Every vote counts.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/voters-assigned-to-wrong-districts-may-have-cost-democrats-in-pivotal-virginia-race/2018/05/13/09a9dd8a-5465-11e8-a551-5b648abe29ef_story.html

«No one has suggested that the mix-ups were anything other than innocent errors.

….

Although ballots are secret and Virginia does not register voters by party, records suggest that 17 of the 26 people who live in the 94th District but were mis­assigned to the 93rd were likely to vote for the Democrat because they had voted since 2008 exclusively in one or more Democratic primaries. Only one of the 26 had voted in Republican primaries, and records for the remaining eight did not show primary participation.»

Hmm. Electoral college is also based on House size. I wonder how likely to pass this would be if one party did NOT control both executive and legislative branches?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming_Rule

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/will-democrats-win-congress-in-2018.html

«Republicans are now moving the goalposts to make Senate control part of the definition of a successful year for the Donkey Party, as shown by this remark from conservative activist Terry Schilling:

«For the Democrats to truly ride a “blue wave”, they would need to recapture both the House and the Senate. And, despite the hype, math is not on their side for either objective.»

Now Axios seems to be accepting that dubious premise in a piece with the highly suggestive headline: “Reality Check: Anti-Trump Midterm Wave Could Be More of a Ripple”»

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/13/denver-post-profits-newspaper-industry-218360

Everybody’s doing the schadenfreude thing about Devine the Trump Voter not being able to hire guest workers, but I thought this quote was really interesting.

http://amp.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article210676214.html?__twitter_impression=true

«These workers aren’t immigrants, and there is no path to U.S. citizenship. When their seasonal work is done, they return home. That’s why Devine thinks the Trump administration’s stifling of guest-worker programs has more to do with racism than economics. “I think there’s a war on brown people,” he said.»

(And replies.)

https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/995284224822468608?s=20

«A modest increase to the size of the House of Representatives would have salutary effects on representation in both the House and the Electoral College without requiring a Constitutional amendment or trampling on norms.»

For those who think structural racism is a thing of the past and we can’t do anything about it now.

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2017-2018/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/2017-SFA-0897-C.pdf

«In addition, the waiver would have to include a request to allow for the following:

— A requirement that the DHHS, in any monthly reporting cycle, give consideration for an individual who did not meet the average hours of workforce engagement requirements by up to 40 hours due to a good cause temporary exemption.

— To count toward the workforce engagement requirements, substance use disorder treatment that was court-ordered or prescribed by a licensed medical professional that impeded the ability to meet the requirements.

— If a county’s unemployment rate reached 8.5%, allow a recipient in that county to meet the workforce engagement requirements by actively seeking employment according to the Michigan Employment Security Act.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michigan-medicaid_us_5af49fa3e4b032b10bf8c60c

«Under the bill, Medicaid recipients in 17 mostly white counties, all represented by Republican senators, would be exempt from the work requirements, according to an analysis by the Center for Michigan, a think tank. But Medicaid recipients in the six municipalities with the highest unemployment rates, including Detroit and Flint, would have to work at least 29 hours a week to keep their health benefits. All six cities have black majorities or significant numbers of black residents.»

Costs to implement, plus defendants’ 6th-amendment rights.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article142702004.html

The theocratic leader of Iran is more subtle than The Donald.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bio-EWqnIIv/

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/387289-irans-supreme-leader-shares-photo-of-himself-reading-fire-and-fury?amp&__twitter_impression=true