Am I the Only One That Signals?
Bob E. Sherman
I was told when I signed up not to do it for the money. This was an understatement. Between the training day, set up day, elections day and studying a few hours I made minimum wage. However, I was performing my civic duty. Much like the census, which has been done for 200 years, I was amazed at how little some of the poll workers and voting public knew about the process. A voter, who showed at 7:01 p.m. and was told that the polls were closed, demanded to know if there was a posted sign showing the hours. After the clerk explained that the hours are posted on the internet, in the newspapers, on TV, and radio and have been the same for 50 years, he still wanted to know if there was a sign. As I was being distracted from my closing duties; I put on my best Bill Engvall imitation and said “here’s your sign.” He muttered a few words I can’t repeat and stormed out. I have always thought that judges should not be elected. I can’t even count the number of voters who asked me “who are these people.” One ill informed voter handed me back his ballot and said I can’t vote for any of these people and walked out. Another, self declared Democrat insisted on voting for her Democratic Judges. I tried to explain the concept of “justice is blind” to no avail. She did not vote for any judges. I was prohibited by law from explaining my system for picking judges. I call my attorney friends and ask who they like, check newspaper recommendations and if all else fails go by the names or vote against incumbents. Some voter education is definitely in order. A ballot in Hollywood was rejected as the voter insisted on voting for all the Democratic candidates, not realizing that it was a primary. Even though picture IDs have been required for years; several elderly voters refused to show their drivers licenses. I should be flattered that as a first time poll worker and VST I was asked so many questions by the other poll workers. I wonder if Brett Favre asks rookies for advice. I was responsible for trouble shooting problems with the “EVID” machine. The EVID scans the voter’s driver’s license to print out a voting pass. Although my training was good, I was never even shown an EVID machine during the training. I was however, able to help set up the machine and solve two problems which arose during the day. I am of course a Hurricane. Our precinct, which was located in a barely accessible condo clubhouse, recorded 65 ballots cast. The cost of set up, tear down, distribution and collection of supplies, and the seven poll workers must have cost thousands. My suggestion for the next election would be to mail out absentee ballots; I’ll personally pick them up and mail them in. By the end of the day I was convinced I would not volunteer again. However, as I reflected upon the day it didn’t seem so bad. There were two precincts at my location. We all got along, shared a pizza and some laughs. A few workers read books during voting lulls. This was a perfect opportunity to share my book on my iPod touch, with the Kindle App, which I passed around. This was not the case at a nearby precinct in Hollywood. A clerk stormed around chastising workers for moving chairs, which they hadn’t, and for reading books. They also had a Moonie working the polls who passed out books by the Reverend Moon and tried to convert everyone. November 2nd is coming soon. Vote responsibly.
After recovering from working on the 2010 Census I signed up and worked as a VST for the Florida Primary Election. After a 15 hour day I sat at the Regional Center waiting for my turn to hand in my election tapes and supplies. It was a scene of bedlam, as a hundred tired clerks, VSTs (Voting System Technician), and FVSTs (Field VST) turned in their equipment. I overheard people saying “this is why most VSTs don’t return.”
Bob E Sherman for President
I am proud to announce my candidacy for President of the
My goal as President will be to simplify all phases of government. We will go back to the Constitution and focus on providing for a common defense, insuring domestic tranquility and promoting the general welfare.
Although the phrase “under God” was only added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954; our country was founded by those who came here for religious freedom. Therefore the wording “under God” will stay for tradition if for no other reason. Religious freedom means you may worship or not worship any way you want. It does not mean you have the right to try to convince anyone by any means that he must agree with you. Our founding fathers factored in a separation of church and state because they realized, as I do, that religion causes most of the world’s problems.
Common defense, as written in the Constitution, meant the defense of the
Illegal immigrants will have one inalienable right: the right to leave. I will propose a moratorium on all visas, other than travel visas, for an indefinite period or until such time as Congress develops a comprehensive plan to allow for reasonable quotas for legal immigration taking into consideration all ethnic groups and the employment needs of industry. The wet foot dry foot policy in
Our country was founded by immigrants who came here for religious and other freedoms. Let us not forget that people were living here when the first settlers arrived and we ignored their rights. We will not make the same mistake again. We welcome all legal residents to these
If I’m elected, border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean will be given a full Presidential Pardon.
Children born here will no longer become citizens automatically. To become a citizen, their parents must be citizens or legal residents. Amnesty for those now living here illegally will not be given. All payments and benefits to illegals will be discontinued.
Driver’s licenses will only be issued to legal residents. Anyone caught driving a vehicle without a license will be prosecuted under State law. The problem of DUI drivers and others that operate vehicles with suspended, revoked or no license at all will be addressed by a new Federal law which will allow for the confiscation of the vehicle.
The language of this country is English. I will propose that no Federal monies be spent on translating or printing anything in another language. Federal programs will be available to teach legal immigrants to speak and read the English language. Recognizing that speaking several languages is a sign of higher intelligence; “relevant” foreign languages will be taught in public schools, beginning in preschool.
Foreign Aid will be eliminated or significantly curtailed until such time as poverty is eliminated within the
Social Security will be strengthened by focusing on the reason it was created i.e. to provide for retirement. It will no longer be a form of welfare. All working Americans will be required to participate. This includes all Federal and State employees. Benefits should be for retirement, and should be based on the amount paid in. Why should someone who paid in 40 quarters get the same as I do after paying in for 120 quarters? Benefits should be for only those citizens who paid into Social Security and definitely not for illegal aliens.
I will propose a National Health Insurance program that provides all Americans access to medical care. It will not be free. Private health insurance companies don’t lose money. There is no reason why the Federal Government should. We already have a “Public Option” it’s called Medicare. All citizens and legal residents may enroll in Medicare. The premium will be substantially more than when you are collecting Social Security. The premiums will be less than private insurance and likewise the benefits. The higher premiums paid for private insurance will, in addition to paying the CEOs more money they can spend in a life time, give you extra benefits.
No one will be forced to buy health insurance. However, if you choose not to purchase or participate in an affordable insurance program, you will not be admitted to any hospital or urgent care facility without your American Express Card. So, don’t leave home without it.
Many liberals insist that we must provide medical care to illegals for humane reasons. Should Congress allow this; I will propose a withholding tax of 30% on all monies wired out of the
I am Pro Choice. However, abortion should be the last choice and be a rare occurrence. There are millions of Americans that are waiting to adopt children. Many travel to foreign countries to adopt. I will propose a National Network to match prospective parents with children and babies available for adoption. Except in cases of rape, abortion will be considered elective surgery in all public health insurance plans.
Barack Obama promised to close
I should remind the ACLU and other misdirected human rights groups of certain facts:
While there may not be DNA and eye witnesses to tie all of them to a specific crime; it is undisputed that if released they would gladly kill the first infidel they came upon.
The Geneva Convention is irrelevant if signed unilaterally.
Col. Hogan did not have access to legal counsel, nor did John McCain.
I presume that the only reason we take prisoners of war, rather than killing them, is due to the Geneva Convention; as we hope our prisoners will be treated the same. This is wishful thinking. The only
I do agree that torture should not be used. However, taking pictures of naked prisoners is not torture. And there are exceptions to every rule. When Jack Bauer has someone in his custody that, he is certain, knows where the nuclear device is located, he’s justified in using whatever means necessary to get the information. This will ultimately save millions of lives.
My favorite quote from the movie Swordfish is: “You have the power to cure all the world's diseases but the price for this is that you must kill a single innocent child, could you kill that child Stanley?” This is the type of tough question that I’ll be able to answer when I get that 3 a.m. call. Maybe I watch too much TV. However, is a minority candidate being elected president, on The West Wing, and then nominating his opponent for Secretary of State just a coincidence? By the way I read newspapers and magazines.
So what do we do with the
Taxes: Generally raising taxes in a bad economy is not a good idea. However, we do have a $10 trillion debt. We can’t reduce the debt by lowering taxes. If you increase taxes for some and give it back in the form of welfare; you haven’t accomplished anything. We may be a consumer economy. However, spending beyond our means got us into this mess.
Taxing social security benefits is not fair unless the income threshold is so high that the recipients would not even miss their check, were it stopped. I am now receiving Social Security benefits. However, because of the unacknowledged inflation and the decline in the stock market I work part time to supplement my income. So in addition to being taxed on my benefits I must continue to pay FICA taxes, which are no benefit to me.
Free trade is a two way street. Expecting
Water: on any given day there is a flood somewhere and a drought somewhere else. We need a system to redistribute water to where it is needed. 71% of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans, and if Al Gore is correct it’s going higher. Not having clean drinking water anywhere in the world in unacceptable. One solution for the rising water levels is to drink it. We have the technology to turn sea water into fresh water. If we put our minds to it we can make it economically feasible to produce fresh water on a large scale. We could even sell it. There may be alternative to oil as a fuel, but there is no alternative to water. Providing clean water is more important than exploring Mars.
Energy: Until ours cars run on something other than gasoline we need to drill for oil. Even though we can’t drill our way out of the energy problem; it’s no reason not to drill. Start in
Ethanol and bio diesel make no sense when there are people starving in the world. Insufficient research was done when ethanol was introduced and many marine engines were damaged. Ethanol and bio diesel cost just as much and reduce the mileage. So where is the savings? We need more fuel efficient cars. The Hummer should be discontinued immediately. Regarding the marine industry, most boats are lucky to get one mpg. If we increase it to two, the cost of boating falls, and our carbon footprint is reduced by 50%.
Bailing out the auto industry: The US auto manufacturers have no one to blame but themselves. Giving them any money was a bad idea on a long term basis. I don’t care whether I get the Union vote in 2012. The unions are part of the problem. Without concessions there won’t be an UAW. I won’t forget Harley Davidson. They are the only
Farm Subsidies: I’ll stop them. Just because Congress gets paid for doing nothing doesn’t mean everyone else should.
Foreign Policy: Many sovereign nations have leaders that are considered dangerous or downright crazy. However, they are still sovereign nations and we can’t tell everyone what to do, how to treat their residents or run their governments. This is why many countries hate us. What we can do is react when a person or country does something against our national interests.
In the interest of transparency I wish to point out that I will not attend church or buy a dog after I take office.
God bless