The Democrat Thread

[StrangeSox]

The only states proposing plans to do this are the ones where Obama won but Republicans control the state legislature. Democrats don't have any similar situations where Romney won but they control. Republicans in Texas and Georgia and every other solidly-red state have zero motivation to do this because they'll be giving up some of their guaranteed electoral votes, nor would Democrats in Illinois, California and New York have any reason to make this switch.

 

Every state is absolutely within its rights to do this, as Nebraska and Maine already do. But here again we see the naked power grab--when Obama won one of the Nebraska districts in 2008, the Republican state legislature introduced bills to switch the state to a winner-takes-all.

[Cknolls]

The redistricting tables won't turn for at least two more Presidential elections, and that's if Democrats could make enough gains against the heavily gerrymandered districts to take control of the state legislatures.

 

They're only pushing for this in states that went for Obama but are controlled by Republicans. I'm not seeing Georgia or Texas Republicans wanting to adopt this system. It's just unusual that they're being so brazen.

 

 

Weren't three R's gerrymandered out of their seats right here in Illinois? Both sides do it. It seems like this is an issue because the northern states are losing population and electoral votes to the south and they don't like it. If the northern states did more to keep their populace from moving they would be less prone to whining. Hey I realize I live in a corrupt state that does nothing to face up to its problems. And they will replace this tool with another tool who has as her father, the most corrupt politician to ever be elected. But hey its the Chicago Way, even if its Springfield.

[Balta1701]

Weren't three R's gerrymandered out of their seats right here in Illinois? Both sides do it. It seems like this is an issue because the northern states are losing population and electoral votes to the south and they don't like it. If the northern states did more to keep their populace from moving they would be less prone to whining. Hey I realize I live in a corrupt state that does nothing to face up to its problems. And they will replace this tool with another tool who has as her father, the most corrupt politician to ever be elected. But hey its the Chicago Way, even if its Springfield.

Yes, both sides do some Gerrymandering, but at this point, no one has had the cojones to try to take the presidency through gerrymandering.

 

And if you want to say who's doing better...the Democrats received more than 1 million more votes than the Republicans for the House last election, nationwide, yet the Republicans maintained a very large majority.

[StrangeSox]

Weren't three R's gerrymandered out of their seats right here in Illinois? Both sides do it. It seems like this is an issue because the northern states are losing population and electoral votes to the south and they don't like it. If the northern states did more to keep their populace from moving they would be less prone to whining. Hey I realize I live in a corrupt state that does nothing to face up to its problems. And they will replace this tool with another tool who has as her father, the most corrupt politician to ever be elected. But hey its the Chicago Way, even if its Springfield.

 

Illinois was the worst from the Dem side, but the Republicans took it further and across more states. I'll post the research later today.

[lostfan]

Instead of reflexively saying "THEY DO IT TOO" and pretending like all things are equal even when they're not, the answer is to get party politics as far removed from this process as possible.

[StrangeSox]

I don't know how you ultimately fix gerrymandering, but giving it an even higher incentive sure as hell isn't the way.

[bmags]

I don't know how you ultimately fix gerrymandering, but giving it an even higher incentive sure as hell isn't the way.

 

Doesn't Iowa have a pretty good re-destricting plan that is outsourced to a place that tries to do it based off of numbers and geography?

[StrangeSox]

Here's the research I was thinking of earlier. Current redistricting gives R's a +7.1 seat advantage.

 

http://election.princeton.edu/2012/12/30/g...des-do-it-myth/

 

Republican-controlled redistricting led to a swing in margin of at least* 26 seats, almost as large as the 31-seat majority of the new Congress. Those actions created a new power reality in the House – or more accurately, retained the old power reality.

 

In the states listed above, the net effect of both parties’ redistricting combined was R+11.5 seats. Putting all of this redistricting into nonpartisan commissions would lead to a swing of at least 23 seats. The resulting seat count would be 213 D, 222 R or even closer. It is possible that in the absence of partisan gerrymandering, control would have been within reach for the Democrats.

[StrangeSox]

Doesn't Iowa have a pretty good re-destricting plan that is outsourced to a place that tries to do it based off of numbers and geography?

they have some system like that.

 

 

[lostfan]

Doesn't Iowa have a pretty good re-destricting plan that is outsourced to a place that tries to do it based off of numbers and geography?

I'm not sure how this can be mandated on the federal level but everything should be done like this. Or the idea of the computer-drawn districts

[DukeNukeEm]

I'm not sure how this can be mandated on the federal level but everything should be done like this. Or the idea of the computer-drawn districts

Computers aren't magic. They'll need to be told how to redistrict, and you could bet your ass the parties would be all over the rules that govern those machines.

[StrangeSox]

IIRC there are other issues with that, but at least the rules would be the same each time and not drawn by partisan politicians. One major f***-up with our system is that elected officials are in charge of both the redistricting and the voting processes, which allows them to tailor it to their benefits.

 

http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewco...;context=djclpp

[bmags]

Iowa parties still need to approve the computer drawn redistricting, but even when they make the changes to it, I believe Iowa is still a much better example of fair redistricting than other states.

[Reddy]

Iowa parties still need to approve the computer drawn redistricting, but even when they make the changes to it, I believe Iowa is still a much better example of fair redistricting than other states.

Iowa is pretty much awesome at politics/governing

[StrangeSox]

Michigan lawmaker explains why his electoral vote rigging wasn't popular earlier in 2012:

 

It got no traction last year. There were people convinced Romney was going to win and this might take (electoral) votes from him.

 

At least they're being honest about explicitly trying to rig the system in their favor. By the way, the research shows that switching to this system nation-wide is an anti-democratic, biasing idea.

 

http://themonkeycage.org/blog/2013/01/25/w...y-biasing-idea/

[StrangeSox]

lol

 

So, just in case you might be worried that there might not be any positive sides to the upswing in gun sales following the Newtown Massacre, here’s the feel-good story of a dad who tried to use the Second Amendment to remedy his kid’s academic problems. St. Paul, Minnesota, dad Kirill Bartashevitch, 51, was charged with two felony counts of “terroristic threats” after aiming his brand-new AK-47 at his daughter and wife during an argument about the 15-year-old’s grades. Some might consider that a bit extreme, but the little slacker was getting two B’s instead of straight A’s.

 

The arrest came after interference in the Patriot’s family affairs by an agent of Big Government, according to the story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

 

The incident came to light at Central High School when a social worker received a report from a parent who said she had been monitoring her son’s electronic communications when she saw a message from the girl.

 

See, this is what happens when you expand government: nosy “social workers” follow up on perceived threats of violence, reducing the precious freedom of a man to wave a gun at his child to enhance her academic achievement.

 

Indeed, it was the fear of Big government that prompted the purchase of the AK-47 in the first place:

 

Bartashevitch had recently purchased the rifle out of fear that such guns soon will be banned, the complaint said.

He admitted to St. Paul police that he had pointed the gun at his wife and daughter but said it wasn’t loaded and he had checked the chamber beforehand.

 

See? He checked the chamber. That’s some responsible gun ownership right there.

 

Read more at http://wonkette.com/498494/hero-dad-stands...UAsIbtSRPxjw.99

[DukeNukeEm]

I've gotten used to the fact that every time a white person is arrested for a gun crime in this country it will be all over the news.

[mr_genius]

Iowa is pretty much awesome at politics/governing

 

I can't disagree with that. 2 top notch senators for sure.

[DukeNukeEm]

Grassley is OK but Harkin is the devil. He's a Feinstein in sheep's clothing.

[mr_genius]

Harkin is the devil. He's a Feinstein in sheep's clothing.

 

he's not that bad

[StrangeSox]

I've gotten used to the fact that every time a white person is arrested for a gun crime in this country it will be all over the news.

 

People want to restrict guns exactly because of people like this idiot. The irony is hilarious, though of course I feel bad for his wife and daughter.

[DukeNukeEm]

300 million in this country. I could pull up just as many stories of people behaving like idiots at Walmart, being dangerous with their car... s*** like this happens. Dekoog thyself.

Edited January 26, 2013 by DukeNukeEm

[mr_genius]

strangesox and his selective outrage over redistricting. so pure.

[StrangeSox]

this is me irl with each and every post, including (especially) this one:

[StrangeSox]

There's some Republicans pushing back against the blatant vote-rigging schemes:

 

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/01...eme.php?ref=fpb

In Virginia, one such bill that passed out of a Senate subcommittee this week appears to be close to dead. Had it been in effect in 2012, Republican state Sen. Charlie Carrico’s proposal to allocate electoral votes by congressional district would have awarded Mitt Romney nine electoral votes to President Obama’s thanks to gerrymandering by the GOP-controlled legislature. But two Republican state senators have already announced their opposition, enough to block the bill’s passage if Democrats maintain a unified front. On Friday, Governor Bob McDonnell ® came out against the proposal as well, announcing through a spokesman that “Virginia’s existing system works just fine as it is” and that he “does not believe there is any need for a change.”