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All indications are the national, state and local elections this year will be a real barn burner. In a year such as this voter fraud is expected to be paramount. On the national level our U.S. attorney general has refused to prosecute or even investigate thugs who are caught on video with clubs and baseball bats threatening voters in a voting precinct.
Chicago has a reputation for setting a record for the number of the dead voting. Right here in Arkansas we have had precincts where the total vote for one candidate exceeded the number of registered voters in that precinct.
There is another action in the voting process that is ripe with voter irregularities and that is known as gerrymandering. Gerrymandering occurs when voting lines are skewed without logic, to give advantage to certain individuals or a specific political party. In the middle of this column is District 64 in Arkansas, which is a prime example of gerrymandering. This wild and unbelievable map is so convoluted no one could possible defend this type of border lines. Evidently someone believed this would be the best way to get partisan votes in the right district.
Note this map goes in and out of mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes. These squiggling lines are next to impossible to follow. This absolute joke of a district encompasses a part of five counties. Interestingly this district surrounds Heber Springs except directly west of town. The boundaries include Tumbling Shoals and Wilburn but not Heber Springs. It cuts Greers Ferry Lake almost completely in half.
So who is responsible for this monstrosity? It is my understanding the chief architects are three state constitutional officers, the governor, the secretary of state and the attorney general. It must then be approved by the state legislature. The secretary of state, the only Republican of this troika, is bringing suit against this indefensible joke.
Nor is this fiasco in District 64 the only nonsensical example of gerrymandering foolishness. Our congressman from the First District, Rick Crawford, is the victim of fingers of redistricting which are trying to maximize political partiality. It is also my understanding the legislator responsible for redistricting the lines in the First District is now the principal candidate to unseat Crawford. How convenient. In Northwest Arkansas similar attempts were made to change congressional lines and most of those attempts were eventually beaten down.
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On a somewhat similar subject the larger banks have agreed to pay 25 billion dollars to the various states. According to Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General, this is justice because so many of the borrowers were “hoodwinked” into taking loan proceeds they couldn’t pay back. Never mind these recipients signed a legal contract. Our “social justice” system negates this legality and dangerously overrides this basic responsibility.
Our State Attorney General informs us that Arkansas will receive about 39 million dollars of this 25 billion. Let’s see now - since Arkansas has about one percent of the population, it would seem we should receive about 250 million - not 39 million. Has this been explained and what is the answer? Is our attorney general prudently representing us?
The probable answer is that Arkansans are much more fiscally responsible and our banks have operated with more attention to their loans. Therefore, we are being penalized for our responsible frugality and are receiving less than one/sixth of the pro- rata amount.
And how will our attorney general distribute these funds? Will he allocate this to his special friends much as he did in the past to dictate funds to his favorite charities? One of those charities is reported to be where his wife is a board member.
Votes and money are two areas that are a big part of the political process. Will we continue to look the other way when fraud rears its ugly head? Or as our liberal friends might say, “Gerrymandering is good”.
(Jerry Jackson of Heber Springs writes his “conservative viewpoint” column each Wednesday)
All indications are the national, state and local elections this year will be a real barn burner. In a year such as this voter fraud is expected to be paramount. On the national level our U.S. attorney general has refused to prosecute or even investigate thugs who are caught on video with clubs and baseball bats threatening voters in a voting precinct.
Chicago has a reputation for setting a record for the number of the dead voting. Right here in Arkansas we have had precincts where the total vote for one candidate exceeded the number of registered voters in that precinct.
There is another action in the voting process that is ripe with voter irregularities and that is known as gerrymandering. Gerrymandering occurs when voting lines are skewed without logic, to give advantage to certain individuals or a specific political party. In the middle of this column is District 64 in Arkansas, which is a prime example of gerrymandering. This wild and unbelievable map is so convoluted no one could possible defend this type of border lines. Evidently someone believed this would be the best way to get partisan votes in the right district.
Note this map goes in and out of mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes. These squiggling lines are next to impossible to follow. This absolute joke of a district encompasses a part of five counties. Interestingly this district surrounds Heber Springs except directly west of town. The boundaries include Tumbling Shoals and Wilburn but not Heber Springs. It cuts Greers Ferry Lake almost completely in half.
So who is responsible for this monstrosity? It is my understanding the chief architects are three state constitutional officers, the governor, the secretary of state and the attorney general. It must then be approved by the state legislature. The secretary of state, the only Republican of this troika, is bringing suit against this indefensible joke.
Nor is this fiasco in District 64 the only nonsensical example of gerrymandering foolishness. Our congressman from the First District, Rick Crawford, is the victim of fingers of redistricting which are trying to maximize political partiality. It is also my understanding the legislator responsible for redistricting the lines in the First District is now the principal candidate to unseat Crawford. How convenient. In Northwest Arkansas similar attempts were made to change congressional lines and most of those attempts were eventually beaten down.
*****************
On a somewhat similar subject the larger banks have agreed to pay 25 billion dollars to the various states. According to Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General, this is justice because so many of the borrowers were “hoodwinked” into taking loan proceeds they couldn’t pay back. Never mind these recipients signed a legal contract. Our “social justice” system negates this legality and dangerously overrides this basic responsibility.
Our State Attorney General informs us that Arkansas will receive about 39 million dollars of this 25 billion. Let’s see now - since Arkansas has about one percent of the population, it would seem we should receive about 250 million - not 39 million. Has this been explained and what is the answer? Is our attorney general prudently representing us?
The probable answer is that Arkansans are much more fiscally responsible and our banks have operated with more attention to their loans. Therefore, we are being penalized for our responsible frugality and are receiving less than one/sixth of the pro- rata amount.
And how will our attorney general distribute these funds? Will he allocate this to his special friends much as he did in the past to dictate funds to his favorite charities? One of those charities is reported to be where his wife is a board member.
Votes and money are two areas that are a big part of the political process. Will we continue to look the other way when fraud rears its ugly head? Or as our liberal friends might say, “Gerrymandering is good”.
(Jerry Jackson of Heber Springs writes his “conservative viewpoint” column each Wednesday)
