Voter Data

Letters to the Editor (Published July 6, 2017)

The Post & Courier

Charleston, SC

Dear Editor,

I am 110% opposed to South Carolina sending any voter information to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, beyond what is available to any South Carolinian and only if the Commission pays for it like a citizen would have to do.  

There are approximately 175,000 voting precincts in America. No one knows the exact number, as it may vary from year to year. But every one of these is usually staffed by good, local people volunteering to oversee the most important act of citizenship. 

To allege, as President Trump does, that widespread fraud in voting across America deprived him of a plurality in the popular vote, is nonsense. It is not supported by any facts from any state, or by anyone or any organization who conducts legitimate poll watching. 

The President’s comments are a vicious, undeserved slander on the good, hard-working, women and men who voluntarily staff the polls.

I have run for local and state office and won and lost. I never questioned the integrity of the process or the counting of the votes.

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"Workers on routine" - an appreciation

From 1962 to 2016, the population of the United States increased to 322 million, up from 186.5 million, an increase of more than 72 percent. This remarkable growth went unnoticed on a daily basis by most Americans, until, like drivers on the LA freeways, they began to suspect all the growth was in their backyard. 

One part of the American scene that did not keep pace with this bursting through the seams growth was the federal workforce. Every two years, however, politicians rant about the size of government and promise to cut back the number of federal employees. 

Over the last fifty years or so, the federal civil service grew at a slower rate than the population it serves despite the needs and demands for services which became more complex and diversified with the increasing population. (Fair Disclosure: I worked federal civil service from 1960 to 1979 in national security management positions.)

There are 2.663 million federal civil service workers and more than half of these  are employed in three agencies: Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the Veterans Administration. The man on the street would probably agree these workers are essential to security and safety and the care of those who bore arms for America.

President Lyndon Johnson referred to federal employees “as workers on routine.” This “routine” has become more complex and the skills and competence required more demanding as the years have passed. Analytical ability, judgment, discretion and personal responsibility are the norms today, a far cry from the mostly clerical workers of the 1950s.

Cabinet head appointments are all the news right now with a new administration being formed. But it is the “workers on routine” who will continue to explore the universe, hunt for criminals, attend to the public health, send out the Social Security checks, and backstop the servicemen and women who defend the shores. 

(The statistics in this overview came from the January 2017 issue of narfe, publication of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.) 

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I don't believe it

I don’t believe the news that Donald Trump’s campaign raised $82 million in “small donations” from his supporters in July. No one raises that kind of money in a month. 

The names of donors who give less than $200 need not be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission in otherwise public filings by the presidential candidates. They can claim any number that comes to their head and say it came from hundreds or thousands of supporter. Would the Trump campaign do this?

In my opinion, in a heartbeat. Trump could pump his own money into the campaign and label it “small donations” to give his campaign an aura of  authenticity. He has refused to make his taxes public and has a record of overstating his personal wealth in business dealings. 

The more important story about money, however, is the debt Donald Trump will carry into the White House should he (God help us) somehow be elected. The man is in debt more than $100 million to banks (e.g. Deutsche Bank of Germany and its subsidiaries) that clash with U.S. bank regulators like clockwork. No other presidential candidate in the history of America has carried such a potential conflict of interest burden into the Oval Office. 

The news about the alleged $82 million naturally struck fear into the beating hearts of the Hillary Clinton campaign. The Trump claim raised Hillary’s fund raising effort to a new pitch. It is like morning following the night. One candidate makes a claim and the other capitalizes on it. I got an email today from Hillary’s campaign manager asking for a $75 donation to help compete with the (alleged - my word) Trump success in July. 

I’ve already sent my contribution to Hillary for August. If I believed Trump’s claims I would do more but I don’t believe it…

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You are there (with apologies to CBs)

You are there (with apologies to CBS)

The radio program,You are There, first broadcast on CBS made a transition to television in 1953, with Walter Cronkite as the regular host.

The series featured various key events in American and world history, portrayed in dramatic recreations. Each episode would begin with the characters setting the scene. Walter Cronkite, called “Mr. Believable” by Howard Cosell, from his anchor desk in New York,  would give a few words on what was about to happen. An announcer would then give the date and the event, followed by a loud and boldly spoken "You are there!"

At the end of the program, after Cronkite summarizes what happened in the preceding event, he reminded viewers, "What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times... all things are as they were then, and you were there.”

Looking back on my week, the events hardly could be considered to “alter and illuminate our times…” nevertheless you can be there.

President’s Day opened the week and the banks and stock markets were closed. This spared everyone from losing money in the market. Then I had a meeting with a tax advisor who answered some questions that arose out of my having to file a 1040 for the first time since my wife died in August 2015 This was very helpful. 

In the middle of the week the weather turned warmer and I walked 2-3 miles each day. One day, I met a neighbor who had given me a plate of home made cookies for Valentine’s Day and I thanked her again for her thoughtfulness. I had called and left a message on her answering machine when I found the cookies outside my door. 

I had my carotid arteries checked and the technician gave me a thumbs up and said, “I wouldn’t worry if I were you.” This I found comforting. Later in the week I had an echocardiogram and it appeared to go well, but the technician gave the usual response, “The doctor will read it and be in touch with your cardiologist.”  

I did see the cardiologist and he said everything looked good, except that my aortic valve was not functioning at maximum level. There is some stenosis and we will need to watch this and take appropriate action down the road. As this worsens, replacing the valve by surgery or transcatheter aortic valve replacement are options. Neither of these sounds like fun. Just as no one says they want a two-week vacation in Biloxi, Mississippi, no one wants heart surgery or other poking around. We will check this again in a year. This was comforting. If it was reaching critical mass stage the re-check might have been in three or six months,

Things were much easier with my podiatrist. He clipped my toenails, checked the pulse in my feet (pronounced it good), gave me some advice about the type of socks to wear and sent me on my way. Young people may ask, “Why don’t you clip your own toenails like I do.” I don’t because I am 84 (chronological age, not indicative of my zest for life and joy in living),  and more often than not clip the skin around the nails and this could lead to infection and foot trouble. We only get two feet in this life and they are more valuable than your wallet and credit cards, two things you take darn good care of. 

I did some yard work, trimming bushes and putting water in a bird bath. Early in the week the water in it froze. I watched a small bird one cold morning pecking away at the ice without success at breaking through and unable to get water. I added a large pan of warm water which cooled quickly in the 45 degree temperature.

There was the inevitable shopping. I made a list before I went and planned to shop at two locations. Things went well at the first store and when I realized I was going to get only two items at the second I changed my mind. Strawberries and blueberries are better buys at the second location but I picked them up where I was. Saving a few pennies was not worth the hassle of driving, parking, shopping and checking out at store number two. While I was still in number one getting some sliced turkey, two men were serving me and a woman was standing by with her ticket in her hand. That is how they keep shoppers in order. “Get your ticket.” I told one of the men to wait on the woman, “She has to catch the train to Topeka.” The woman laughed but the man, who obviously did not understand my humor, moved over to her quickly.

During the week I spent time on the computer, did the wash, completed household chores, and kept faith with some creditors by paying my bills on time. I read a lot (news magazines) and watched TV (a lot of trash to ignore.) 

Oh, I got at least two dozen telephone calls from Republican Presidential candidates and listened to a couple but just hung up on most. Today, February 20, is the Republican Presidential primary and voting is at the community center. I am going to sit this one out and cast a ballot in next week’s Democratic primary. 

This is hardly the stuff of “those events that alter and illuminate our times... all things are as they were then, and you were there.”

But it is my times… and I log them for posterity

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Equal Opportunity, voters and polling

On this day in 1948, July 26, President Harry S Truman
signed Executive Order 9981, desegregating the military of the United States. This bold stroke accomplished two major feats: it opened the door for African-Americans to advance in the military in multiple new ways and it helped President Truman at the polls in November. The desegregation order and later the civil rights platform adopted at the 1948 Democratic convention helped Truman win large majorities among black voters in the populous Northern and Midwestern states and may well have made the difference for Truman in states such as Illinois and Ohio.

This bold stroke was taken by President Truman because he believed desegregation was a moral issue. His chances of winning the 1948 election were considered by practically everyone - except the President himself - to be less than nil.  Many officials in his administration had already lined up new jobs and it is said that even Mrs. Truman doubted her husband would win. So certain were they that the race was over by September, the polling services stopped polling. They would never make that mistake again.

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Having a bad week

Here is a woman having a bad week. On Tuesday, Dr. Annette Bosworth got about six percent of the vote in the South Dakota (that's where Custer got it) Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. On Wednesday she was arrested and charged with six counts each of perjury and filing false election documents. She claimed to be gathering voter signatures when she actually was out of the country in the Philippines on a Christian mission trip, according to state authorities. Lighten up South Dakota, it is not like she was doing a pole dance in Vegas.

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