Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to It would also be nice to see a little policing south of the border...

Methodology, please

Following up at Zogby International, apparently they specialize in telephone surveys. I wonder what kind of sampling adjustment they make to account for the fact that they can only sample Mexicans with access to telephones, and who therefore live in urban centers or on the Mexican/US border.

Their website also mentions that they specialize in polling people who vote. I wonder what that means insofar as their Mexican sample is concerned.

Regarding several other of your other remarks:

Democrats would also like to give criminals their vote back as well.

Are you talking about actual felons behind bars, or the practice of restoring voting rights to citizens who have done their time and have been released in accordance with the law? If the latter, think about this for a second:

There are today an estimated 3.9 million Americans, representing two percent of the adult population, who cannot vote as a result of a felony conviction. Of these, 1.4 million are persons who have fully completed their felony sentence but reside in one of the states that impose lifetime disenfranchisement.

States that disenfranchise for life generally have some type of mechanism in place whereby ex-felons can apply to have their civil rights restored. Typically, ex-felons are required to obtain a pardon from the governor or action by a board of pardons or parole. In practice, it is often extremely cumbersome to engage in this process and few ex-offenders have the financial and political resources needed to succeed. In Virginia, for example, only 404 ex-felons had their voting rights restored in a recent two-year period, of a total of 200,000 such persons in the state. In Mississippi, ex-offenders must either secure an executive order from the governor or have a state legislator introduce a bill on their behalf and obtain a two-thirds vote in the legislature.

The differing voting restrictions in each state result in participation in the electoral process that is in part based on one's state of residence. An ex-felon in West Virginia can vote for President, but an ex-felon in Virginia cannot. Similarly, if an ex-felon moves from Virginia to West Virginia, he or she regains the right to vote, while a shift from West Virginia to Virginia would result in the loss of the vote.

. . . Further, voting restrictions are imposed without any action by a judge and without any sense of proportionality. Thus, offenders convicted of larceny lose their voting rights along with mass murderers. This can result in persons convicted of a single relatively minor crime, even one committed before reaching voting age, being turned into political "outcasts" for life.


Mauer, Marc. Congressional testimony. Constitution Subcommittee; House Judiciary Committee on Felony Voter Disenfranchisement. 21 October 1999.

Can you think of any good reason why people who have served their time ought to continue to be punished, perhaps for life? Can you think of any good reason why a state should be permitted to restrict Federal voting rights? Perhaps prominent Republican felons ought to be required to live in the states that won't let them vote, as a kind of impact study.

When you have to pander to a more criminal mentality - your elected representatives will often illustrate this element.

2%??? We're talking about 2% of the voting population here. And that's if all those convicted of a felony are included, not just those who have been released. Those felons must have one hell of a lobbying organization!

[H]ow can wanting to survive and feed your family be wrong?

And by working to earn the money, too. Very good question. I didn't catch your answer.

Nor did I hear the implied question, "Where do all these illegal aliens get jobs to make the crossing worth their while?" Gee, could it be from American businesses who would rather pay someone who has less leverage to get a raise or to complain about conditions than would a worker with documentation?

And from an earlier post of yours in this thread, the most curious of all:
Combine illegal immigration with a population that's largely devotedly Catholic - and you can predict suffering and poverty for centuries to come. [underline mine]

I never knew before that Catholicism is a leading cause of suffering and poverty! I must write and tell my parents immediately! They will be very surprised.

No audience with the Pope for you.

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