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By Charles M. Phipps on January 22nd, 2018 
Walter Williams has written a column defending the Electoral College in which he asks, “Is it ignorance of or contempt for our Constitution that fuels the movement to abolish the Electoral College?”
The answer is – yes. It is either ignorance of or contempt for the Constitution that fuels the anti-Electoral College movement. Whether it is ignorance or contempt depends on which leftist we’re talking about. I’ve never met a Democrat yet who didn’t believe the Electoral College should be eliminated. Not surprising since two of the last five presidential elections had the Republican losing the popular vote but winning the Electoral College, making Democrats absolutely apoplectic. If the roles were reversed and it was the Democrat who won the Electoral College, you can be sure that they would be staunch defenders of it. But, they hate it.
But which of them are ignorant and which are contemptuous? I used to believe that Democrats at the grassroots level are mostly […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on March 14th, 2016 
There will always be people who think they know better than our Founding Fathers. Year after year, someone always comes along and advocates changing a process that has been in place since 1787. David Blatt, executive director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute has penned a piece for the Journal Record in which he advocates dumping the Electoral College. His reasoning is the same, tired, old, and long-used excuses that have been put forth time and time again for why we should scrap a system conceived by our Founders and replace it with a voting system that would eliminate the electoral process that has served the States well for the last two hundred and twenty-nine years.
Mr. Blatt is certainly not alone in his views as there have been voices from all areas of the political spectrum advocating for electing the president by national popular vote instead of the Electoral College. Even here in reddest-of-the-red-states Oklahoma, the Republican-controlled Senate passed a […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on January 26th, 2015 
Apparently, there are some legislators who just don’t get the message. During the 2014 session of the Oklahoma Legislature the Republican controlled Senate passed a bill that would have changed the way Oklahoma awards its electoral votes. The bill would have added Oklahoma to the states that have already joined an interstate compact to award all their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote in a presidential election. Several Oklahoma Senators accepted expenses-paid trips to Las Vegas and Miami before casting their votes. The trips were paid for by a non-profit group called FairVote, which is pushing for the national popular vote to elect a president instead of the Electoral College. After the passage of the Senate bill became public, the outrage and public response kept the Oklahoma House from even considering the bill. Also, several House members who were scheduled to receive a free trip to St. Croix, funded by FairVote, cancelled their trips. More detailed info […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on February 20th, 2014 
The publicity and outrage over the Oklahoma State Senate voting to change the way Oklahoma awards electoral votes has resulted in another report that is just as outrageous. Several Oklahoma Senators accepted expenses-paid trips to Miami and Las Vegas before casting their votes to essentially nullify the Electoral College. The trips were paid for by a non-profit group called FairVote, which is pushing for the national popular vote to elect the president instead of the Electoral College.
Normally, I do not quote entire news articles on my blog but this has too many important points to leave any of it out.
The Gazette – Several Oklahoma legislators accepted expenses-paid trips to Miami and Las Vegas from a group that wants to change the way the U.S. elects a president, but because the travel was sponsored by a nonprofit group, rather than traditional lobbyists, there’s no requirement for the lawmakers to disclose the trips to the public.
FairVote, which wants states […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on July 12th, 2013 
Between legislative sessions the Oklahoma House and Senate members can request studies be conducted on legislative issues. The House has a list and the Senate has a separate list. Reviewing these lists of studies can be very telling about the agendas of the legislators. They all seem to have their own issues they feel are important. Some are, some are ridiculous and some are dangerous.
Case in point. Senator Rob Johnson has requested an interim study with the subject, “Study the possibility of allocating Electoral Votes based on the National Popular vote.” This won’t be the first time that Sen. Johnson has attempted to change the way Oklahoma allocates electoral votes. Michael Bates has a post on Batesline titled “Legislative fools back national popular vote” in which he tells of Johnson and others in the legislature attempting to get a bill passed during the last session which would have subjected Oklahoma’s electoral votes to the results of the national popular […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on October 23rd, 2012 
There has been some speculation by some that Romney may win the popular vote while Obama wins the Electoral College. While such a scenario is unlikely, it has happened three times in our history, with the most recent being in 2000 when George W. Bush won the Electoral College while Al Gore won the popular vote. Not surprisingly, after that election there were many people who called for an end to the Electoral College and a switch to a national popular vote. Of course, Al Gore also favored this switch.
Fortunately, there are enough people who recognize this movement for the disaster it would be and that it would be a huge blow to the federal system designed by the Founders. Congress has rejected hundreds of bills that would have changed or eliminated the Electoral College system.
The Republican platform approved at the convention this summer also includes language opposed to any change.
“We oppose the National Popular Vote Interstate […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on August 10th, 2011 
California Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation that allows California to join seven other states in awarding all the state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes nationwide in a general election. Currently, all 55 of California’s electoral votes are awarded to the ticket that receives the most votes in the state.
The change will occur only if it is adopted by states with a majority of the electoral votes in the country. The other seven states who have already enacted the change are, with their number of electoral votes: Vermont (3), Massachusetts (11), New Jersey (14), Maryland (10), Illinois (20), Washington (12), Hawaii (4) and the District of Columbia (3), for a total of 132 of the 270 needed electoral votes before the measure will take effect. Proponents of this multi-state compact are hoping to have enough states adopt the measure in time to have it effective for the 2016 election.
Governor […] → Keep reading
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