Commentary

Douglas Defeats Lincoln in Ranked-Choice Voting Count

Douglas Defeats Lincoln in Ranked-Choice Voting Count

Joseph Tortelli

The citizens of the 33 states breathed a collective sigh of relief when the results of the 1860 presidential election were finally certified. In the third round of the new ranked-choice voting system, Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois was declared election winner by tallying nearly 2.5 million total votes, more than half of which came from voters' second and third choices.

Because of the adoption of the 13th Amendment in 1859, two major changes were introduced to the presidential election process. First, the amendment eliminated the electoral college, which had been widely criticized as undemocratic by giving undue weight to the most rural, least populated states. Second, the amendment introduced ranked-choice voting, permitting each citizen to show their preferences from first to last place on the ballot.

The New York Times Faults Trump for Tax Tactics Used by Sulzbergers Who Own the Paper
Commentary

The New York Times Faults Trump for Tax Tactics Used by Sulzbergers Who Own the Paper

Ira Stoll

The New York Times has just published a big investigation of President Donald Trump. It says the president used big tax losses in some years to avoid paying taxes in other years, that he invested some of his profits into money-losing businesses, that Trump paid his daughter as "a way to transfer assets to his children," that his businesses are propped up by foreign revenue, and that Trump "has written off as business expenses costs — including fuel and meals — associated with his aircraft, used to shuttle him among his various homes and properties."

The Times ought to know — because the New York Times Company and the Ochs-Sulzberger family that control it have done the same things.

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