Do you really trust Bloomberg that much you think he'd be= behind this if it wasn't for personal gain? What about what he= did to the teachers' class size proposal?

Bob= Armstrong <bob@cosy.com> wrote:

On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 21:12:59= -0500, BARBARA SLITKIN wrote:
> This made it much= clearer for me- maybe you too?
> ----- Original= Message -----
> From: "NormanS"=
> To: "NYC Direct Action= Network"

Much of what is said= here is simply false . It is only the
rulers , such as Denny= Farrel , of the Democrat monopoly who
gain by the current= disenfranchisement of every other group .

Specifically= false are the following :

> > This scheme ... would= diminish the influence and= political
> > gains made by African= Americans, Hispanics, Asians, immigrants,
> > labor= and other progressive forces.

The Only group= advantaged by the current system are the= professional
politicians .

> > Further, it would= allow wealt! hy celebrity candidates an even
> > greater= advantage in a city where billionaires rule.

Ridiculous= .
Remember this proposal was largely motivated by Lenora= Fulani ,
http://www.speaking.com/speakers/lenorafulani.html= ,
who's main thrust is "Black political independence"= .

One hard to find detail , which I mention in my= comments
in the NYC Voter Guide linked below , is that the= threshold for ballot
access will be 900 petition signatures= for any group as opposed to 900
for major parties and 2700= for third parties and independents .
It is the current system= which is biased towards Daddy Bigbucks .

> > Arnold= Schwarzenegger would have more than a fighting chance= to
> > become NYC Mayor if this proposal= is passed.

So ? What's the problem , that he's not a= professional politician ?
He has the money to do a Bloomberg= or a Corzine anyway .

> > third and minor parties= ! would also be impacted negatively
> > since= party designations would become obsolete in the electoral= arena.
> > Parties of the left and the= right--Working Families, Socialist Workers,
> >= Green, Conservative, Right-to-Life, etc.--would no longer= be able to run
> > candidates under their party= names.

Simply FALSE . Party labels are optional and= certainly Libertarians
will provide their identification= .

> > Also, since only the top two= vote-getters in the September primary would
> > be= on the November ballot, third parties would no longer be= able to run
> > candidates in the general= election.

This is true . The real action would likely be= in the September round .
But That would be far more= competitive . You would actually get debates= .

> > Further, passage of Question #3= would end fusion politics. Fusion is
> > a system of cross endorsements,= where one party endorses a candidate of
> > another= party.

False . Labels are not eliminated= .

> > Of course, the current party-based= electoral system is far from perfect
> >= and third parties and independent progressive blocs are at= a clear
> > disadvantage.

RIGHT= !

> > proportional representation. Under such= a system each party receives a
> > certain= number of seats in a legislative body based on the= number of
> > votes it received overall.
>= > Proportional representation was ended= specifically because
> > of the presence= of Communists in the Council.
> > But that's= another debate, and another political= struggle.

Interesting history I did not know .= Proportional representation replaces
district locality with= city-wide aggregation . So there is a trade off .

Instant runoff= elections are another possibility .
But those Are other= debates .

Unless you believe in the Democrat= Establishment monopoly which leaves
1.3 million of us with no= choice , vote YES .

--
Bob Armstrong --= http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864
Restore our Right to Relax= :
http://ny.lp.org/cgi-bin/petition.cgi?Against_the_Smo= king_Ban

Vote against your incumbent . If you= believe in individual Liberty

And vote For open= primaries . My commentary in the voters guide= :
http://nyccfb.info/debates_vg/voter_guides/general_2003/bal= lot_proposal/statements_3_pro.htm#armstrong

Computing= Environment : http://CoSy.com/CoSy/
A WTC vision := http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ConicAllConnect/

Liberty := http://CoSy.com/Liberty.htm
&nb= sp; 20= 03/11/03 9:56:58 PM