The Power Of Governors In Our Government
Posted by Michelle Moquin on October 27th, 2014
Good morning!
What some people don’t realize is the importance of Governors in our government. Most of us think that the President is the chief executive that will have a greater effect on our daily lives, but it’s really the chief executive, a governor, that has power in so many different areas, that will.
Hear me out. Like the federal government, governors head state governments with executive, legislative and judicial branches too. The governor on a state level, acts like a president of his or her state, performing many of the same functions that the U.S. president does at the national level. They set policy, appoint department heads. They prepare and administer a budget, recommends legislation, and signs laws. In most states, the governor also plays an important role in appointing state and local judges.
Think of it this way:
1. The President controls the country.
The federal government has three branches of government – they are all equal.
- The executive branch enforces and executes the law.
- The legislative branch makes law.
- The judicial branch judges whether the law is constitutional on a federal level.
2. The Governor controls the state.
The state government has the same three branches of government as above – they are all equal. (So does the city. A mayor is like the president on a city level.) These branches of government are called Congress. (except on a city level where there is only a Board of Supervisors – but we won’t get into that here.)
The U.S. government is a federal system and runs very, very few programs such as Social Security and Medicare. They also run national defense and the national parks programs. Almost everything else in the system is really run by state government, which is the reason why who is the position of governor of a state is a very big deal.
So what do I mean by everything else? Well I won’t get into all of the details except the ones that I feel are going to impact our future, which are three major areas:
- Governors have the power and have exercised it well when it comes to redistricting. When a state gains or loses a congressional seat, district boundaries are redrawn by the governor and the state legislature. These boundaries, some creating very odd shaped districts, are done intentionally so that the House incumbent has the ability to keep his or her safe in the coming elections. (Reps are elected every 2 years – in my opinion this should be 3-4 years.) In other words it’s like roping off an area of just your party people to ensure that you have the majority to win. This is known as gerrymandering. Gerrymandering can take place almost anytime; the politicians doing it just need to argue that a shift in population distribution justifies redrawing district lines. Usually, though, it takes place after the national census, which is every 10 years.
- Governors control the voting booth machines/hardware. It seems that whoever controls the voting machines wins. The repubs are not going to be fair when it comes to the elections. We all know this. If the repubs are controlling the voting machines, they will cheat and steal votes to win. They have done it before and they will do it again. Need I say more here?
- Governors control who can vote, how many days they have to vote, the places they can vote and the quality and quantity of voting machines that will be available at a polling place. When a governor takes advantage of their position and makes it difficult for a certain type of person or race to vote, it’s called disenfranchisement. We’re experiencing this right now in many states.
I bring this up because we have all been focusing on retaining control of the Senate, which is very important. But I don’t want to make the mistake of not showing the importance of maintaining the Dem governorships that we have and attaining more in this coming election. Because, historically, the sitting president’s party tends to lose four or five gubernatorial (governorship) seats in a midterm election. We do not want that to happen in November.
So it is not only important to vote in your senators but your governors as well. Controlling Congress on a federal level is good but if the repubs control it on a state level, we are not going to be in a good position for future elections, because they will cheat and steal their way to gain control in any way they can. And believe me they are working to do it on the state level too.
Here’s a write from CBS News. Its main points are not on what I have been mentioning above but it does show us where we need to focus in November when it comes to the gubernatorial elections, and how the repubs might get ahead in 2016 if we don’t pay attention and vote them out.
2014 governors races: Does the GOP’s future start here?
We often say Democrats are “in power” because they hold the White House but chances are you have a Republican governor.
That means 2014′s governors races – taken as a whole – are the closest thing we have to a referendum on GOP policy and governance at the moment, more so than whether they retake the Senate – and that they’ll write the first chapter of the 2016 story, too.
That’s particularly true because the Republican Party holds governorships in “blue” and swing states, like Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Wisconsin; plus Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Maine.
Watching governors often means watching the next crop of possible national leaders, too: before Barack Obama became the first sitting senator elected president since John F. Kennedy, presidents were routinely coming from the ranks of either ex-vice presidents or governors.
Today, given congressional Republicans’ low ratings, it will surprise no one if governors in some of those blue and swing states now try to return to that pattern, using wins this year as a springboard – see, e.g., Scott Walker in Wisconsin, John Kasich in Ohio. They’d invariably run on some version of the “outsider against Washington” message; the achiever while D.C. dithered. In fact the Republican nomination contest might well divide, roughly, into a contest between governors – touting achievements or pragmatism – and its high-profile legislators, who might make more ideological appeals.
But first, they’d have to join other two-termers who could run – New Jersey’s Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, for instance – and get re-elected.
Along the way we could also see an interesting message divide between the national and state candidates, as Republican governors will want everyone thinking things are going well. We were reminded of that a bit on Tuesday: before the State of the Union, the RGA was sending out a string of tweets trumpeting the declining unemployment rate in state after state, all of which were led by Republican governors. Meanwhile, GOP Senate and congressional candidates, trying to make the race a national referendum on the president, might want voters thinking things are generally lousy.
More broadly, there’s a map story that can also speak to 2016. Another set of wins in blue states could give a little boost to the idea that Republicans might be able to expand their presidential map a bit two years hence; particularly compelling would be wins the aforementioned Ohio, or Wisconsin and Florida. Conversely, there’s opportunity in that for Democrats. Were they to beat a few incumbent Republicans, it would not only reverse some of their massive 2010 losses, but would solidify the idea that their presidential map still has a favorable baseline.
A few (of the many) interesting races to watch:
Florida
Because, well, it’s Florida, the biggest swing state there is. Incumbent Republican Rick Scott was one of the tea party and anti-establishment’s biggest wins of 2010, and he’s had a rocky ride in the approval ratings, but does have lots of money. Former Republican Charlie Crist will run for his old office, this time as a Democrat. Does that, and being well-known, end up helping or hurting him? Big issues: the economy, of course, as well as Obamacare and Medicaid expansion.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin has spent as much time in the national spotlight as any state in recent years. Scott Walker, like many fellow GOP governors after the 2009-10 cycle, took conservative and controversial steps to budget-balancing that drew praise from many in his own party, notably when he beat back an unprecedented recall effort. Polls have him with a leg up, and he’ll be on the much-mentioned list for 2016 contenders if he wins.
Ohio
Republican John Kasich’s case has some similarities, though while Walker was defeating the recall, voters rejected a big part of Kasich’s agenda in subsequent ballot measures. Polls have Kasich contending for re-election.
Pennsylvania
Republican Tom Corbett is down in the polls right now, with many unhappy with his handling of the budget and saying he’s too conservative for this mainly-blue state. This is a seat the Democrats will really be looking to retake.
*****
Readers: I HOPE this is clear. Are you with me on this? Blog me your thoughts.
Juan, Will et al: Do as much as you can to get them there. We really can make a difference if we all show up. A no show is a vote for the republicans. If they think that enough is not getting done now, they will really learn what that means if the repubs take control. Total apathy and being lazy is not acceptable. I do not want to hear people complain later on if they do nothing now. We have the power. If we lose we have only us to blame. Let’s give it our best efforts. OK? Helen said it well.
Pablo: I do not want to see what hitting bottom is like, and wake up to our plight. Young voters…women…OTWs, will feel it the worst.
Jessica: That’s what I say, Dems. Do something different for the midterms and show up in hordes and vote. It really can be that easy.
Thelma: I was confused by your comment. But now after seeing your second comment, I get it. Sickening, as well as crazy to think that way, right?
Howie: After reading your comment about the aliens, this is going to be a huge change for many aliens as well as humans that they are in relationship with.
How do I feel about your second comment, Howie? I am sickened too. I get so caught up in the happenings of the world that it is challenging to separate myself from it all. I can only imagine what Obama must be going through having to deal with all of this worldwide. The world is getting very small. It’s just too bad that we can’t create peace and all get along, and share this small planet.
I HOPE Israel is paying attention. What does Carr say about all of this? Is he usually amused with human behavior or does any other emotion arise as well?
Peace & Love…
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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October 28th, 2014 at 7:05 am
That was a good read.
Commenter lock out?
Luv, Zen Lill
October 28th, 2014 at 7:24 am
Yes, Zen Lil sometimes it seems that it is very difficult far the rest of us to get in. But I see a yesterday it was difficult for you to make it.
Guess it all evens out.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:28 am
I agree Michelle, but we have to face that it is a reality for our race. We have become so entrenched in believing that this is “our” meaning the white race, country that any perceived threat to that concept is immediately reacted negatively to.
Sad and pathetic.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:31 am
Don’t be a hater Silva. Zen Lill puts a lot of sweat equity in this blog. It wouldn’t be all that it is without regular input from her and a few others.
A shout out to you Howie, Mike,TM, Al, Social Butterfly, Prism Princess, and of course the immutable Alycedale. If I were black you would be my role model.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:42 am
Good choice of an article to introduce your piece Michelle. The GOP got their control of this country by making it a plan to take over state control of this country one by one. Their success allows them to virtually control who gets elected on the federal level.
But most importantly it allows them to gerrymander districts so they can turn their minority position into the majority representation in the House. In my state we overwhelmingly elected Obama, but 75% of our representatives to the House are republicans. That’s because the districts were redrawn to put most of the dems voters in a few districts. The rest of the districts were gerrymandered into small individual areas with mostly repugs in them.
The result the majority of voters who were more likely to vote dem were in 4 districts. That make up about 68% of the voting public voters in out state. They got to pick only 4 representatives. It didn’t matter whether they chose dems or repugs, they only got 4 representatives out of it.
The remaining 13 representatives were being selected by the 32% of voter in the 13 districts were drawn up in ways to insure that whom ever got elected they would be selected by white republicans. That scam is going on in EVERY one of the states in which the GOP has control.
That’s how and why we have a majority of repugs representing a minority of voters. The few racists get to elect the majority of representatives.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:45 am
Silva#2, I would be so obviously jealous of Zen Lill if I were you. She does have her supporters, me being one of them. I open the blog each day looking for her input. I like her take on the issues. She and Al usually bring a view point that says what most of us are thinking but can’t put to words.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:48 am
Michelle, you are making the point that should be made. If we can get to the polls in sufficient numbers, we can make a difference on the State levels this time. We can take back those states in which gerrymandering has given the “Greed Over People” party the ability to gerrymander themselves into political power.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:50 am
The GOP and the whites that support that party have no shame. They know they are stealing the power of true representative government by gerrymandering districts so that a few whites can elect the majority of representatives in a state.
But to these hypocrites the end justifies the means.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:52 am
My favorite is Social Butterfly because she is for mother earth first. I love her input. When she is absent I feel I missed something that day.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:01 am
Michelle, I’m thrilled that you found something I said worthy of comment. You are trying hard to motivate your readers to get the vote out. I think it is working. My cousin called to say that he can get over his calling your blog a man-hating frenzy spot because you are showing that you have a means to your madness.
I asked him what the fuck he was talking about. He said well before I, meaning me became a rabid fan of yours, I used to keep my opinions to myself at family gatherings, but now I can’t be begged into keeping my mouth shout. He said he got so tired of me using your blog as a reference to back up something I was claiming that he was forced to check it out.
Long story short, he loves your blog. He said that it takes a while for a male to consider the point of view that you are making that women because of the physical threat that men bring to the table should have the right to use their voices to do what men can do with physical force without men feeling abused.
He said that at the end of the day, all a man can suffer is bruised feelings from a woman using her voice to do what men do with their fists. On the other hand if a man practiced the same with the physical force they can bring to the table someone gets physically hurt.
Then he said you have provided a forum for males and females to express themselves without fear of the violence men can explode into.
October 28th, 2014 at 8:22 am
Howie, you are the cause of so many phone calls to me lately. The men in my family keep calling me to ask for the archives because they are the johnny come latelys that are now super UFO fans of your. From Spain to Finland. I get 8 or 9 calls a day.
I like your reports also, but this is driving me crazy. Does anyone out their have a collection of Howie’s UFO posts they want to share?
October 28th, 2014 at 9:18 am
I got my vote out a few weeks ago by choosing to vote via an absentee ballot. The advantages for me were several. For one I got to sit at my desk and take my time with the ballot.
The real advantage I had was when it came down to local issues, for instance the state judges (I didn’t know a thing about Florida judges), I had the time to google all of them and see who they were and what they were all about prior to deciding. Same goes for many local issues, had I been standing in the booth, I would have been dripping sweat on my ballot by the time I was finishing.
Very good post today Michelle, I am hoping against hope that enough people turn out at the polls and that the GOP isn’t capable of cheating as much as they would like to come Nov.
It is down to the will of the people vs. the political power of the corporations and 1%er’s.
October 29th, 2014 at 9:01 am
[…] Jessica: :)) It won’t be the last time I or my blog is called out as “man-hating.” But let me say that I am thrilled that you have found your voice and are using it – Go girl! Love it. And…delighted that your cuz loves my blog and gets it. Points are scored all around. Let’s HOPE he is spreading the word and inspiring his male friends too. Thank you! […]
October 29th, 2014 at 9:01 am
[…] Irene: Excellent addition to my write. Thank you for taking the time and explaining EXACTLY how it happens. […]