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The below is an email from Jeff Sonnenfeld, the dean at Yale who is behind the entire corporate series of statements and letters you see regarding the GA voting law. This is what went to the CEOs who are making statements and signing that letter. He has also held conference calls with the CEOs on this. Below the email are my comments.
State Voting Policy Status: Georgia SB202 In The Context Of The Coordinated Introduction Of Restrictive State Voting Laws
Executive Summary
* At a moment when the country needs to focus on COVID response and economic recovery, we do not need state legislators focused on problems that don’t exist like voter fraud. This is neither good for Americans nor good for business.
* The purpose of the 361 restrictive voting laws introduced in 47 state legislators is to restrict access, particularly for voters of color, and to perpetuate the belief, now held by ⅓ of Americans, that the election was stolen. The 2020 election was secure and certified by every state election Board. Georgia voting law SB202, and bills like it across the country, are being rushed through legislatures to perpetuate the Big Lie of a stolen election.
* The law in Georgia (SB202) while not as harmful as intended, is unhelpful: See Figure below on the original intent of the bill which is consistent with laws that the Republican State Leadership Committee and other groups are seeking adoption of across the country. The provisions in SB202 are not as restrictive as initial proposals, thanks to the efforts of Georgia civic and business leaders, including provisions that would have banned early voting on Sundays when Black churches operate Souls to the Polls, and a complete repeal of no excuse absentee voting.
Figure 1: RSLC illustrating original intent of GA bill (Twitter)
Best practices for free & fair elections and where SB202 falls short
We evaluated SB202 against a set of non-partisan goals and best practices for upholding free and fair elections, which are the bedrock of American democracy.
1. ADDRESS CREDIBLE, EVIDENCE-BASED ELECTION INTEGRITY RISKS
Best Practices
a. Protect local election administrators and processes from partisan influence: Policies should be enacted that ensure election administrators can exercise their civic duty in a non-partisan manner.
b. Upgrade and secure voting infrastructure: Jurisdictions should have funds to upgrade voting machines and registration databases, conduct regular post-election audits, and undertake continuous threat assessments and remediation.
How the GA bill falls short
* Makes election administrators more vulnerable to partisan influence: During the 2020 election, former president Trump sought to influence Georgia Sec. State Brad Raffensberger, telling him in a recorded call “I just want to find 11,780 votes.” When Raffensberger maintained his independence, Georgia’s US Senators and many state electeds called for his resignation. The new law removes the Georgia Secretary of State as the chair of the state elections board and lets the state legislature -- which has been under unified Republican control since 2005 -- appoint a chair of the board.
* Upgrade secure voting infrastructure: Most of the “secure voting” provisions in SB202 are designed to address the false notion that impersonation fraud is a widespread problem. This approach misses an opportunity to address real vulnerabilities in the election system, including aging voter registration systems and machines at risk from foreign tampering.
2. ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY AND DISCRIMINATORY BARRIERS TO VOTING
a. Remediate barriers to voting that disproportionately impact voters of color including voter ID policies that disproportionately impact communities of color.
b. Protect eligible voters from arbitrary and deceptive election practices: Voters should have confidence that their right to vote will be protected from voter purges, and misinformation designed to prevent voters from exercising their right to vote. Example model policies include ending voter purges, and creating penalties for spreading false information aimed at preventing voting or voter registration.
How the GA bill falls short
* Does not address protecting voters from arbitrary and deceptive election practices: This bill does not address voter purges. However, under existing Georgia law, 560,000 voters were removed for not voting frequently enough in the 2018 election. A followup analysis found that these purges disproportionately impacted districts that favored Stacey Abrams over secretary of then Secretary of Stare Brian Kemp.
3. REDUCE TIME AND EFFORT REQUIRED TO VOTE
Best Practices
a. Flexible voting: Voters should have access to methods and times to vote that are convenient and that are accessible to all. Example model policies include enabling no-excuse absentee ballots, and expanding/adopting early voting.
b. Make accessing the polls easier: Voters should be able to vote quickly and comfortably. Example model policies include standards ensuring polling places have sufficient voting machines, poll workers, and other resources to avoid long lines
c. Reduce barriers to registration: Arbitrary and unnecessarily complicated registration processes often become barriers to voting, and should be eliminated or mitigated. Example model policies include automatic and same day voter registration.
How the GA bill falls short
* Expands weekend voting while placing new restrictions on drop boxes: While SB202 requires offering an additional day for early voting (which is good), it places new restrictions on access to dropboxes for absentee ballots, especially in urban areas, which obviates them by requiring them to be located only inside early voting locations and during the hours when early voting is available. It caps the number of boxes at one per 100,000 active voters or one for every early voting site (whichever is smaller), which will reduce the number of boxes in metro Atlanta from 94 to 23. The bill makes casting a provisional ballot more difficult by requiring that polling places turn voters away who are at the wrong polling place if they arrive before 5PM (voters in line after 5PM can still cast a provisional ballot).
* Places additional barriers to accessing the polls: SB202 explicitly bans giving food or water to voters waiting in line to vote; SB 202 makes it a misdemeanor for any third party person or group to give food or drink to a voter within 150 feet of a polling place or within 25 feet of any voter standing in line. This provision predominantly affects communities of color, where lines have historically been longer. The average wait time after 7 p.m. across Georgia was 51 minutes in polling places that were 90% or more nonwhite, but only six minutes in polling places that were 90% white.
* The bill does not address voter registration: SB202 does not address voter registration. Georgia does not allow same day registration, and requires voters to register 28 days before election day.
The Data: How does Georgia Rank vs. Other States on Voting Access and Administration
Figures 3-5 use data from MIT’s Election Administration Index, which measures election performance KPIs across and Northern Illinois University’s Cost of Voting Index
State democracy scorecards: an objective view of the state of democracy across states
Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies
Lester Crown Professor of Leadership Practice
Yale School of Management
P.O. Box 208200 | 165 Whitney Ave.
New Haven, CT 06520-8200 | 06511
Phone: (203) 432-5955
Fax: (203) 436-9277
jeffrey.sonnenfeld@yale.edu<
I prior mentioned that the entire movement by CEOs to speak out on the GA voting bill, and voting laws in other states like TX, is being stage managed by Jeff Sonnenfeld, a dean at Yale, who has gathered up a cohort of hundreds of CEOs who he is in direct contact with, and for whom he runs conferences. The CEO’s do not really have time to know what the details are, but it sounds good to them to sound like they are all for voting rights. Thus the letter they all signed this week, and thus the MLB boycott. See the email above right he sent to me with the policy paper that went to all of the CEO’s, and forms the basis for what you are hearing on TV, and in the newspapers. It is filled with misleading statements, and in my view, bad policies. The attached is what the CEOs are using as the basis for their positions, and not facts. This whole thing is an academic led push to have HR1 forced through. In fact, the GA law is less restrictive than CO where the MLB went, and less than DE or NY, or other states. This whole effort is being stage managed to push for unconstitutional HR1 and federal control of elections. The CEOs are just acting like lemmings to avoid getting attacked by the kiddies, but what is happening is not good for democracy. CEOs need to run their business, and not make false statements about GA or TX voting rules about which they are misinformed, and are just going along with peer pressure. We all recall what happened in Broward County, Fl and it took years for FL to finally cleanup all of the issues. Cleaning up voter laws and rules is needed to assure fair elections. There is zero proof that blacks were kept from voting in 2020. They voted in record numbers.
He begins by saying there was no fraud so we don’t need state legislatures to spend time on voting rules when they need to spend time on Covid. He claims all of the 361 “restrictive voting laws” introduced in 47 states are meant to restrict access, particularly for people of color. Not true. There are many issues with voting that need cleaning up in many states, and after the fiasco of 2020, it needs to be done now before the 2022 election. The assumption he makes is that blacks do not have the brains or sense to get a drivers license or social security number, or utility bill to prove identity to vote. All the same rules apply to whites. 75% of voters think voter ID is needed. You need ID to exist today. Requiring voter ID is no more restrictive for blacks as for anyone else. GA makes it free to get an ID. In fact most states require some form of ID to vote to avoid fraud. He claims that requiring ID to vote is designed to prevent blacks from voting, as though they do not have drivers licenses, social security numbers, or utility bills. He claims getting ID is a special burden for blacks-how it is hard for blacks but not whites is unclear. He also claims purges of the rolls, which is designed in every state to eliminate dead and people who moved so you have a clean roll, is also somehow deleterious to blacks. How, is a mystery, unless he is claiming blacks are singled out for elimination illegally, which is not the case. So in his view, better to have dead and moved people on the roils which makes it easier for fraudsters to use those names. He claims that a irrelevant 2014 study by the WAPO found virtually no fraud. Fact. There were fraudulent votes in several states in 2020 with dead and moved people voting in NV as one example. He claims there are undue burdens on poor people and minorities to comply with ID laws. I guess those people never see a doctor, buy liquor or cigarettes, never pick up a prescription, and never drive, nor do the myriad other things you need ID for today. Must be a lot of racists requiring ID for all those things. He claims 9% of blacks were told they had the wrong ID, but there is nothing to say if they corrected the problem. In fact, in 2020, all they had to do was sign and signatures were matched, not IDs. He claims purges of rolls in Stacy Abrams district were more than in other areas. Maybe she was stuffing the rolls with illegal voters and got caught. He claims that no-excuse absentee ballots need to be allowed. He needs then to talk to NY and other blue states which do not allow that. He believes automatic registration needs to be allowed. An invite to fraud.
He is all for same day registration. Fact. The states give more than ample time for anyone to register, and same day registration makes it easier to slip in someone not allowed to vote when there is no time to verify who they are.
He complains drop boxes are restricted. There will be over 750 drop boxes, and that is 1 per 100,000. More than in DE per 100,000 where there will be only 4 boxes in the state. In urban areas which he picks out, there is no reason anyone cannot go to a local voting place nearby their home, or they can just mail in the ballot. You don’t need a drop box to vote. Blacks have the exact same right to mail in their ballot or go toa voting place as whites. They don’t need a drop box. He objects to turning away people who are at the wrong voting place. Of course- that wrong location does not have the voter roll for that person.
He thinks it should be allowed to hand out food to people on line. That is banned in most every place as electioneering. The lie that Biden tells that water will not be available is a pure lie. Somehow Sonnenfeld thinks it is racist to ban electioneering. Water will provided free by the election authorities in tubs along the line. Or voters can bring their own water and food, as though that is a white thing. If there are not enough voting machines due to high turnout, that is the fault of the local county election authorities. If far more people turn out to vote than normal, like in 2020, then they just have to wait in line like everyone else.
Then he provides studies from academia. We all know there is nothing objective out of academia these days so their studies and charts are not credible in judging what is “fair’ in their view.
He tries to say the original draft of the GA bill was bad, but that is not the bill that became law, so it is irrelevant. Every legislative bill starts with all sorts of things, but the final bill is all that matters. He claims in GA it is very difficult to vote. So how come a record number of people voted, and by far a record number of blacks voted, and their candidates won. The CEO of Delta also weighed in to make an absurd claim after he originally was for the bill. Sonnenfeld claims the election administrator will be subject to partisan influence. As though the secretary of state is not, even though he is an elected officer. He claims the machines are at risk, which is what Republicans mentioned. There is nothing in the GA bill which prohibits the state from upgrading the systems.
So this is the whole basis for the corporate statements and letters about voting. Jeff claims all the CEOs and their counsel read the GA voting law and they know it better than the governor who he claims never read the bill. So CEOs, but not the governor are spending their time reading voting bills???? The CEOs are acting foolishly to try to appeal to their younger, university indoctrinated staff and customers. That is what they are really doing. Now you have the background as to what is really gong on. Kudos to the CEO of Walmart who said the company is in the business of business and not involved in politics, and would not participate in the anti-GA letters.
So the facts are clear. Under Trump tax receipts rose after the tax bill. Low income wages rose faster than ever and minority incomes rose at historic rates. Family income rose and poverty rates declined more than ever. Unemployment for minorities dropped to historic lows. Inequality actually improved as many more minorities found jobs and their wages and family incomes rose. All the rhetoric about inequality is simply misinformation not supported by the data from before the pandemic. The solution to inequality is a strong economy as we had in 2019 and early 2020. It is not give away programs. Restaurants are reporting it is impossible to fully restaff because their former employees say they earn more staying home now. The subsidy programs are doing exactly as I said they would- discouraging work.
A huge amount of uncertainty continues, but despite that, it appears that the current situation may become one of the best equity markets in decades. Short interest is relatively low, and the VIX remains below 20 and stable. Both good news. On the other hand, numerous black swans are circling which could turn euphoria into angst. There is a massive amount of capital swirling in the capital markets, and trillions sitting on the side, some of which may become invested dollars as the economy continues to open, and as the world begins to trade again. While stock prices seem to be excessively high based on all historical metrics, we have never before had a combination of historic low rates, massive savings, recovery from a once in a century mass event, and super accommodative monetary policy across the whole world assuring liquidity to all markets. This recessionary event was unlike any other in that the lenders were very accommodative, as was the Fed. In every other recession, lenders were much more likely to seize assets and discount them on sale. This time they were much more likely to modify and accommodate, and wait to see what happens. Landlords were much more likely to cut deals with tenants. Most importantly, Warp Speed was a historic major good accomplishment which created a definable end point to the recession. No other recession had such a clear end point. Warp Speed not only saved hundreds of thousands of lives, but it created a way out of the economic disruption. It will go down in history as one of the greatest accomplishments of all time, but it is unlikely Trump will get any credit from academics or the press. For the moment I remain fully invested in equities, and I continue to believe bonds and annuities are the wrong place to be for now. It seems likely that we could see an additional 10% upside this year, with the outside chance it could be more if the GDP increase hits 8%-9% as some credible forecasters predict. It now seems very unlikely there will be a 28% tax rate, and that Manchin seems to be holding firm on not ending filibuster, and no sneaking a massive wasteful left wing spending bill into reconciliation. We will see what happens, but it is clearly going to take a couple of months to find out, so the market will have time to run up before then, and it will then depend on the inflation numbers.
I remain convinced inflation is running higher than the Fed says, and the flattening out of copper and other commodity prices is still at a high price. Food commodities also might be flattening for now, but as the world reopens and gets back to work over the next several months, and as Americans are back in restaurants big time, food prices will probably move higher as gas prices surely move higher with much more regulation shutting down fracking. The dollar has been slipping lower lately and that is not good for inflation. As demand explodes over the next 90 days in the US, factories will not be able to keep up and supply chains will remain unable to meet demand, and chip prices and delays will go on for months. All in, there is no reason, in my view, to think inflation will remain below 2% for the rest of the year, and could hit 2.5% or more. Lots of uncertainty, but an investor has to take a position even if that position is hedged to some degree. I am taking the view that the stock market is where to be right now, but understanding the risk is real, and a black swan can poop all over my strategy at any moment. If my optimistic view turns out to be correct, the tech stocks could again be big winners, as sideline investors decide they want in. Every investor must move according to their own risk tolerance, and their view of the economy and rates. I could turn out to be wrong, so nobody should just go on what I think. There are some very smart investors who have a lesser upside view.
As I warned months ago, watch Taiwan. That is the real risk point to the world. Russia is unlikely to actually invade Ukraine. Iran is going to see how far they can push Biden to do another stupid deal. They will ramp up enrichment to put on more pressure. Israel is not going to just stand by. This is existential for them. Taiwan and Iran will be the major world risks this year. Covid is no longer the risk. The US is far ahead of the rest of the world in eliminating that crisis. Maybe the left should try to acknowledge it was American drug companies, and Trump Warp Speed, that saved the world.
Now Disney has changed its dress code so its actors and service people can dress as they like. Utter nonsense. The whole point was to create the magic kingdom, and not have a bunch of poorly attired, tattooed staff interfacing the kids. Disneyland was escape from reality for kids to imagine a dream, and not be faced with the ugliness of today’s street life.
Kamala claims the border crisis is due to climate change ending agriculture in Central America. Nobody ever said she was intelligent.
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Most Americans still derive their opinions from mass media TV News Programs and Newspapers. When nothing is shown or printed they remain unaware. This is unhealthy.
When Trump was president he was accessible, often combative, and the mass media enriched themselves because he provided constant news opportunities most of which they reported in a biased manner and often resorted to mis-information etc.
In the case of Biden, he personally hides and when he does appear it is all co-ordinated as to who is allowed to ask questions which are pre-determined softballs and he reads from a teleprompter. When he goes off script it usually is disastrous.
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Texas
Ranchers Dealing With Armed Smugglers on Land
April 15, 2021 Updated: April 15, 2021
biggersmller McALLEN, Texas—Two heavily armed suspected smugglers drive down a dirt road to hand their cargo of illegal aliens over to the next vehicle. One, the front passenger, is filming the bumpy drive with one hand, while pointing an AR-15 with a drum magazine out the windshield.
They’re speaking Spanish, talking about how
much farther to go. At one stage, the driver communicates over a radio to say,
“I’m there, I’m there, hold on.”
Suddenly the vehicle arrives at a gate,
where a pickup truck is waiting on the other side, and the driver and passenger
yell to their cargo, “All of you, all, all, all, run, run,” along with a lot of
cursing. The backseat passengers jump out and run to the waiting vehicle.
The incident occurred in Jim Hogg County,
Texas, about 70 miles north of the U.S.–Mexico border.
Landowners and ranchers dozens of miles
north of the border have long dealt with illegal aliens traversing their land
as they try to evade Border Patrol highway checkpoints and law enforcement.
They commonly leave gates open, which mixes stock; destroy fences and gates;
light fires; break into properties; and steal property.
But today’s human smugglers and illegal
aliens evading capture are different, said Susan Kibbe, executive director of
the South Texas Property Rights Association. The smugglers are armed, and the
illegal aliens are often convicted criminals.
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This from a dear friend and a fellow memo reader:
The Women's movement
in the West created the epidemic of gang and mass shootings
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Outrageous title, right? After all, we have all been indoctrinated into believing that until Betty Friedan all women had been subjected to violent repression by- here it comes- men. The evil Y chromosome. The source of all evil. How could God have placed such an awful curse on humanity by creating men? Or for you secularist fools who think that the evolution of life has been a meaningless set of random events, this awful outcome- the persistence of the Y chromosome in the human genome- must somehow be suppressed if mankind (Oops!, sorry- “humankind”) is to survive.
Since the 60’s, the systematized denigration of men in our culture combined with the loss of taboo against unwed motherhood and divorce has resulted in the gradual collapse of the nuclear family which, in turn, has resulted in a massive number of children growing up in fatherless homes. It is well known that children who grow up in fatherless homes have a much higher rate of poverty, violent behavior, dropping out of high school and gang membership. The vast majority of gang shootings and mass shootings are executed by fatherless boys.
https://thefederalist.com/2015/07/14/guess-which-mass-murderers-came-from-a-fatherless-home/
https://fathers.com/statistics-and-research/the-consequences-of-fatherlessness/
So what has the Left proposed as a solution to the evil Y chromosome hegemony over human progress and decency? Total dissolution of the nuclear family and the removal of the traditional, iconic male role model, i.e., the strong and loyal father. This is a “plank” in the BLM manifesto, but it’s origin in the west goes back at least to the mid to late 19th century in the UK as a doctrine of the Fabian socialists. They believed that all children should be separated from their families as toddlers and raised in state-run facilities to be appropriately indoctrinated into a statist ideology. This is also the prevailing ethos in Marxist societies. And it is clear that BLM and ANTIFA are rooted in Marxist principles. My bet is that the BLM and ANTIFA criminals who destroy businesses and commit arson with relative impunity are largely the products of fatherless homes, as well.
It is disturbing to the extreme that Big Capitalism, e.g., Silicon Valley, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, MLB, etc, have caved to pressure from the truly evil forces of the left. As they abdicate to the Left, they are writing their own epitaphs. Even the US military is trying to root out “white male supremacy”. During my 26 years of service I never saw a hint of this alleged systemic enterprise. I recently looked at a copy of the leftist Southern Poverty Law Center’s latest journal. They map out hundreds of white supremacist organizations in the US. I don’t think that these exist, and if some do, they are so lame as to be laughable. I believe that this is all a carefully coordinated lie to drive our society in the direction of godless socialist totalitarianism. As Goebbels said, tell a lie once and it’s a lie. Tell it a thousand times and it’s true. This is where we are today: major forces in our society are complicit in the lie of white male hegemony. And the proposed cure is underway: the indoctrination of children and young adults into neo-Marxist ideology, disarmament of the American people to prevent armed rebellion against a totalitarian regime and destruction of the traditional male role model.
Please pray for our
Nation!
B--"
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