History & Rationale: Electoral College

The Founding Father’s Way of Ensuring that the Votes of Every State Count

by Kelly R. Smith

Electoral College Results for the 2016 Election
Electoral College Results for the 2016 Election
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This article was updated on 01/06/21.

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With the 2020 presidential election all but over, whether you believe it was rigged by the Democrat Socialists or not, it’s a good idea to take a look at what the electoral college is and what it isn’t. Typically, following the election, the losers go on a frenzy crying, “It’s not fair! Abolish it!” Well, until the next time it helps them win. Then, it’s the best thing since sliced bread. This latest time, it is the liberal left that are gnashing teeth and rending garments.

A Brief History of the Electoral College

When the founding fathers were working out the details of national sovereignty and the Constitution in 1787, the question of how to conduct the presidential election was a contentious issue. In fact, it was one of the last issues to finalize.

Some of the suggestions seem downright bizarre today. The Virginia Plan opined that the National Executive should, “be chosen by the National Legislature.” James Wilson of Pennsylvania was more rational by favoring a popular election. Another suggestion put forth recommended that the election be determined by the Senate alone.

The next day Wilson suggested that districts be created where popular elections would be held to choose electors. These electors would then alone determine the next executive. Later, Elbridge from Massachusetts opined that only state governors have a vote. James Madison preferred a popular vote but was concerned that heavily-populated states would hold an unfair advantage. Therefore, he surmised that a committee with one representative from each of the eleven states should elect the President. That’s the electoral college as it went into the Constitution.

That is what many of the frenzy-criers and hobbledehoys today do not realize; we do not actually directly vote for the president directly, we vote for state electors to represent us. If we really had a popular vote, the voters in states like North Dakota would not have a say at all but California certainly would. In my humble opinion that would be a bad idea; most of the rest of the country isn’t as ready for Democratic Socialism as the west coast is.

Advantages of the Electoral College

The election is decentralized, that is, it takes place in individual states. The states have some say over how their voting process takes place. Some career politicians such as Elizabeth Warren oppose the college because she thinks the federal government should control the entire process and individual states should have no voice. So much for claiming to be for the common man and woman. That is the voice of incubating tyranny.

Why is this important? For one thing, if an individual state wants a recount, they can do it; that is their prerogative. If the Federal government had all the power, one state could trigger a national recount. What a mess that would be. Remember what a nightmare Florida was with the “hanging chads?” Imagine going through that with all the states. Why, it would be time for the next election before the current one was settled. It would in essence be a clever way of circumventing the presidential term limit.

The electoral college also helps presidential candidates by giving them a way to organize their campaigns. They know the sway that each state has so they can plan how much time to spend campaigning there and how to allocate funds. Many states would be cleanly ignored.

Disadvantages of the Electoral College

It can be a bit disheartening to think that individual votes don’t matter as much as we think they should, and indeed, that is a concept that was drilled into us in civics class. Back when we still had civics class rather than revisionist history. A faithless elector is one who has been chosen to represent their state in the electoral college but decides to cast a ballot against their state’s popular vote wishes. This has only happened a handful of times, but still.

It can actually depress voter turnout. For example, in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton had a solid 15- to 20-point lead on Donald Trump in the polling several weeks prior to the election. The final outcome resulted in a difference of 16.2 points. For Republicans and Independents, casting a ballot could seem pointless because Clinton’s win seemed like a foregone conclusion. Perception is everything; and it can be manipulated.



It may not accurately reflect the national popular will. This is the main complaint made by Democrats today. Although Hillary won the popular vote, Trump won by virtue of the designated electoral vote. In my opinion that was a blessing. This way we got at least a portion of a border wall. If Hillary had of won it would be a free-for-all at the open borders. But having the system or not is really a trade-off; without the election system we currently have, small states would consistently be disenfranchised. Does anybody really want a country where your vote does not count unless you live in California, Florida, or New York? Of course not.

I hope this article on the history and rationale for the electoral college helps you as we will continue to roll into yet another presidential election cycle every four years. If it did, pass it onto your friends. In the long run, every vote really does count, just not in the way you might think it does. Please participate in the poll on the right-hand sidebar of this page.

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About the author:

Photo of Kelly R. SmithKelly R. Smith is an Air Force veteran and was a commercial carpenter for 20 years before returning to night school at the University of Houston where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. After working at NASA for a few years, he went on to develop software for the transportation and financial and energy trading industries. He has been writing, in one capacity or another, since he could hold a pencil. As a freelance writer now, he specializes in producing articles and blog content for a variety of clients. His personal blog is at I Can Fix Up My Home Blog where he muses on many different topics.

Economics & Consequences of Illegal Aliens

Both Illegal Immigration and the Willy-Nilly distribution of Work Visas Have a Dramatic Impact

Photo of Kelly R. Smith   by Kelly R. Smith
RIP America
RIP America
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This article was updated on 01/28/21.

No one can dispute the fact that Donald Trump was whisked into office on a wave of fly-over America. Not left-coasters, not right-coasters, but the average American who has lost his and her job due to exporting production, importing foreign talent, bad trade deals, and illegal immigrants.

Yes, illegal immigrants are felons. Sneaking into another country is a crime. I’m not making a moral judgement here; how can you fault a man or woman who just wants to provide for family since the rabiblanco government in Mexico makes no concessions for their own poor and downtrodden? It is the encouraging system that is at fault.

The Economic Effects of Illegal Immigration

America has almost always encouraged immigration. Where would we be without the Irish and Italians? Not in the prosperous position in which we find ourselves.

But those Irish and Italian emigrants came in according to the law, embraced the country, and assimilated to the point that some never taught their children the old-country language.

The problem with the illegals today is that for the most part, they don’t have those same goals. They come here illegally and suck up tax-payer provided public services (emergency room medical, food pantry access, public transportation, etc.) without giving back to their hosts.

The problem is that after working under the table or under a fake or stolen social security number, rather than pumping wages back into our economy, they send it back to their home country as remittances which does nothing to stimulate or sustain our economy. The center will not hold.

According to CNN, “Last year, Mexico received $27 billion in remittances — a record high and far more than what the country got from its oil exports, $18.7 billion, according to Mexico’s central bank. The vast majority of remittances sent to Mexico come from the U.S. and they support millions of low-income families in Mexico.”

This is money that should have been spent in the country that is providing all the services that the illegals willingly consume.

I’m all for hard-working people but not when their prime motivation is sucking my country dry in order to make theirs more prosperous.

Americans Won’t Do that Work

How many times have you heard this bovine excrement canard? Most likely, many times! Complete liberal nonsense. Who do you think did all these jobs before the Rio Grande got an express lane?

Point in case: I am a veteran and went through a 4-year carpentry apprenticeship. After that I worked as a commercial journeyman carpenter for 20 or so years. Today I can’t even buy a job framing or hanging drywall. Why? Because I have a real social security number and can’t afford to work for $5/hr.

The same is true in many other industries. But the authorities, especially those on the Democrat side of the aisle will not address it. Why? I don’t know; ask them that after they explain why they can’t be bothered to fix the VA hospital problems.

When I say authorities do not think that I am casting stones. This encompasses both the Republicans, the progressive Democrats, the RINOs (can you hear me John McCain?), the whole kettle of rotten fish.

How About the H-1B Work Visa?

This one is all over the map. Silicone Valley says they need them because there are not enough Americans. Total bovine excrement, again. It really all boils down to the paycheck. You can say whatever you like about how great these employers are but their bottom line is more important than their loyalty to our citizens and the country that has provided them such a great work environment. And social media platforms like Facebook are making things worse by banning conservative voices and promoting posts that glorify Antifa and BLM.

Many companies have not only sought to import foreign workers and sponsor their H-1B work visas but force American employees to train their replacements prior to being fired!

Disney, that standard-bearer of the American entertainment industry, is one of the worst offenders. The New York Times states, “About 250 Disney employees were told in late October that they would be laid off. Many of their jobs were transferred to immigrants on temporary visas for highly skilled technical workers, who were brought in by an outsourcing firm based in India. Over the next three months, some Disney employees were required to train their replacements to do the jobs they had lost.”

“I just couldn’t believe they could fly people in to sit at our desks and take over our jobs exactly,” said one former worker, an American in his 40s who remains unemployed since his last day at Disney on Jan. 30. “It was so humiliating to train somebody else to take over your job. I still can’t grasp it.”

Even more ominous, some tech and energy workers here in Houston that I have talked to have been told that they had two termination choices. Either train your foreign replacement and get your severance package or just walk away with nothing. Some choice.

No wonder we elected Donald Trump. And no wonder Congress members on both sides of the aisle are throwing dirt on him and trying to block his every move. He threatens their jobs in the good old boys and girls club and all the insane perks that that entails. These are just some of the economics and consequences of illegal aliens and work visas.




Did you find this article helpful? Millions of readers rely on information on this blog and our main site to stay informed and find meaningful solutions. Please chip in as little as $3 to keep this site free for all.

 




Visit Kelly’s profile on Pinterest.

About the Author:

Photo of Kelly R. SmithKelly R. Smith is an Air Force veteran and was a commercial carpenter for 20 years before returning to night school at the University of Houston where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. After working at NASA for a few years, he went on to develop software for the transportation, financial, and energy-trading industries. He has been writing, in one capacity or another, since he could hold a pencil. As a freelance writer now, he specializes in producing articles and blog content for a variety of clients. His personal blog is at I Can Fix Up My Home Blog where he muses on many different topics.

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