Don’t worry, I’m not going to show you any racy pictures of political wonks. The stripped delegates that I’m referring to are the Democratic party delegates that Florida and Michigan lost when they moved their primaries up against the wishes of the Democratic National Committee (these states also lost half of their Republican delegates).
Naturally, these states are now up in arms, claiming voter disenfranchisement. They’re now asking for the opportunity to re-vote, but it’s unclear who would foot the estimated $20-$30 million bill for holding another primary. Perhaps the best solution that I’ve heard has been Roland Martin’s suggestion:
If this is all about seating delegates, fine. Split their numbers down the middle and give half to Clinton and the other half to Obama. There. We just saved $30 million.
And now… A quick rundown of some articles that caught my eye this past week…
» 10 Mistakes I Made as a First Time Home Buyer
This is a nice rundown of moves not to make when buying a home. Learn from Ron’s mistakes instead of your own.
» Contribution Goals and Time Frames for Retirement and Education Savings Accounts
I liked this article not so much for the minutiae details of NCN’s savings goals, but rather for the nifty graphic that he put together for visualizing his goals. If you have a hard to staying on track with you goals, I highly recommend subscribing to his site… He’s full of great ideas like this.
» Examples of How Poor People Can Get Ahead Financially
Following up on another article about poor people getting ahead, FMF highglights some real life examples from readers.
» 20 Books That Will Change Your Life and How You Think About Retirement
Jeremy put together a great list of books to help members of Generation X start planning the rest of their lives. This looks like a nice complement to my list of eleven great books about money.
» An Introduction to Time Banking
This is a nice introduction to a fascinating concept that I’d never heard of — time banking. In short, it’s a system for earning and spending hours whereby you can “earn” services by volunteering. Very cool.
Finally, be sure to check out this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, which included “Twelve Tips for Preparing Your House for Sale” as well as “How to Place a Fraud Alert on Your Credit Record” from over at creditaddict.com.
It’s a tough situation in these two states, because it was not the voters that violated the party rules, it was the state party itself, but ultimately it is the voters who suffer.
It’s not fair to use the results because the candidates chose to campaign or not based on the national party rules, so the only thing that leaves in the sake of all fairness is to revote.
I don’t have any good ideas about who should pick up the tab, though. It’s not fair to make the voters pay, it’s not fair to make the candidates pay (since ultimately their money comes from the voters), it’s not fair to make the national party pay since it’s not the one that broke the rules, and there’s no way that the state party has that kind of money…
Thanks a lot for participating in the carnival!
Mike
I agree with Morydd – They blew it by throwing those caucuses early – they have to know there are repercussions…
How does seating delegates with 50% to each candidate differ from not seating thema at all? The voters wishes in those states still aren’t represented, and you show the world that your party doesn’t feel the need to follow the rules it’s created. Florida and Michigan knew that if they held primaries early, the would not get delegates seated. They should pay the consequenses for their actions. I know that goes against the modern political climate, but still…
NCN: You know I love you… My point was that, while the specific investment goals will vary from person to person, your method of visualizing things applies to everyone. That being said, I’ve changed the word “minutiae” to “details.” 😉 Better?
P.S. I’m glad you like the green stripes. 🙂
Whoa I’M on here? That’s too cool!
Thanks for the link Nickel!! 😀
Ron
Great ideas… and minutiae.
That’s me, baby. That’s me.
Rock on,
NCN
PS –
I like Nickel’s site..
Not so much for the ‘content’ but for the cool green stripes that run down the side of the page. 🙂