Not sure why Greens are being called “disrespectful lefties.” I consider myself an independent Green, and believe in fiscal responsibility more than those in any other party. Take a look at how even Libertarians worked on the budget at http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/2008/05/budget_hero/

Now compare that to how I did on my blog. Quite different. I balanced the budget past 2070. I did this even WITH Single-payer Universal Health-care.

Jesse Johnson is a gun owner, and ran for President in our party. And he’s not ashamed to admit owning one – he mentioned it on-stage at the convention even. No one in the Greens made a big deal about it.

But I guess if someone who care about future generations of humanity and the environment is a leftist, then I suppose that is what we Greens are.

The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC). The bill would take effect only when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).

There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that needs to be changed in order to have a national popular vote for President. The winner-take-all rule (awarding all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who gets the most votes inside the state) is not in the U.S. Constitution. It is strictly a matter of state law. The winner-take-all rule was not the choice of the Founding Fathers, as indicated by the fact that the winner-take-all rule was used by only 3 states in the nation’s first presidential election in 1789. The fact that Maine and Nebraska currently award electoral votes by congressional district is another reminder that the Constitution left the matter of awarding electoral votes to the states. All the U.S. Constitution says is “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors.” The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly characterized the authority of the states over the manner of awarding their electoral votes as “plenary” and “exclusive.” A federal constitutional amendment is not needed to change state laws.

The National Popular Vote bill has been approved by 21 legislative chambers (one house in CO, AR, ME, NC, and WA, and two houses in MD, IL, HI, CA, MA, NJ, RI, and VT). It has been enacted into law in Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. These states have 50 (19%) of the 270 electoral votes needed to bring this legislation into effect.

see http://www.NationalPopularVote.com

I did not say that the Constitution cannot be ammended or should never be amended. The point is that the amendment process is the correct proceedure for this change not the courts. The courts are supposed to uphold the Constitution as currently writen and amended.

From the Green Party press release:

The civil action seeks enforcement of the ‘Mal-Apportionment Penalty’ provided in Section 2 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which mandates a reduction of a state’s presidential electors and congressional representatives if “the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States… is denied… or in any way abridged.”

The action seeks relief against the defendant, Vice President Cheney, who will preside over the tabulation of “unbound electoral states” on January 6, 2009, challenging the recognition of Electoral College votes that are apportioned by states on a winner-take-all basis.

Comments above are typical right-wing reactionary response I’d expect from the Neocons.

what bugs me is in MI for example. the VAST majority of people all live in metro detroit even thought they are a very small geographic area compared to the state. They always vote what is good for them and screw the rest of the state. We all have completely different areas but we are all lumped together in all this national politics and things like the governor

Did you know that the original United States Constitution allowed slavery and counted many African Americans as 3 /5 th of a person every ten years?

Voting restricted to property owners!

So, do you drive horse and buggies? Do you refuse air plane rides, modern meds, and digital communications?