Think Lib Dem, vote Labour to beat the Tories

The Guardian

However, I have argued for a while that Labour can still win, that the general election could be more like 1992. Then, even the normally reliable BBC exit ...



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Prosecutors won't indict Ozawa over money scandal for lack of evidence

Mainichi Daily News

After the purchase of the land, Rikuzan-kai put another 400 million yen in a fixed-term deposit and used it as collateral to obtain a loan for the same ...



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Constitutional crumbs are not enough

The Guardian

... where Tony Wright asked him why, if he favoured fixed-term parliaments, he didn't just announce the date of the coming election and be done with it. ...



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What are the benefits of "Fixed Term Parliaments"? Are there any disadvantages?
Q. I understand that currently the Prime Minister has an unfair advantage of bring able to choose the timing of the General Election and that fixed term parliaments would seek to remove this advantage. Having said that, there have been several instances of this so-called advantage actually backfiring against the Prime Minister e.g. Heath asking "who governs Britain", Callaghan choosing to wait until after the winter of discontent, Brown and the "election that never was", so I wonder how much of an advantage it really is. What confuses me though is that surely there are many situations in which we would want an election to be called before the end of the term, e.g. if there is a vote of no-confidence, if the PM resigns, if there is a… [cont.]
Asked by thepawnbrokerroared - Mon Apr 19 15:41:04 2010 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments

A. I am happy with the current situation with the PM having the right to decide the timing of the election. When you vote, you vote for an MP who will represent you for up to 5 years. We dont vote for Prime ministers in this country. There have been examples in history when we have needed to call an election early - the crisis of the 1930's, The war, the two elections of 1974. Every single time, had an election not have been called the result on the economy or the state of the nation could have been terrible. MP's have the right to call a vote of no confidence in the prime minister should they feel it warranted and have used it in 1924 and 1979
Answered by Confused Hal - Mon Apr 19 18:40:18 2010

Who would you vote for in a Divine Election?
Q. If God only served a fixed term of four years before other candidates were given a chance at the job of Superior Being, who would be on your ballot paper?
Asked by Lord GaGa - Fri Jun 26 13:48:15 2009 - - 6 Answers - 0 Comments

A. the Goddess of Discord Eris, imagine all the fun she'll inflict on the world
Answered by Siar - Fri Jun 26 13:52:54 2009

Why can't we have fixed terms for our Government?
Q. With all the furore over expenses and other things there have been understandable calls for either Gordon Brown to go or for him to call a General Election. He has fudged the issue as i understand but here's something that has been puzzling me. Why can't just have a general election every 4 years, the same month just like the Septics do? Is there something in our constitution that precludes that?
Asked by chav_hater - Sat Jul 4 06:26:12 2009 - - 7 Answers - 0 Comments

A. UK Statute Law allows a Parliament to have a maximum term of 5 years. It is up to the government to decide when to call for a dissolution of Parliament within that period. One of the problems with democracy is that governments can not easily be voted out by the electorate, so can hang on well past their "sell by" date. The UK, in particular has the weakness that the Executive sits in the Legislature and controls its agenda, and the leader is chosen not by the electorate, but by the Party (the Chinese system!). Democracy needs a system of checks and balances, so that an elected chamber cannot take control of the State, and the electorate can vote out unpopular legislative proposals.
Answered by Alex G - Sat Jul 4 07:06:41 2009

House Session 2010-03-25 (16:30:29-17

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:19:43 PDT

Scheduled national nationwide elections. AND BY -- invited international monitors into the country and created an independent anticorruption ... youtube.com.

The US Economy with Peter Thiel

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:24:26 PST

long run it probably means just a lot less long-term productivity growth and this short-term long-term trade off is, ya know, it is one of the ... youtube.com.

3/4/10: White House Press Briefing

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:18:23 PST

argue about the very same problems that we were discussing in the presidential election, or that we're discussing now; that -- let's take ... youtube.com.