The electoral college is an important system that ensures the will of the larger, more populous areas of the country aren’t the only focus of nationwide elections. It’s also enshrined in the Constitution.

Constant calls to change the electoral college after a popular vote win/electoral college loss can seem like sour grapes, and the attempt to abolish it would require a constitutional amendment that could be stopped by 13 states.

Attempts to change the electoral college through the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact are also unlikely to be successful. The 189 electoral votes currently pledged to the compact (70%) can seem close to the necessary 270 to effectively get rid of the electoral college, but looking at the remaining states leaves one wondering which are likely to sign on. Even the states that have already signed are precarious – the next election could see new elected officials who withdraw from the compact.

There are, without a doubt, problems with the electoral college. Candidates can win the presidency while losing the popular vote, theoretically by quite a bit. It causes a few “swing” states to be the focus of presidential elections. It depresses voter turnout in states that are securely blue or red.

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/proportional-electors/

The electoral college is an important system that ensures the will of the larger, more populous areas of the country aren’t the only focus of nationwide elections. It’s also enshrined in the Constitution.

Constant calls to change the electoral college after a popular vote win/electoral college loss can seem like sour grapes, and the attempt to abolish it would require a constitutional amendment that could be stopped by 13 states.

Attempts to change the electoral college through the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact are also unlikely to be successful. The 189 electoral votes currently pledged to the compact (70%) can seem close to the necessary 270 to effectively get rid of the electoral college, but looking at the remaining states leaves one wondering which are likely to sign on. Even the states that have already signed are precarious – the next election could see new elected officials who withdraw from the compact.

There are, without a doubt, problems with the electoral college. Candidates can win the presidency while losing the popular vote, theoretically by quite a bit. It causes a few “swing” states to be the focus of presidential elections. It depresses voter turnout in states that are securely blue or red.

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/proportional-electors/

A Ladue police officer has been charged with second-degree assault for shooting a suspected shoplifter in the parking lot of a Schnucks grocery store.

“A person commits the offense of assault in the second degree if he or she recklessly causes physical injury to another person by means of discharge of a firearm,” St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell said Wednesday in announcing the charge against officer Julia Crews. “It is our position that the officer’s actions were reckless.”

Crews, 37, responded to the theft call at the Ladue Crossing Schnucks on April 23, police and prosecutors say. While she was attempting to arrest a woman who was suspected of being involved, the woman ran.

Crews gave chase while warning the woman she would use her Taser, Bell said. Instead, the woman was shot once. Her family said she remains in a local hospital.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/ladue-officer-charged-assault-shooting-shoplifting-suspect

Cryptocurrencies and digital assets have quickly grown to represent a large amount of value and economic activity. This quick growth, however, has outstripped the government’s response. A national framework for regulating these assets has failed to emerge, with several federal agencies claiming conflicting jurisdictions. At the same time, states have come up with a patchwork of varying regulations that make it difficult for the US cryptocurrency markets to compete with those in other jurisdictions, especially China and Europe.

Currently, different departments of the federal government consider digital assets as property, commodities, or securities. Some states have onerous regulations in the space, such as NY’s BitLicense. Navigating this has had a chilling effect on the US digital asset market.

It’s time for the federal government to create clear guidelines as to how cryptocurrencies/digital asset markets will be treated and regulated so that investment can proceed with all relevant information.

"Investment in cryptocurrencies and digital assets has far outpaced our regulatory frameworks in the US. We should let investors, companies, and individuals know what the landscape and treatment will be moving forward to support innovation and development. The blockchain has vast potential."

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/digital-asset-regulation/

Cryptocurrencies and digital assets have quickly grown to represent a large amount of value and economic activity. This quick growth, however, has outstripped the government’s response. A national framework for regulating these assets has failed to emerge, with several federal agencies claiming conflicting jurisdictions. At the same time, states have come up with a patchwork of varying regulations that make it difficult for the US cryptocurrency markets to compete with those in other jurisdictions, especially China and Europe.

Currently, different departments of the federal government consider digital assets as property, commodities, or securities. Some states have onerous regulations in the space, such as NY’s BitLicense. Navigating this has had a chilling effect on the US digital asset market.

It’s time for the federal government to create clear guidelines as to how cryptocurrencies/digital asset markets will be treated and regulated so that investment can proceed with all relevant information.

"Investment in cryptocurrencies and digital assets has far outpaced our regulatory frameworks in the US. We should let investors, companies, and individuals know what the landscape and treatment will be moving forward to support innovation and development. The blockchain has vast potential."

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/digital-asset-regulation/

A new Deadspin article that calls the Rams' deal with St. Louis "possibly the most sweetheart lease of all time" asks a question city boosters would be wise to ponder:

"Why on earth," author Neil deMause asks, do city officials working on stadium deals keep "negotiating themselves into corners?"

The answer comes from St. Louis' tortured history on this stuff — courtesy of an expert in that torture: John Nagourney, a former sports management executive who helped the Rams get one over on St. Louis.

As DeMause writes of city negotiators: "They don’t know what they’re doing, and they won’t ask for help."

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2019/05/01/why-did-st-louis-get-hosed-by-the-rams-were-clueless-yokels-exec-says

A new Deadspin article that calls the Rams' deal with St. Louis "possibly the most sweetheart lease of all time" asks a question city boosters would be wise to ponder:

"Why on earth," author Neil deMause asks, do city officials working on stadium deals keep "negotiating themselves into corners?"

The answer comes from St. Louis' tortured history on this stuff — courtesy of an expert in that torture: John Nagourney, a former sports management executive who helped the Rams get one over on St. Louis.

As DeMause writes of city negotiators: "They don’t know what they’re doing, and they won’t ask for help."

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2019/05/01/why-did-st-louis-get-hosed-by-the-rams-were-clueless-yokels-exec-says

There are around 3m Americans in various States who have paid their debt to society and are no longer incarcerated, on parole, or on probation, yet are denied the right to cast their vote in an election. State laws vary wildly as far as re-enfranchisement is concerned, with some never disenfranchising felons, and others permanently disenfranchising them. This patchwork of state laws is inherently unfair, as citizens are treated differently depending on their location.

America’s criminal justice system should be built around the idea of rehabilitation whenever possible. We should be working with anyone who has completed their prison term and any post-incarceration parole or probation to help them reintegrate into society.

By restoring full voting rights to ex-felons who have completed the entirety of their sentence, we’ll increase their engagement with society. This will improve their lives drastically, for obvious reasons. It will also make the rest of us safer, as some studies have shown that ex-felons who vote are half as likely to reoffend. By giving these individuals a larger stake in society, we make our entire country stronger.

"If you’ve paid your debt to society, you ought to be able to vote. This is particularly true given the hodgepodge of different treatment in different states. Voters are less likely to reoffend, which is only one reason we should be pushing for it."

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/restore-voting-rights/

There are around 3m Americans in various States who have paid their debt to society and are no longer incarcerated, on parole, or on probation, yet are denied the right to cast their vote in an election. State laws vary wildly as far as re-enfranchisement is concerned, with some never disenfranchising felons, and others permanently disenfranchising them. This patchwork of state laws is inherently unfair, as citizens are treated differently depending on their location.

America’s criminal justice system should be built around the idea of rehabilitation whenever possible. We should be working with anyone who has completed their prison term and any post-incarceration parole or probation to help them reintegrate into society.

By restoring full voting rights to ex-felons who have completed the entirety of their sentence, we’ll increase their engagement with society. This will improve their lives drastically, for obvious reasons. It will also make the rest of us safer, as some studies have shown that ex-felons who vote are half as likely to reoffend. By giving these individuals a larger stake in society, we make our entire country stronger.

"If you’ve paid your debt to society, you ought to be able to vote. This is particularly true given the hodgepodge of different treatment in different states. Voters are less likely to reoffend, which is only one reason we should be pushing for it."

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/restore-voting-rights/

Ever since the Impossible Whopper's surprise launch on April 1, the wonder of the meatless burger's very-meat-like taste has been a boon — to St. Louis, which was selected as the sole test city for BK's tasty experiment.

For the last 29 days, we have had something no one else had. We were the only place in all of America you could get the Impossible Whopper.

However, in a shameful but expected act of capitalism, the company is now planning to make the Impossible Whopper part of its menu nationwide.

And for that, we can take some credit for being the forward-thinking, plant-loving, food-focused city we all know ourselves to be. The Impossible Whopper test in St. Louis went "exceedingly well," a Burger King spokesman said in a statement reported this morning in the trade publication Nation's Restaurant News, announcing the company's decision to wrench from St. Louis its most recently established regional delicacy and make it something common.

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/foodblog/2019/04/29/the-entire-us-is-now-getting-burger-kings-impossible-whopper-after-stl-rollout