GEORGE IS THE PRESIDENT ELECT!!!!

[Dewgirl]

Bush-Cheney win!!!!!

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Franny Granny]

The state of
Texas, under the leadership of
Governor George W. Bush,
is
ranked:

50th in spending for teachers' salaries
49th in spending
on the environment
48th in per-capita funding for public health
47th in
delivery of social services
42nd in child-support collections
41st in
per-capita spending on public education

And ...

5th in percentage
of population living in poverty
1st in air and water pollution
1st in
percentage of poor working parents without insurance
1st in percentage of
children without health insurance
1st in executions (average 1 every 2 weeks
for Bush's 5 years as Governor

Well....

[theXgirl]

I don't see anything to be happy about...

[IowaHawkeye]

thank goodness they're recounting the ballots in florida.... this might not be over yet... those texas numbers are SCARY!!!

[mgdzkm433]

I'm very glad they are recounting the votes. If Bush becomes president, I will genuinely be scared, not that I'm a Gore supporter, but the idea of Bush ultimatly scares the socks off of me.

[AXO Alum]

As usual statistics do not lie, but they can be manipulated! I have an undergrad in psych, and a masters degree which both required me to eat, live, sleep, and breathe statistics for 6 years straight. Here's an example of the numbers in relationship to child insurance - Texas is a border state. How many illegal immigrants come into Texas and set up housing somewhere and go unnoticed by anyone? Then one day their child gets sick, and they take him or her to the local hospital --- where, it turns out, the child has no health insurance. Of course he doesn't - his family is living here illegally which makes it pretty hard to have insurance. So the stats are correct when they read 1st w/out child health insurance - but they have been manipulated by not revealing the whole truth. Just rattling off a statistic here and there is pointless unless you know all the factors. It's like judging a book by its cover - the title may sound great and wonderful, but the material behind it may suck.

Here's another point...who is producing these statistics? Last I checked there was no National Truth in Statistics Board that published unbiased stats on every topic. Everyone has an agenda - depending on that agenda is the way the stats will read. Who paid for the research? Who will gain from it? Many times education proponents who need more money for whatever purpose will not just say "we need 10 more classrooms" - that may get them the $$$ they need but no more. So instead they'll say "15% of our children have to stand up in class because there aren't enough chairs for them." And then we all ooh-and-ahh over this tragedy (of course - who wants our kids standing up). But then when you look into it, you may see that the 15% doesn't just include one school, or district, or even county. For all we know it could include an entire state, which would be true to the stats (but not necessarily that the kids in my county are standing up). So then our local taxes go up to pay for something that may not truly be affecting us (on the local level).

So you have to know the whole story before you can be swayed by statistics. Have your opinion - but it should be an educated one that has formed as a result of knowing the issues and how they will affect you and your community personally.

As far as the election goes - I think it says a lot that Al had already conceded to George, and then recanted. I will say that regardless of the winner, I am anxiously awaiting the Constitutional Amendment that will abolish the Electoral College. I have never met anyone who approved of our current process, and would be happy to hear from anyone that does. I think it should be the popular vote. The voice of the people.

[LadyAKA]

Anyway ............. Bush IS very COCKY, to say the least and he takes to much PRIDE and JOY in his death penalty state, he smiles at the mere mention of execution, and government mandated death is a very scary thing. He does not care about African Americans and affirmative action, look at how he treated the Byrd family!!! Now, I am a Christian black women with high ethical and moral standards, and don't want to bring any one persons name down, as a matter of fact none of these candidates (including stupid Nader) are God's gift to us, but George W Bush is the devil. And of course that is just MY honest opinion ....take it or leave it, but Gore Supporters please pray and make this thing turn out RIGHT!!!!

[AXO Alum]

I don't understand why people continue to think that Al Gore is against the death penalty - HE IS NOT and this was stated numerous times throughout the campaign. I am very strong in my opinion of the death penalty: You do the crime, you pay the price! It is true - there is no justice in the death penalty because a murderer who takes the life of another person, especially in the most heinous of crimes, deserves to be put to death in the same manner. But until people realize that murderers have NO rights the death penalty is the closest thing to justice we have. Who wants to stand here and tell those families in Oklahoma that the bombers that destroyed their life, don't deserve to die? What about 12 year old Polly Klaas' family - she was raped and murdered by a convicted and released child molestor - oh yeah - he was reformed! Whatever! And I am a Christian with strong ethical and moral values which is why I voted for Bush. I could never with a clear conscience vote for a man who tells me the life of a child in the womb is disposable (i.e., Al Gore) - that IN MY OPINION is the devil at hand. No - Gore is not the devil, and I do not resort to labeling that serious of a term onto people.

How, you may ask, is it possible to be pro-life and be pro-death penalty? Its a matter of innocence and guilt!

[ZTAngel]

As a Florida resident, this is all extremely fascinating. My state is the focus on what will happen in our country for the next 4 years. I am so glad that they are doing a recount. I do not agree with EVERYTHING that Gore stands for but I think he is the lesser of two evils. After reading those Texas statistics, it's very scary to think that Bush might be our next president.

[mccoyred]

I agree!! I was just discussing this issue with a coworker this morning. It is an unfair and unjust system. The president should not get ALL the electoral votes for a state where only 50.1% of the people voted for him. It is possible (and I beleive it has already happened) where the candidate who receives the majority of the popular vote LOSES because of the electoral vote process.

Originally posted by AXO Alum:

As far as the election goes - I think it says a lot that Al had already conceded to George, and then recanted. I will say that regardless of the winner, I am anxiously awaiting the Constitutional Amendment that will abolish the Electoral College. I have never met anyone who approved of our current process, and would be happy to hear from anyone that does. I think it should be the popular vote. The voice of the people.

------------------
mccoyred

Dynamic
Salient
Temperate

[12dn94dst]

Originally posted by AXO Alum:

As far as the election goes - I think it says a lot that Al had already conceded to George, and then recanted.

That doesn't say anything at all. The Bush and Gore camps got their information from the same place the rest of us did, the media. Some major news papers went so far as to release early editions announcing Bush the winner. When Gore conceeded, he was under the impression that Bush won, just like Dewgirl was under the impression that Bush won when she created this thread. I think we need to get rid of media coverage of the "results." They're misleading. How much sense does it make to say someone is the "winner" when less than 90% of the votes are tallied. It's stupid and leads to confusion, like we have now. The RESPONSIBILE thing for the media to do, since we all knew it was going to be a close race, would be to get ALL the facts before they declare or project a winner, including getting an absentee ballot count. As it stands now, it may be days before we know who really won this election. Several other states are following Florida's lead and recounting the ballots. CNN reported a worker in a day care center that was used as a polling place in Florida found a box of ballots that was left behind. This is far from over.

[Little32]

The voice of the people has spoken and Al Gore has won the popular vote nationally, by a good 200,000 votes. Even if Dubya wins Florida, it will not be enough to give him the popular vote nationally.
I think that everything going on in Florida (and Missouri) is suspicious and a travesty on the part of the system to say the least.
It is reminiscent of the types of gerrymandering that took place before the passage of the voter's rights act. I quite frankly am disgusted and don't doubt for a moment that Jeb had a hand in this. Something needs to be done, they can't just get away with this kind of corruption.
AXO Alum- We have all heard the statistics speech before. As a Christian doesn't your bible tell you that vengeance belongs to God?

[AXO Alum]

Originally posted by Little32:

AXO Alum- We have all heard the statistics speech before. As a Christian doesn't your bible tell you that vengeance belongs to God?

And we have all heard the statistics before too! What experience have you had with statistical research? I have had enough to know that the stats that are turned out don't make it the gospel truth. And speaking of gospel truth - in my Bible, Jesus tells his followers to obey the laws of man while serving Him. (Give unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's.....) I've stated WHY I believe Bush is the best choice based on the ISSUES - I have not resorted to name calling (what is up with this Dubya thing?) and I have not based my opinion on things like "Bush blinks too much" - who cares? The issues are what matter. It is out of all of our hands now. What's done is done since the voting is over. Let them count the vote and determine the winner whether Gore or Bush. You have been on me about this from the other thread because heaven forbid someone disagree with you and back it up with FACTS! If Gore is elected, then I will continue to be strong to my party and make him follow through on his promises to the people (especially the senior citizens). I will not move to another country, and I won't lay in bed crying over it. And I specifically stated before that I think regardless of the winner the electoral college should be dissolved. It should be popular vote.

So you, Little32, should have no more questions for me since you have seen why I feel as strongly as I do based on my opinion which is based on my interpretation of the issues. If so, please email me directly so we don't have to go through our philosophical differences in the public forum.

[Franny Granny]

"I have an undergrad in psych, and a masters degree which both required me to eat, live, sleep, and breathe statistics for 6 years straight."

I don't have the time or the inclination to get into a "look at me, I eat statistics and studied this or that more than you..nah nah nah nah nah" debate. I just put it out there for you and anyone else out there reading these boards to see. End of story.

If you DON'T think that Jeb had a hand in the politiking going on in Florida...PLEASE take your blinders off. Hey but if you choose not to...that's okay too. I'm not in here to sway anybody's opinion.

And lastly G-Dub---Dubya---whatever you want to call him (and Dubya is the way that ol' Georgey boy says his own middle name, HE SAID IT I DIDN'T hahahahahahahahaha) IMHO is not the right man to lead my country. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

[Little32]

AXO Alum,
I did not expect that you would get so hot and bothered. That is a question that I ask of any and all Christians who believe in the death penalty and I have received a variety of responses. It was really a rhetorical question. I don't wish to debate religion with you so I will leave it at that.

I truthfully don't wish to email you privately concerning anything. I don't have much experience with statistics, but we all have heard how easily they can be manipulated to paint just about any picture you want. I was merely saying that everyone knows that statistics should be taken with a grain of salt and they are not gospel.

Dubya (W) is a term that has been widely used by the press to refer to George's middle name. I like it, I think it fits, I use it.

Yes, we had a debate on the other thread, but I, from my end, took it as a civilized discussion. It is not my fault that you choose to get worked up over the comments of an individual that you don't know at all. Just as you are allowed your opinion, I am allowed mine and just because we disagree does not mean that I am attacking you as a human being. I DON'T KNOW YOU. YOU DONT'T KNOW ME. Why in the world should my comments either way matter so much to you.

[This message has been edited by Little32 (edited November 08, 2000).]