Who you need to research and vote for to represent you in Washington DC

Now that you understand how the President of the United States is elected. It's time to discuss the people that your popular vote counts for. These are the people you need to focus on in the upcoming election.

1. The Senate and the House of Representatives together make up Congress.
2. Find out if you have a Senator up for re-election this year. These 2 people represent you in the United States Senate.
• Senators are up for re-election ever 6 years
• Senators write and vote on laws in Washington
• They spend part of the time in Washington and part of the time in their home state
• Approves or rejects presidential nominations
• Provides advice and consent on international treaties
• Serves as the high court for impeachment trials
3. Find out who represents your district in the house of representative. This person is up for re-election every 2 years. Find out who is running against them.
• Follow this link to find your representative  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
• This is the closest thing you have to a person representing you in Washington
• This is a great place to put your focus on making change in Washington

How does the President of the United States get elected in the November election?

1. Each state is broken up into districts depending on your state's population. Higher the population the more districts you will have. This makes it so that your state population is proportionately represented in the House of Representatives.
• California has 53 districts, Arizona has 9 districts, and Montana only has 1 district.
2. In each states district, the people elect a person to the house of representative every two years.
• The US has 435 districts, so it has 435 representatives in the House of Representatives.
3. Each state also elects 2 people to the Senate. US senators are not based on the state’s population. Each state has an equal representation in the Senate.
• 50 states = 100 senators in the Senate.
• U.S Senators serve a term of 6 years
• 1/3 of the senate is up for reelection every 2 years.
4. American voters go to polls and cast a vote for the President of the United States Every 4 years. It is on the first Tuesday in November, after the first Monday.
5. The people of each district's vote is a suggestion for their district's electorate to vote as they have. Some states have laws that say the delegate must vote as the people have suggested, but not all. 
• House Representatives have a term limit of 2 years.
• They are always willing to listen because after they win an election they are soon preparing for the next one
6. The winning president will exceed 270 of the total 538 Delegates available to them.
• 435 House Delegates
• 100 Senate Delegates
• 3 delegates from the District of Columbia (Constitutional 23^rd amendment)
7. The winner of each state's electoral votes will receive all the delegates for the entire state in almost all cases.  
• This is why states like California holding 55 delegates are more important to the presidential hopefuls than Montana with only 3.
• In 2012 Barack Obama received only 60.24% of votes in California, and received all 55 delegates
8. Now that we know we have 538 actual votes for the President of the United States. Does Congress vote for us in the Electoral College? No! 
• The first part of the process is controlled by the political parties in each state and varies from state to state.
• The second part of the process happens on election day. When the voters in each state cast votes for the presidential candidate of their choice they are voting to select their state's electors. The potential electors names may or may not appear on the ballot below the name of the presidential candidates, depending on election procedures and ballot formats in each state. 

Your vote for President of the United States counts as a suggestion for a person that is already chosen by the party you are voting for. Only 538 actually people vote for President of the United States. The popular vote was not enough for Al Gore in 2000 when he had 48.4% of the popular vote, but only 266 state delegates. George W. Bush’s had 47.9% of the popular vote with 271 state delegates.

Why you need to still vote if you don’t like your choices for President of the United States

Like most Americans I'm frustrated with my options for President of the United States. I’m not excited for either candidate. I was wondering what I could do to try and care about this election and still dislike the idea of one of the two real options for president getting elected. I could vote for somebody like Gary Johnson, but that is as good as not voting. So I started out on a quest to learn more about the political system that I didn't remember from high school government. I felt since one of the two are getting elected.  How can my vote minimize the damage this election and elections going forward. Knowledge is power. This is what I found out and I hope it helps you. The following posts over the next few days and weeks will explain how our government works and what you need to research and do before you go to the polls this November. 
These posts are not to upset anybody. It is meant to inform you so you can make an educated decision when voting this year. I’m going to keep it to the point and just give you the facts you need to make your vote actually count. 

1/3 of a life

Today is the 11th wedding anniversary of my amazing wife and I. I  have spent 1/3 of my life next to this women. I'm a truly blessed man to be that lucky. She fills my life with joy and has always stood by my side even when I'm not sure why. She has always been the support I needed to be successful. I owe her more than I could ever repay in this lifetime. I just hope to be lucky enough to try for the rest of my life.
I fricken love you Kristina Mitchell!!!

4 weeks vegan

Today markes a full 4 weeks as a vegan. I'm down 15 pounds and feel amazing. The diet has been easier now that a feel that I'm detoxed.  I do miss cheese sometimes but have found that avocados are a great replacement. Still have 2 weeks until I'm coming off the diet but I feel that my eating habits have been changed forever.

The job hunt

My job hunt is looking very positive. I had an interview last Friday that went very well. I also have interviews Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I will be making a decision by the end of next week. Then we are going to have to  start the daunting task of going through our stuff and packing it all up. Excited for what is next in our future.

Day 18

Today is my 18th day on the diet. Other than 2 meals with eggs in them I have stayed vegan. We have been doing a lot of traveling so that has made it difficult to find eat to live options. I'm feeling better than I have in a very long time. I know have lost more weight just not as dramatic as the first week. I will weigh in at the 4 week mark and post. My hope is a total of  20 pounds in 4 weeks.

Day 11 Vacation

It has been a challenge but right now I'm still vegan. Vacation has pushed the limits of my diet but I have been strong and not caved to the pressure. Yesterday I went to Burger Parlor and stayed vegan. That's some serious wheel power.

Day 9

Good day on the diet. Still in detox. The cravings are bad. It's going to be a challenge over this weekend being out of town and not cheating.

A first in 19 years, Unemployed.

Today was my last day working at my current job. Since I was 15 I have never been unemployed. It might sound a little crazy but I'm really excited.  I will find work soon but I'm really going to enjoy some time with my girls during this summer.
I will have more details to follow but all is well in the Mitchell house. I'm going to take some much needed vacation.

Day 8

This morning I weighed in at 225.0. A loss of 10.8 pounds in 7 days. I'm sure I will not have these results next week but it is a great start. I plan to add exercise into my routine starting next week.
I cheated today to celebrate my accomplishment. For lunch I had 2 scrambled eggs along with my fruit bowl.  Eggs are my weakness and something I love very much. I have missed them and needed my fix. I didn't completely loss it and go with a bacon cheese burger or anything, but it was a cheat no matter how small.

Day 7

Best day yet. I felt amazing and feel like things are going in the right direction. Weigh in tomorrow.

Day 6

Had some pretty bad withdraw Today but powered through. Was driving around with my boss Today and he wanted to stop at subway for lunch. I told him I brought mine, but we could stop for him. As I ate my salad he was eating a foot long roasted chicken breast on Italian. My favorite sub. I wanted to take his other half and eat it. Then he finished about 3/4 of it threw the rest away because he was full. The though of pulling it out of the trash crossed my mind. That's when I realized how insane I was. I didn't cheat and I have stayed on course thus far. Big day Thursday morning for the weigh in. Can't wait to see my progress.
All insanity aside I really do feel amazing. I think it's what is keeping me from eating my bosses leftovers out of the trash. If nothing else the added energy and good feeling is reason enough to keep eating this way.

Day 5 vegan

A day full of challenges. Today is my birthday so being vegan is not what I have been used to the past 33 years. I have felt that I should be able to cheat all day but never did from being vegan. I did cheat from the eat to live meal plan. Had vegan pizza (salt & more grain than I  should have) for dinner and a vegan cupcake (sugar) for dessert.
I never thought I would say I'm required to eat too much food on a diet. I think I'm eating to much food because I always feel stuffed. Going to cut down on my lunch portion tomorrow and see if that helps with the stuffed feeling. Still learning how to do this. Everyday is an adventure.

Day 4 vegan

Today was not bad. Still trying to figure out the difference between hunger, craving, and habit. When I'm busy during the week I hardly notice cravings and habit because I'm busy. On the weekend I'm relaxed, hanging out, and running errands. This leads to confusion since I have the time to be confused. This afternoon I did identify that I was not hungry at all. I was actually still full from lunch. Yet I wanted to eat something like I was hungry but I wasn't. Why? I'm not sure yet but I hope to learn or at least stop wanting to be a mindless eating machine soon. Food and snacking has always been something to do instead of a way to give the body the fuel it needs. I hope to have a better understand and view of food and it purpose at the end of my 6 weeks.