Mawani and Alissa Universal Motors sign agreement worth SR300 million to establish Logistics Zone at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam    4 Chinese nationals arrested in Makkah for promoting fake Hajj campaigns    Al-Khereiji at BRICS: Saudi Arabia a reliable and neutral partner in endeavors for de-escalating tensions    Saudi market shows resilience in Q1 2025 despite global volatility: Report    Tabuk Emir meets with CST governor    Saudi Arabia urges India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions    Trump congratulates Canada's Carney as they agree to meet in 'near future'    Sánchez vows to uncover reasons behind massive Iberian power outage    Guterres warns two-state solution is 'near a point of no return'    Al Ahli stun Al Hilal to reach AFC Champions League Elite final    Housing minister expects moderate real estate prices in Riyadh    Dr. Al-Rabeeah at UK House of Lords: Saudi Arabia provides $134 billion in aid to 172 countries in 30 years    Health Ministry launches World Health Survey 2025 Survey to collect accurate health status database of Saudi population    SR200,000 reward for each player of the Saudi club winning AFC Champions League title    William and Kate celebrate anniversary on Isle of Mull    HONOR KSA expands its presence with new flagship Experience Store in Riyadh HONOR's first flagship store in KSA provides visitors with a premium experience, exciting offers and free services    Rock & Roll Hall of Fame picks Outkast but not Oasis    Al Ahli cruise past Buriram into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Duran leads Al Nassr past Yokohama Marinos into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi orchestra to perform at Sydney Opera House in May    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Ayoon wa Azan (The Election Industry)
Published in AL HAYAT on 19 - 07 - 2009

Elections in America are an industry in their own right, just like the bankrupt automobile industry, the chemicals industry, the film industry, and so on. For this reason, they are not as they appear, being only held every four or two years. Rather, it is a continuous labor that goes on every day of the year. For instance, the United States is now in the midst of campaigns for the upcoming mid-term elections on November 2, 2010, following the local elections held in the U.S last May.
In the presidential elections held last November, the election industry was the only prosperous industry in the US, at a time when American banks and the General Motors Company filed for bankruptcy. In addition, campaign finances had set the record with costs of up to 5.3 billion dollars, according to the estimates by a nonpartisan statistics center - although my personal estimate places the figure well above $6 billion. The costs of the presidential race alone reached $2.4 billion, of which around $600 to $800 million were raised by Barack Obama, while the candidates for both the House of Representatives and the Senate had raised $1.5 billion. The readers are also perhaps aware that the state governors are elected by the people, and that the elections also include candidates for the positions of police chief, judges, and even court ushers, and the members of local education councils.
Moreover, and due to the widespread anger at the Bush administration, the Democrats managed to raise a sum that exceeded that of the previous elections by 58%, while the funds raised by the Republicans increased by only two percent. On the other hand, Obama alone spent in the last few days of the campaign twice as much as John McCain did on advertising broadcasted over the different media outlets.
Very briefly, the presidential elections are held once every four years, while the legislative elections for both of the houses of Congress are held once every two years, when all of the representatives are elected, as their mandate is two years only. At the same time, one-third of the senators are elected, with their mandate being 6 years.
Next year, 36 senators will be elected, along with the all of the representatives. This time, however, the third is equal to 34 out of 100 seats, along with two other seats, one of which was vacated in Delaware after Joe Biden was reelected Senator and Vice President, and had to thus resign from Congress. The other seat became vacant in the state of New York when Hillary Clinton was confirmed as Secretary of State in January, also prompting her to resign from the Senate.
The then Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner appointed the Democrat Ted Kaufman as Biden's successor until 2010. Kauffman said that he would not run for elections again and will not complete Biden's original term, i.e. four years (which ends in 2014). Meanwhile, the Governor of New York David Paterson appointed the Democratic Representative Kirsten Gillibrand to the senate until November 2010. She declared that she would indeed run for the elections next year and would – if successful - complete Clinton's second term that ends in 2012.
The Democrats will inevitably retain a majority in the House, even when all of the seats in the House are under contention, i.e. 435 seats. They will also most certainly maintain the majority in the Senate which is currently divided between 58 Democrats, 2 independents who caucus with the Democrats, and 40 Republicans. Meanwhile, and as I said above, the candidates for the Senate competing in the mid-term elections are 36, equally divided between the two parties.
Furthermore, I read that Carolyn Maloney, a Democratic Representative for nine terms, will run against the appointed Senator Gillibrand for the seat that was vacated when Hillary Clinton's was appointed Secretary of State. While I admit that I am not interested in the result, I did find in the two candidates anything beneficial or harmful to the Arabs, which is the angle through which I judge the members of both houses of the US Congress. I had deemed this congress before and I deem it even today to be worse or more radical than Israel's Knesset itself, as we have seen in every vote in both of the houses. Thus, I will not need to go further but I just want to remind the readers that both houses voted almost unanimously in support of Israel and its criminal war on the Gaza Strip a couple of months ago.
But how come these things happen? I think we can find the answer in the nine-term Republican Representative Peter T. King's statement, when he said that he will not enter the Senate race in the state of New York because of the huge sum of money that needs to be raised. This in particular takes us back to my introduction about the election industry, and the role of the Political Action Committees, specifically the Israeli lobby, in providing funds to Israel's representatives in both houses of Congress.
I continue tomorrow.
http://www.j-khazen.blogspot.com/


Clic here to read the story from its source.