The New Republic: on Government Reform
Andrew Yang:
Change Electoral College by proportional allocation of votes
Perhaps his most unusual proposal pertains to the Electoral College. Yang instead calls for the states to allocate delegates on a proportional basis,
like Maine already does. Yang also proposes making this proportional Electoral College system mandatory through a constitutional amendment.
Source: The New Republic magazine, articles on 2020 candidates
May 13, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Congress should lower Federal voting age to 16
Yang's proposal to lower the voting age to 16 years old would also face complications. "At 16, Americans don't have hourly limits imposed on their work, and they pay taxes," he argues. "Their livelihoods are directly impacted by legislation, and they
should therefore be allowed to vote for their representatives." Yang calls on Congress to set the voting age to 16 in federal elections. The problem is that federal lawmakers can't force states to lower their voting ages in local elections.
Source: The New Republic magazine, articles on 2020 candidates
May 13, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Electoral College: allocate state votes proportionally
He supports automatic voter registration, statehood for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, and ending felony disenfranchisement and partisan gerrymandering. Perhaps his most unusual proposal pertains to the Electoral College.
Yang calls for the states to allocate delegates on a proportional basis, like Maine already does. Yang also proposes making this proportional Electoral College system mandatory through a constitutional amendment.
Source: The New Republic on 2019 Democratic primary
May 13, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Lower voting age to 16 in federal elections
Yang's proposal to lower the voting age to 16 years old would face complications. "At 16, Americans don't have hourly limits imposed on their work, and they pay taxes,"
he argues. "Their livelihoods are directly impacted by legislation, and they should therefore be allowed to vote for their representatives." Yang calls on Congress to set the voting age to 16 years old in federal elections.
Source: The New Republic on 2019 Democratic primary
May 13, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
Rotate judges on Supreme Court, like term limits
Sanders's "rotating judges" idea actually makes some sense. At the Democratic debate, the moderators never raised how to handle the Supreme Court's emboldened conservative majority.They came closest to tackling the issue in an exchange about Roe v.
Wade and what the candidates would do to protect abortion rights if it were overturned. Sanders replied by saying he opposed adding additional justices to the bench, a solution several other candidates have proposed. "I do not believe in packing the
court," Sanders said. But "I do believe that constitutionally we have the ability to rotate judges to other courts."
At a forum in April, Sanders offered up a similar proposal. "What may make sense is, if not term limits, then rotating judges to the
appeals court as well. Letting them get out of the Supreme Court and bringing in new blood." The proposal is constitutionally dubious and might require an amendment, but it's not without merit if it gets rid of corrosive confirmation battles.
Source: The New Republic magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jun 29, 2019
Kirsten Gillibrand:
As U.S. rep held dozens of office hours at grocery stores
She's crazy for constituent outreach and has held dozens of "office hours" at grocery stores in her district. During her re-election campaign, even local Republican officials expressed awe at her "visibility."
She's one of a few representatives to disclose her daily schedule online, so reporters and constituents can see who's got access to her. She also posts her earmark requests.
Source: The New Republic magazine, articles on 2020 candidates
Jan 23, 2009
Rahm Emanuel:
My position on term limits is called elections
Q: Your predecessor Mayor Richard Daley was in office for 22 years. What was it like taking over a city when one man had so much control for so long?
EMANUEL: He was a great mayor. There are things he did that I would do differently. He acknowledged
the public was ready for a change.
Q: Do you think someone should be able to be mayor for that long?
EMANUEL: I don't know. My position on term limits is called elections.
Q: Bill Clinton would still be president.
EMANUEL: Well, that is true.
Source: The New Republic 2014 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls
Apr 6, 2014
JD Vance:
No government solutions; stop blaming faceless companies
Vance isn't interested in government solutions. All hillbillies need to do is work hard: "Public policy can help," he writes, "but there is no government that can fix these problems for us--it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless
companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better."Set aside the anti-government bromides. There is a more sinister thesis at work here, one that dovetails with many liberal views of Appalachia and its problems. Vance assures readers
that an emphasis on Appalachia's economic insecurity is "incomplete" without a critical examination of its culture. His great takeaway from life in America's underclass is: Pull up those bootstraps. Don't question elites. Don't ask if they erred
by granting people mortgages and lines of credit they couldn't afford to repay. Don't call it what it is--corporate deception--or admit that it plunged this country into one of the worst economic crises it's ever experienced.
Source: The New Republic magazine on Hillbilly Elegy
Nov 17, 2016
Page last updated: Aug 06, 2024