper trail. What would happen if I had voted on an electronic only machine? Would I know there was a problem? Would I know that someone could go through and count the votes manually just to make sure? No. I would not.
P.S. Remember the amendments on the back of the NH ballot (I forgot them and had to go back into the booth).
P.P.S. It looks like Vermont has more interesting choices on their ballots.
P.P.P.S. If you are bored, check out the Presidential Speech Tag Cloud. It shows you the major ideas/words in each speech by every president.
From DFNH. Among likely voters…
NH-1
47% Bradley (R-Incumbent)
42% Shea-Porter (D)
NH-2
37% Bass (R-Incumbent)
45% Hodes (D)
There is more polling information if you want to check it out. (Oops, got the Bass and Hodes numbers backwards. They are fixed now.)
I really wish I read a local newspaper because maybe then I’d know we’d be voting on constitutional amendments. Thanks DPL! The first amendment is one to stop private companies from using imminent domain to take people property. The second is not so clear to me. Anyone? Old Guy?
Update: Here is an article in the Union Leader about this. It looks like Old Guy was a little off, this amendments would allow for floterial districts, i.e. districts that span across town lines. Thus representatives represent a body of people and not a town or part of a town (which could be defined as bodies of people). I think this would just force the NH supreme court, when it is forced to redraw the district lines next the legislative cannot do its job, they have to use floterial districts. Am I off? I also am amused the argument against this amendment, “It’s too long and too difficult to read, so people wont vote for it.” Wow. No argument against its merit, just against its verbiage.
I’m in the middle of reading through an article entitled, “How to steal an election by hacking the vote“. It’s pretty long but its purpose is to explain to everyday people how simple it is to mess with the electronic voting systems that are in place today and why it is important to have a paper trail. It’s a good read so far and I would recommend checking it out. Update: It looks like Quebec may throw out the electronic voting systems because they are not cheaper than manual systems and not as accurate or reliable.
You may be wondering why I haven’t commented about the big news more. Well, part of it has to do with being used to keeping it a secret and part of it is that I don’t know what to say. I’m excited and worried; happy and a little sad; e&c. I think that this will be a great thing but I’m sad that it will make everything change (expect for my job situation but I did just sign my PDQ so maybe I’ll actually get that raise I was told I’d get 3 or 4 months ago). Also, I think that I have become more interested in politics lately because I think I need to be now. I need to make sure that other people don’t fuck everything up for our kid… though maybe it is already too late.
Okay, so the election is coming up shortly (when is that? November 7th!) and it looks like there are more ballot issues in NH. This time its the absentee ballots, so if you are from Dover, Lebanon, Nashua, Gilford, Newington, Fremont or Canterbury make sure you get an updated ballot. Also, while you are thinking about who you should vote for, check out how much the War on Terror in Iraq is costing us.
I know I can’t pay this, I have a little one on the way.
Note: There is a debate Tuesday 24th of October at 7pm (i.e. Tomorrow) between Jeb and Carol. If you live in NH-01 it might be good to check it out.
Update: There was actually a poll taken in NH! This is the first one I’ve seen. The margin of error is 5%, which makes both races neck-and-neck.
1st CD
Bradley (R) 49
Shea-Porter (D) 37
2nd CD
Bass (R) 39
Hodes (D) 48
I’ve never played Fantasy Football or Hockey or anything but this could be interesting.
Anyone interested in playing?
So, someone put together a site that shows you how much you make in relation to everyone else in the world. Now if only someone would put together one where your income is compared with your cost of and standard of living, and then ranked. I wonder how one could do that…
Is you senator or state representative pandering to corrupt lobbyists? Here is a list of the NH State Senators and Representatives that have signed the Americans for Tax Reform Pledge. What about repealling Bush’s unfair tax cuts?
The Pledge reads:
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I, ____________, pledge to the taxpayers of the _____ district of the State of _________ and to all the people of this state, that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.
__________________________
Signed |
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__________________________
Date |
__________________________
Witness |
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__________________________
Witness |
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Surprise! It’s expensive to live in NH! From the Concord Monitor.
– We have the seventh highest rents in the nation, with a monthly median of $854.
– In 2000, median rent was $726 per month.
– There are 360,000 owner-occupied homes in New Hampshire. Their median value is $240,000. In 2000, it was $144,000.
A blue NH?