First Responders Fund

In the first part of June 2019, entertainer and activist Jon Stewart accompanied some "first responders to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks" to Congress to appeal to representatives to act on renewal legislation to provide the money for the fund to take care of health care bills for the men and women who have suffered medical consequences for their actions during the aftermath of those attacks. A number of representatives did not even show up for the hearing, or perhaps some came in late. This is what our country has become, with "representatives," and I use that word with great skepticism, who are terribly detached from average people. If a hearing for this proposal featuring actual victims of deadly or debilitating illnesses could not get the attention of a number of  "representatives" (there's that word again), and Jon Stewart's presence and voice could not stir them to attend, what chance do you think you or I have to get action from "representatives" on other matters? The hearing proved to be an embarrassment for some "representatives," and after some pressure on the Majority Leader in the Senate, the legislation was passed, but it just shows how difficult it is to accomplish what should be an easy and non partisan task.

Regular readers know I'm a Democrat, BUT I do NOT give Democrats a free pass. While they acted on the legislation more quickly in the House of Representatives, over which the Democrats have control, they should have been FAR out in front and leading the charge on this issue. For not having done so, for Democrats... SLAP! SLAP! The Republicans are in charge of the Senate, and Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a remark on television that John Stewart was "bent out of shape" over the issue. For that, SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! To Jon Stewart... a PAT ON THE BACK for a job well done and for NOT taking the crap of Mitch McConnell, which forced McConnell to agree to bring the legislation to the floor of the Senate. 

Below are the role call votes in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. I have not listed the names of supporters of the legislation, rather only the names of those who voted "no," as well as the names of those who did not vote, so if you do not see a representative's or a senator's name, that means that person voted "Yes." As to those who did not vote, I have no idea why they did not vote, but I do know this, that barring serious illness or emergency, there is NO reason for not voting. The first job of a legislator is to legislate, and that means... to vote on legislation! So... to those who who did not vote and were not ill or in the midst of an emergency.... SLAP! SLAP!... and just so you remember.... SLAP! You deserve it, as you failed in your primary duty to your constituents and to the nation. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (July 12, 2019):

402 "Yes" votes
12 "No" votes
19 "Not voting"  

12 "NO" votes in the House of Representatives, eleven Republicans and one independent* (Justin Amash of Michigan, Jodey Arrington of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Ken Buck of Colorado, Michael Cloud of Texas, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Andy Harris of Maryland, Jody Hice of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, John Rose of Tennessee

19 "not voting" (Republicans: Kevin Brady of Texas, Sean Duffy of Wisconsin, Garret Graves of Louisiana, Sam Graves of Missouri, Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Tom Rice of South Carolina, David Roe of Tennessee, Mike Rogers of Alabama, Ron Wright of Texas)
(Democrats: Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Marcia Fudge of Ohio, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Ro Khanna of California, Brenda Lawrence of Michigan, Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Cedric Richmond of Louisiana)

SENATE (July 23, 2019):

97 "Yes" votes
2 "No" votes
1 "Not voting"

2 "No" votes, both Republicans (Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah)
1 "Not voting," a Republican (Johnny Isakson of Georgia)  

* Representative Justin Amash of Michigan was elected to this term of the House in November 2018 as a Republican. He announced in early July 2019 that he was declaring himself to be an independent. 

WORD HISTORY:
Clinic-This word is related to "incline," "recline" and "climate," all Latin-derived words borrowed by English. It goes back to Indo European "kley/klei," which had the notion, "to slope, to lean, to incline, to slant." This gave transliterated Greek "klíne," meaning, "bed," which produced the transliterated Greek adjective "klinikós," meaning, "of or about a bed." This then gave transliterated Greek "klinike téchne," meaning, "medical treatment for bedridden sick people." Latin borrowed the word as "clinicus," meaning, "doctor who tends to bedridden patients," later also the meaning transferred to "a bedridden patient." The word passed into French as "clinique," meaning, "doctor who tends to bedridden patients." English borrowed the word from French in the first half of the 1600s, initially with the meaning, "bedridden patient." German also borrowed the word from French (early 1800s?), initially as "Clinik," then "Klinik," by which time it had taken on the meaning in French, "facility for training medical personal by firsthand experience at bedsides," which also was taken by German. The English word then took on the meaning of a "hospital, medical treatment facility," by influence of the German meaning in the 1880s.     

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Six

WORD HISTORY: 
Shut-This word is related to "shoot" and "shot," both of which are English words from its Germanic roots. It goes back to Indo European "skeud," with the notion of, "to project, to throw, to thrust outward, to move quickly." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skeutanan," with the same general meanings. This then gave West Germanic "skutjanan," meaning, "to bolt/to lock" (from the notion of "thrust, project); thus also, "to enclose, to close off." This gave Old English "scyttan," meaning, "to close off with a bolt;" thus also, the figurative, "to finish something, to pay off." This then became "schutten/shutten," before the modern version. Forms in other West Germanic languages: German has "schützen," meaning "defend, protect," which developed from the idea of "closing off from danger, keeping out something harmful;" Low German Saxon "schütten," meaning, "to shut, to shut or lock in;" Dutch "schutten" meaning, "to lock;" Frisian "apparently" does not use a form in modern times, but it once had "sketta," meaning, "to lock, to close off."  

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Four

The election of 1994 proved to be an earthquake for Democrats, as Republicans won enough seats in the House of Representatives and in the Senate to take control of both houses. Democrats had controlled both houses of Congress since the 1950s! Newt Gingrich of former Confederate state, Georgia, became Speaker of the House.

The results in the former Confederate states where there were changes in party representation: U.S. Senate: In Tennessee Republicans took both seats from the hold of Democrats (one actually was a special election to fill a vacancy brought about by the retirement of the incumbent Democrat). That was the only change in the Senate, and in the House of Representatives: in Florida, Republicans gained 2 seats, making the delegation 15 Republicans and 8 Democrats; in Georgia, Republicans gained 3 seats, making the delegation 7 Republicans and 4 Democrats; in Mississippi, Republicans gained 1 seat, making that delegation 4 Democrats and 1 Republican; in North Carolina, Republicans gained 4 seats, making that delegation 8 Republicans and 4 Democrats; in South Carolina, Republicans gained 1 seat, making that delegation 4 Republicans and 2 Democrats; in Tennessee, Republicans gained 2 seats, making that delegation 5 Republicans and 4 Democrats; in Texas, Republicans gained 2 seats, making that delegation 19 Democrats and 11 Republicans; in Virginia, Republicans gained 1 seat, making that delegation 6 Democrats and 5 Republicans. There were no changes in the delegations of other former Confederate states. In races for governors, Republicans took over the governors' mansions in Alabama, Tennessee and Texas, with the other states seeing no change in the party holding the governorship.

One additional note, Senator Richard Shelby, of former Confederate state Alabama, switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican right after the Republican election victory in November 1994, thus increasing the Republican majority in the Senate. 

WORD HISTORY:
Swerve-This word goes back to Indo European "swerbh," with the notion of "twists and turns used for wiping, brushing or sweeping something off." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "swerbanan," with essentially the same meaning. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sweorfan," meaning, "to wipe, to rub, to scour, to file down." This then became "swerven," before the modern form. The modern meaning of "go off course, move to the side or move from side to side" seems to have come from the idea of the "wiping motion, twists and turns," of the original meaning. As you can see below, other Germanic relatives mean, "wander, roam," which has the notion of "not staying on course," and it's certainly possible that English had this additional meaning long ago too, but that it was not set down in writing. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German had "swerben," but no longer; Low German Saxon has "swarven" (wander, roam, brush off), West Frisian has "swerve" (wander, roam, stray); Dutch has "zwerven" (roam, wander, stray); Icelandic "sverfa" (file down); Swedish "svarva" (to turn).

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Seventeen

Ronald Reagan began his second term in January 1985.

A scandal broke in late 1986, dubbed "Iran-Contra," because of its connection to Iran and to the Contras of Nicaragua. The scandal is complicated, but it essentially involved the U.S. selling arms to Iran, which was in a brutal, very bloody war with neighboring Iraq; then, some of the "proceeds" of that sale going to support anti-communist forces, called the "Contras," in Nicaragua.* The problems were these: Iran had been a bitter enemy of the U.S. since 1979 and the beginning of the ordeal for the American hostages being held in Iran. Sanctions against Iran were then put in place, which included an arms embargo. The U.S. openly supported Iran's enemy, Iraq, in the war between those two countries, but Iran desperately needed U.S. weapons to fight Iraq. There were also American hostages being held by an Iranian supported group in Lebanon. So the U.S. sold weapons to Iran, and some of the American hostages in Lebanon were released, although other Americans were then taken hostage. The process continued, but the price for weapons to Iran increased, with the extra money diverted to help the Contras in Nicaragua, something that was against American law. Eventually the deal with Iran became public, which badly damaged Reagan, whose poll numbers took a big hit until the 1988 election campaign and Reagan's pending departure from office lifted his numbers again.

The midterm election in 1986 saw Democrats gain a total of 8 Senate seats, as they defeated 6 Republican incumbents who had won election, at least partially, on the strength of Reagan's first term win in 1980. In the former Confederate states, Democrats captured Republican seats in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. In the House of Representatives, the overall results were less dramatic, as Democrats gained only 5 seats nationally, and with the changes in former Confederate states being: 1 Republican seat gained in Louisiana, making that state's delegation 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans; in Mississippi a 1 seat gain by Democrats, making the delegation 4 Democrats and 1 Republican; a 2 seat gain by Democrats in North Carolina, making the delegation 8 Democrats and 3 Republicans; a 1 seat Democratic gain in South Carolina, making the delegation 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans; and a 1 seat gain by Democrats in Virginia, making its delegation 5 Republicans and 5 Democrats. In governorships, Republicans replaced Democrats in Alabama, Texas, South Carolina and Florida (where former Democrat turned Republican, Bob Martinez won), but in Tennessee, a Democrat replaced a Republican as governor.

* For a little more on the "Iran-Contra" scandal, this is the link to an article I did in October 2012:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/10/its-about-coalitions-not-purity-part_7635.html

WORD HISTORY:
Cove-This word, UNRELATED to the similar word "cave," "seems" to go back to an Indo European form "geuba," with the notion of "pit, hollow;" thus, "a hole in the ground." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "kubon," with the meaning "den;" that is, "hollowed out living area in the ground or hillside for animals," but also with the "hollow, pit" meaning by itself. The "den" meaning then broadened to include "hut." This gave Old English "cofa," meaning, "den, closet, room." "Cofa" then became "cove," with the "e" pronounced "eh," before the modern pronunciation. The meaning, "small opening along a coastline, a small bay," didn't develop until the mid 1500s. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German "Koben," meaning, "hutch, pigpen, animal stall," but also, "hollow;" Low German Saxon "Kaven," meaning, "animal stall;" Dutch "koof," meaning, "cove;" West Frisian "kouwe," meaning, "cage;" Icelandic "kofi," meaning, "hut." 

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Eleven

A Supreme Court decision in the early 1970s (Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education) allowed courts to use the busing of students to help with desegregation of schools.* It was an explosive issue. In the fall of 1972, I remember talking with one of the professors of my college who was originally from either Tennessee or North Carolina, I just can't remember now. He mentioned how busing in his home state had caused tempers to boil over. 

Watergate, the presidential pardon of Nixon, a slow economy and the loss of Vietnam left President Gerald Ford highly vulnerable when he chose to seek a presidential term of his own. Remember, Ford had not faced voters on a national level; but rather, he had been appointed as vice president and then assumed the presidency when Nixon resigned. Former governor of California Ronald Reagan challenged Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976. Interestingly, Reagan was a former Democrat and Ford counted many congressional Democrats as some of his closest friends (he had long served in the House of Representatives). Reagan had established himself as a prominent conservative in the 1964 election, when he spoke openly on behalf of conservative Republican Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. At the Republican Convention, Ford eked out a first ballot win over Reagan, but in the former Confederate states, he carried a majority of delegates only in Florida and Mississippi. Meanwhile, in the Democratic race for the nomination, a Southerner, former Georgia governor, Jimmy Carter, won the nomination against several well known Democrats, "perhaps" because he was not a Washington insider. Being affiliated with Washington after the Nixon administration scandals was a negative to some voters. So now we had a moderate Georgia Democrat versus a moderately conservative Michigan Republican. How would the former Confederate states vote?

Jimmy Carter carried all of the former Confederate states, except Virginia, which he lost to Ford by only about 1 percentage point, although Carter only carried Mississippi by slightly less than 2%, while in states like Texas, Florida and Louisiana, even though Carter won pretty comfortably, Ford drew more votes than might have been expected. Overall, Carter won the popular vote nationwide by about 2% and he won the electoral vote 297 to 239, as 1 Republican elector from the state of Washington voted for Ronald Reagan, not Gerald Ford.

In the Senate, Democrats won the race in Tennessee, while all other party affiliations in the former Confederate states remained the same. In the House, the only changes were in Virginia, where Republicans gained 1 seat, giving them a 6 to 4 edge in the state's congressional delegation, and in Texas, Democrats gained 2 seats, making the delegation 22 Democrats and 2 Republicans. In governors, the only change in party was that Democrats retook the governorship in North Carolina.

* Remember, prior to the mid 1950s, there were legally mandated separate schools for white children and black children in the southern states, while much the same was true in the northern and western states, although not by law in those areas, but rather by practice. When desegregation of schools (and other facilities) was ordered, the problem of separate schools remained, as most of American neighborhoods were heavily segregated. So, generally speaking, former "legal" black schools remained black schools, because the schools were in black neighborhoods, just as former "white schools" remained essentially white, as they were located in white neighborhoods. Underlying that whole situation was that funding for legal "black schools" was less than for legal "white schools," which essentially did not change when desegregation became the law of the land, because of the segregation of neighborhoods, and because of the racial divide in school administrative systems and state legislatures, which were overwhelmingly white, and which provided school funding. Busing took children from their own neighborhood, and away from their local white or black school, to a school in another neighborhood to try to achieve some racial balance, with the idea being that funding and care of schools and supplies would then "even out." Make no mistake about it, busing was highly controversial among both white and black parents and students, but among people already holding racial animus, it inflamed ill feelings even more. Many white parents put their children into religious or other private schools, where they had to pay separately for their child's education. Most black Americans did not have the financial resources to pay for private schooling, thus they had to keep their children in public schools (funded by taxes), so in many communities with fairly large black populations, the public school systems became overwhelmingly black. This began to affect more and more cities in the northern and some western states, as black Americans migrated to other areas for economic opportunity; often, to northern industrial areas.    

WORD HISTORY:
Ball-There are a couple of words of this spelling in English, but this is the word for "a round object," and which is related to "balloon."^ The word goes back to Indo European "bhel," which had the notion of "swell, bloat out, to bulge." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "balluz," which meant, "swollen or bloated object;" thus later actually, "round object." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bealla," meaning, "round object." This was reinforced by the related Old Norse form "bollr," which meant "ball," brought to England by Danes and Norwegians, often collectively called "Danes." The word then became "balle," before the modern form. Other Germanic languages have: German and Low German "Ball," West Frisian and Dutch "bal," Danish "bold," Norwegian "ball," Swedish "boll," Icelandic "bolti."  

^ "Balloon" is a borrowing by English from Italian, but the Italian was derived from a Latin form borrowed from Germanic. 

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Six

As the United States continued to struggle with desegregation and racial inequality during the 1960s, including violent confrontation in Birmingham, Alabama, as well as in many cities outside the former Confederacy, politically, the people of the former Confederacy "by and large" remained tied to their Democratic roots, although discontent continued with many Democratic leaders, including President Lyndon Baines Johnson (often known by his initials "LBJ"), who pushed for, and signed, legislation that prohibited discrimination against Black Americans and other minorities. This discrimination was used to interfere with, and stop, people's right to vote ("The Voting Rights Act of 1965"). While the Voting Rights Act covered the entire United States, there was no illusion as to its intent being mainly to be used in the southern areas of the country, where voting discrimination and outright intimidation had been a common practice against black Americans.

While the former Confederate states resisted change about racial matters, it is important to note that the demographics and population increase in some of these states also began to show marked change, especially in Florida, where many Cubans had fled Fidel Castro in the late 1950s and early 1960s, AND, where more and more Americans from the northern part of the country chose to make their home after retirement. Further, quite a number of people migrated to various parts of the American mainland, especially to Florida, from Puerto Rico.* In the midterm election of 1966, Republican Howard Baker won a Senate seat in Tennessee.** In Alabama, Democrats recaptured 2 House seats taken by the Republicans in 1964 (Result: 5 Democrats, 3 Republicans in the congressional delegation). In Arkansas, Republicans took their first congressional seat since Reconstruction (Result: 3 Democrats, 1 Republican). Also in Arkansas, New York Republican transplant, Winthrop Rockefeller,*** won the governorship. In Florida, the congressional delegation ended up: 9 Democrats, 3 Republicans, but Republicans won the governorship (Claude Kirk). In Georgia, the congressional delegation ended up 8 Democrats, 2 Republicans. Special note about Georgia: avowed segregationist, Democrat Lester Maddox, was elected governor. The election of Maddox showed that changing the racial politics of the former Confederacy was still a very difficult battle. In Louisiana, the Democrats remained firmly in control, with all 8 congressional representatives. In Mississippi the Democrats recaptured the congressional seat lost in 1964 (Result: 5 Democrats). In North Carolina, the congressional delegation was 8 Democrats and 3 Republicans. In South Carolina, the delegation remained 5 Democrats and 1 Republican. In Tennessee, the congressional delegation was 5 Democrats and 4 Republicans. In Texas, the congressional delegation was 21 Democrats and 2 Republicans. In Virginia, the congressional delegation was 6 Democrats and 4 Republicans. As you can see, while the Democrats were able to retake some congressional seats, the Republicans won other seats, and the GOP was actually beginning to become competitive in some House elections, as well as in some governor's races.  

* Puerto Ricans are American citizens by birth, but they cannot vote in the general election for president. However, if they move to one of the 50 states or District of Columbia, they can register and vote, just as any other American citizen. "If" Puerto Rico became a state, something that has long been talked about, then residents could vote right in Puerto Rico for president, and they would also have 2 United States Senators and voting congressional representatives in the House of Representatives. 

** Howard Baker would go on to become one of the best known politicians in the country.

*** His grandfather was famous oilman and the wealthiest man on Earth, for a time, John D. Rockefeller.     

WORD HISTORY:
Yon-This word goes back to Indo European "io(n)/ie(n)," with the notion of, "that, that one." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "jaino," with the meaning, "that one, that one over there, that one beyond here." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "geon," meaning, "that over there." This then became "yon." It later also became a shortened form of the related "yonder." Forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "jener," meaning, "that or that one over there, also," and also, "jene," simply the feminine form of "jener," but also the plural form; thus, "those, those over there"); Low German "apparently" no longer uses a form, but it did have "gene/jene," West Frisian "itjinge," meaning, "that thing, that object;" Dutch "ginds," meaning, "yonder, over there;" Icelandic "hinn," meaning, "the other, that other one," and it also developed into the definite article equivalent to English "the."      

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part One

With so much political turmoil going on in the country right now, and with the involvement in that turmoil of groups long affiliated with the southern part of the United States, more especially, with the former Confederacy, I thought I'd put together some basic political history on those states and their relationship to the Democrats and Republicans. I've chosen to start with 1930, as that year began the shift and realignment in the political system, giving a decided edge to Democrats in the following years. Essentially all of this information is available on the websites of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, respectively.  

The Great Depression, and the failed three and one half year response to it by the Republican administration of Herbert Hoover, helped to give the incoming 1933 Democratic administration of Franklin Roosevelt and a heavily Democratic Congress the chance to make Democrats the majority party, potentially, for years to come. That's just what happened, with Roosevelt winning four presidential terms (there was no term limit at that time), the fourth of which was completed by Harry Truman, due to Roosevelt's death in mid April 1945, and then Truman won a term in his own right in 1948. The Democrats dominated elections for the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, with overwhelming support from the states of the former Confederacy. Beginning with the midterm election of 1930, * the Democrats had a majority in the House of Representatives until the election of 1946 (members taking office in 1947**). In the Senate, Republicans barely held on (they had had a 12 seat majority before the election), as the two parties each had 48 seats, but with the vice president able to break any tie vote, this guaranteed Republican control. *** The Democrats gained control of the Senate in 1933, following the election of 1932. They kept control of the Senate until 1947, in the wake of the Republican victory in the 1946 election. 

The states that had composed the Confederacy were solidly Democratic. Here is the break down by state when Congress convened after the 1930 election in 1931:

Alabama U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members-10 Democrats
Arkansas U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 7 Democrats
Florida U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 4 Democrats
Georgia U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 12 Democrats
Louisiana U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 8 Democrats
Mississippi U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 8 Democrats
North Carolina U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 10 Democrats
South Carolina U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 7 Democrats
Tennessee U.S. Senators- 2 Democrats; House members 8 Democrats, 2 Republicans
Texas U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 17 Democrats, 1 Republican (died in office, replaced by Democrat, making all 18 members Democrats)
Virginia U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 9 Democrats, 1 Republican

I have to admit, I was more than a little surprised to find 2 Republicans in the Tennessee House of Representative delegation. They represented two districts in the eastern part of the state, which had elected Republicans in the past. Similar was the case of the one Republican congressman from Texas, who represented a district in eastern Texas in the Houston area for several terms. It is important to remember, the two major political parties were not totally of the same philosophical views as today. 

* During the actual election in 1930, the Republicans retained control of the House by a small margin, but several special elections followed before the House went into session, and Democrats won enough seats to gain a majority. Unlike Congress in more modern times, which meet for a good many months each year, the House members elected in 1930 did not actually convene for legislative purposes until December 1931 (!), by which time, Democrats had won a majority.

** Just to be clear, elections take place in the fall of a year and the new Congress does not meet until the next year. Up until, and ending with, the election of 1932, presidents did not take the oath of office until March 4 after an election, and Congress would convene then, although not necessarily for legislative purposes at that time. Beginning with the election of 1936, presidents were sworn in on January 20 following the election, and Congress "typically" has convened in early January after an election, usually in legislative mode.

*** There were 96 senators in those times, 2 senators x 48 states, as neither Hawaii nor Alaska were yet states. Democrats actually had 47 seats (22 of those in the former Confederacy), and there was 1 senator from the Farm-Labor Party of Minnesota, who often voted with the Democrats. The Vice President of the United States at that time was Charles Curtis.        

WORD HISTORY:
Move-This word "likely" traces back to Indo European "meueh," which had the notion of "move by pushing, push." This gave Latin "movere," with the meaning "move, put into motion." Old French, a Latin-based language, inherited a form of the word as "movoir" ("to move"), which was taken to England by the invading Normans and became "moveir" in Anglo-Norman. By the 1200s the word had become part of English as "moven," before the modern version. The word also took on the added meaning "to be moved emotionally." The noun form was derived from the verb about a century later.

Why Do We Have The Electoral College?

Set aside your feelings on this issue, if you have any, and if you don't know what the electoral college is, no, you can't get a degree or study IT (information technology) there. It goes back to our federal system; that is, a system of divided power, with a national government and the individual states sharing power. When the nation was founded, the legislative branch was given two branches ("houses"), the "upper house" being called the Senate, where each state received two representatives, called "senators," regardless of the state's geographic or population size. Many Americans may not know this, but in those times, senators were NOT elected directly by a vote of the people, but rather, they were appointed by state legislatures. It wasn't until the ratification of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution by three quarters of the states in 1913, that thereafter, senators were elected directly by the vote of the people in their respective states. Senators are elected to serve for six year terms.

The "lower house," called the "House of Representatives," was deliberately set up to be closer to the people, as these representatives, commonly called a "congressman" or "congresswoman," serve two year terms, and they have always been elected directly by a vote of the people. These representatives are apportioned by population, currently with one representative apportioned for about each 700,000 people in a district. Congressional districts in the individual states are typically drawn by the state legislatures, the upper "houses" of which are called "senates," and the lower "houses" of which go by various designations. The state legislature of Nebraska, called the State Legislature of Nebraska (there's an echo in here), is the only one in the United States to have a one house legislature. The district boundaries approved by a state's legislature also needs the approval of the state's governor. Thus, which political party controls the legislative branches of each state and the governorship can be VERY important, for when one party controls both houses of a state's legislature, and also the governorship, congressional district boundaries, as well as that state's legislative districts boundaries, can be drawn favorably for that particular political party. Divided control in a state, can lead to compromises over such boundaries. Boundaries are determined after the national census is certified every ten years, so if the "State of Unrest" has its two legislative houses controlled by the "Chaos Party," and also the governor is a member of that party, the "Chaos Party" will likely draw any boundary adjustments to their favor, giving them an advantage for the next TEN YEARS, in both congressional elections and in state legislative elections. Understand, some states may not see enough change in population to warrant much change in boundaries, while other states may see major changes due to a big population increase or to a big population loss. Further, even a state that remains relatively steady in population, or that has a small gain over a ten year period, might see a loss in congressional representation, as the national population count is what determines how many people are to be represented in each congressional district, and the national count has always increased. The point is to try to keep representation as equal as possible, often summed up in the saying, "one man, one vote." Just for the sake of example, if, after ten years, a state with two congressional districts, has congressional district A with 900,000 residents, while district B has 700,000, that is not equal representation, and both districts will have to be drawn to comply with whatever the new amount per district is determined to be, after dividing the new national population by the number of congressional districts, which is 435. Let's just say that amount is 800,000; so district A will have to shave off 100,000 residents in boundary changes, to be given to district B, making both districts equally representing 800,000 residents. 
       
"Okay Randy, the high school civics lesson is boring .... I mean GREAT, but what does this have to do with the Electoral College? ... Wait a minute, 'high school civics,' but 'electoral college?' I'm confused!"

Well the "Electoral College" is based on the number of United States senators and the number of members of the United States House of Representatives, collectively known as "Congress." The Electoral College has NOTHING to do with the number of state senators and state representatives in the individual state legislatures. The small population states feared big population states would run the country to their own benefit, and to the detriment of the small population states. So EVERY state was given two United states senators, regardless of population. Likewise, the big population states feared the small population states would have too much say in governing relative to their populations, so the system of representation based on population by district was implemented for the United States House of Representatives. As to presidential elections, when the country was founded, information traveled far more slowly than today, which made the Founders fear that if Americans could vote directly for a president, they would not have enough information about candidates from states far from them, and thus they would vote provincially; that is, for a candidate from or close to their own state, keeping the nation divided. Thus they chose an indirect election system for a president. The Electoral College provides for each state to receive one electoral vote for each congressional district within its boundaries, as well as one vote each for the two U.S. senators. So if state "XYZ" has eight congressional districts, it has ten electoral votes (8 representatives  + 2 senators). The smallest number of electoral votes a state can have is three. The District of Columbia, which has no voting member of the House of Representatives and no senators, was given three electoral votes. There are 538 electoral votes available nationwide; 435 congressional districts, and 100 senators, plus the three votes for the District of Columbia. A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

Now, I know this a lot, but its our system, like it, not like it, whatever. It is VERY important for Americans to know their election system. Technically, when you vote for a president, you are voting for that person's, or really, that candidate's political party's "electors" to the Electoral College. The political parties of each state choose their electors in the way they have in their state party rules, which is often, but not always, by a state party convention. While we commonly think of the national Republican Party and the national Democratic Party, as well as various other political parties, the reality is, both of the major parties, and some of the smaller parties, each have 50 separate state political party organizations, as well as organizations for the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands, all with their own rules, although only the 50 states and the District of Columbia can vote in the actual national elections. Naturally the electors chosen by the state parties are considered loyal to their particular party, but on rare occasions, they abandon their party and choose a different course.* 48 of the states, and the District of Columbia, award all electors to the candidate with the most votes in their state. Maine and Nebraska award electors by congressional district, with the two representing the entire state going to the winner of the majority of votes in the entire state (voter turnout matters!). 

After the election is held on the first Tuesday of November every four years, the votes are tabulated and, in theory, although usually, in fact, if candidate A won the state of Virginia, all of Virginia's electoral votes go to that candidate. "Typically," by election night or by the next day, the winner is known, although at times close state results can result in recounts, or the counting of challenged ballots, etc, that can delay the process. The electors meet in each state around the middle of December, depending upon the year, so more than a month after election day. The ballots are then sent to the United States Senate, and they are counted in early January during a joint session of Congress; that is, the Senate and the House of Representatives meet together.

In case you were wondering, it is important to know that, although relatively rare, a candidate can receive more votes from the public nationally, but lose the election, because of the number of electoral votes. John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and George W. Bush, in 2000, all lost the popular vote to their opponents, but won the electoral vote, except Adams, who was elected by the House of Representatives, as neither he, nor Andrew Jackson, had the required number of electoral votes. In fact, Jackson led Adams in both the popular vote AND the electoral vote, but the House chose Adams. Rutherford B. Hayes won the electoral vote by the landslide margin of .... ONE!  

* The individual states set the laws governing the votes of electors to the Electoral College. Some states punish electors who do not vote as per the popular vote in their state. The Supreme Court ruled many years ago that states have a right to require electors to vote by the state rules. In more modern times, votes cast contrary to the public vote in some states can be voided. 

WORD HISTORY:
College-This compound word, the second part of which is distantly related to "legal" and "legate," with the entire word closely related to "colleague," goes back to Indo European "leg," which had the notion "to gather, to collect, to pick;" thus also, "select, choose." This gave Latin "lego," which meant "select, appoint." This then was formed into a compound, collegium," ^ meaning, "a collection of people to perform a particular task, including school, group, organization or partnership." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "college," with the same meaning. It was borrowed by English in the 1300s, with the "organization" meaning, but it's association with schooling continued to grow, although it wasn't until the 1800s that the primary meaning became, "a specialized subject department of a university." American English uses the word more broadly for "an educational facility for undergraduate studies," although in every day speech many Americans use it interchangeably with university ("So your son is off at college and is about to get his doctorate?").  
^ The prefix being an abbreviated form of "con," which was a prefix intensifier meaning, "with, together, totally." From Indo European "kom," meaning, "with, by, near." The suffix, "ium," from  the Latin suffix "ius," derived from Indo European "yos," a suffix often used for adjectives when used as nouns.