I rarely post about politics, but...

[Lady Vulpix]

...I'd like to hear what other people here have to say on this matter, if anything.

Argentina has a new president since yesterday. It's no secret that I never liked the old one. I don't quite trust the new one, but he'd have to make a great effort to be worse than his predecessor, so I'd like to at least trust that he won't be that bad.

Oh, we technically had another president (F. Pinedo) for 12 hours because that's how complicated the transition was. More details here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/world/americas/argentina-president-mauricio-macri-sworn-in-snubbed-by-kirchner.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

So... Any thoughts?

[Link]

Any president is good enough for me. I hope you are voting for someone you like. I like the way you think, Lady. :)

[Jeff]

I don't much like any politician, they can be difficult to trust. Although it's always good to see a corrupt politician go. I know this from experience.

My state's previous governor, Martin O'Malley, was known for his corruption. He came into office with a budget surplus left by his predecessor, lied and said he had inherited a deficit, he raised several taxes and created a tax that forced property owners to pay every time it rained, and kept taking money out of the transportation fund (this is along with him raising the tolls on bridges and tunnels) for who knows what. Well, I do have my suspicions, considering the local media always seemed to back him. Oh, and if the name sounds familiar to anyone, it's because he's currently running for US President. Luckily, he's way behind in the polls and most likely won't even get the Democratic Party nomination.

Our new governor has done a decent job. He's lowered the tolls and abolished the rain tax, and is also moving ahead with a plan to put a maglev train line between Baltimore and Washington, DC, which would be the first in the country. So, I guess that's the beauty of democracy. There will be corrupt politicians, but they can always be tossed out in favor of someone else. I'm hoping your new president makes good on his promises.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

My favourite candidate ever might be Paavo Väyrynen. I admire his determination because he is always trying to obtain presidency again and again. He has failed 3 times but never gives up. According to the Finnish vote system, if none of the candidates gets more than half of votes, another round will be arranged between the two with most votes. As for the 2012 election, Väyrynen didn't make it to the second round, but still, his persistent fans kept drawing his number or name on the paper. He's also a representative in the European Parliament.

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[Lady Vulpix]

This time we had a 2nd round for the very first time in a presidential election, but here the regulations are a bit different. The requirement is not 50% of the votes, but 40% and at least a 10% difference against the closest competitor.

I did not vote for Macri in the first round, but I'm glad that Scioli didn't win (especially because of who was running for vice-president with him).

And that rain tax sounds like a scary idea. I hope my government never hears about it. It's bad enough that we have a brute income tax, which effectively taxes workers' taxes.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Finland doesn't have a vice-president but we have a prime minister. He or she is usually the leader of the party that wins the parliamentary election. So our prime minister can be from a different party than our president.

[Lady Vulpix]

Finland doesn't have a vice-president but we have a prime minister. He or she is usually the leader of the party that wins the parliamentary election. So our prime minister can be from a different party than our president.
That would be interesting. It could stop the tendency our presidents have of trying to hog all the power for themselves (no offense meant to real hogs). Then again, if they can't learn to reach a compromise, it could stop them from getting anything done at all. It would be so great if we had authorities who cared at least as much about the country as they do about themselves!

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

In Finland, it's the Prime Minister and especially the Financial Minister who get the public crimination when things get worse in the country. Rather than the President. First Esko Aho and Iiro Viinanen during the early 1990s, then Jyrki Katainen and Jutta Urpilainen who were elected in 2011.