Al Gore and others are calling for the end of the electoral college as we know it. Several states agree and have passed legislation favoring this.
“I really do now think it’s time to change that. It’s always tough to amend the Constitution and risky to do so, but there is a very interesting movement under way that takes it state by state, that may really have a chance of succeeding,” says Gore.
National Popular Vote is working to eliminate our anachronistic electoral college. Several states have already signed on.
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the entire United States. The bill ensures that every vote, in every state, will matter in every presidential election.
he National Popular Vote law has been enacted by states possessing 132 electoral votes — 49% of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate it.
There isn’t much I agree with on Gore, but this is one of those things I do.
This signals a fundamental shift in our Constitutional understanding of ourselves. In a Federation such as ours, the President is elected by what amounts to a weighted vote by the States, not by popular vote. Do we no longer see ourselves as a federation of states, but as a unitary people under an all-powerful federal government? Those in Washington, who wield that federal power, would obviously be in favor. But for those of us who don’t hold the reins, we might wish to re-examine the role of state government both as a check against federal power, and as a hedge with respect to what amounts to a bankrupt central government.
I recently mentioned to a friend of mine that the national debt is now 6.5 times the annual revenue of the US Government. That’s like owing $325,000 in credit card debt on a salary of $50,000 a year. Put in those terms, my friend made what is almost certainly a predictable response: “When you’re in that deep, you never get out.”
Let us be clear: this is not a mortgage or a debt secured by any property. The Fed can’t “give back” any assets it bought to satisfy this mountain of debt. This is unsecured debt used for the ongoing operations of the government. Two thirds of what the government spends, is spent on credit. Yet those in power refuse to either cut spending or increase income (i.e. taxes).
In the face of what can only be inevitable financial disaster, do we really want to put all our eggs in the basket of the central government? I’m not sure now is the time to be redefining ourselves at the expense of the states.