All the news and views fit for you to consume during your “morning grumpy”.
1. In case you missed it, New York’s voting machines really suck.
As many as 60,000 of the votes cast in New York State elections last year were voided because people unintentionally cast their ballots for more than one candidate, according to a study being released this week.
The study estimated that 20,000 of the more than four million votes cast for governor were not counted and that as many as 40,000 votes were voided in other contests in New York State.
On that basis, the authors estimate that more than 100,000 votes could be disqualified in next year’s presidential balloting, since more people will vote in the national election.
In 2010, the NAACP, Brennan Center, and other civil rights groups predicted just this sort of overvoting as they alleged the machines did not meet the standards set forth in the Help America Vote Act.
2. Income distribution by state, very cool data. Click here to view the full-sized and original image on Mint.com.
3. Yesterday, the Senate filibustered a vote on appointing Richard Cordray as the head of the newly created Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
As they promised they would, the overwhelming majority of Republicans on Wednesday filibustered Richard Cordray, the uncontroversial former Ohio Attorney General whom President Obama tapped to be the director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — an agency tasked with mitigating fraudulent and dangerous financial products.
The final vote was 53-45, with one Senator, Olympia Snowe (R-ME) voting present and one, John Kerry (D-MA) not on hand to vote. GOP Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) — running for re-election against the CFPB’s godmother Elizabeth Warren — joined the Democrats in supporting Cordray.
I guess that in the America I grew up in, 53 votes in the Senate meant something. However, in Tea Party America, we need 60 votes to accomplish anything. Oh, and by the way, 45 of the filibustering Senators received millions from the financial industry who are desperate to undercut this new agency.
The 44 Senate Republicans who signed a letter in May pledging to filibuster any CFPB nominee (plus Sen. Dean Heller who later added his name once appointed to the Senate) have received over $6.5 million from the financial industry in 2011 and nearly $125.6 million over their careers.
Funny how that kind of information lines up neatly, huh? Pssst, it’s a plutocracy, not a democracy…
4. Completely unaware of the irony that he is dressed like Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain”, Rick Perry tells us how much he dislikes “the gays”.
5. Why is Jon Stewart the most thorough fact-checker and debunker in news? What does that say about our national media?
Fact Of The Day: On this day in 1958, the John Birch Society was formed in Indianapolis. Upper middle-class, white, christian, republican, conspiracy-minded capitalists FINALLY had a club to call their own.
Quote Of The Day: “Just once in a while let us exalt the importance of ideas and information.” – Edward R. Murrow
Song Of The Day: “Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself” – The White Stripes
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