In Wisconsin, I can bet that the State Supreme court would have something to say about it, if forced. We have another two years before we send another one packing.
Don’t agree it allows for ideologues to “win” elections.
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Nothing will get done in Congress as long as the filibuster is in effect. Nuke it, then fix the voting/elections process.
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How about if the Federal law says Congress will only sit members from districts set by an independent redistricting commission? That would be the “manner.”
And if a State did not want to have a independent commission? No problem, don’t seat their members.
Unfunded mandate? Yes. Just like “real ID” and a multitude of others.
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It’s not like that has ever been attempted or decided, but I would say that it is not constitutional because it purports to restrict the right of each Congress to be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members. The 116th Congress can’t tell the 117th Congress how to do so.
ETA: Article I, section 5: “Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members[.]”
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“American democracy isn’t just broken. It’s shattered. And we are witnessing the consequences of letting our nation’s wounds fester.“
American capitalist democracy hasn’t fundamentally changed since its inception. Gerrymandering, whether about the physical drawing of districts or the drawing of who can vote and who not relative to districts, has been part and parcel of the operation from the get-go. And there’s been a typically conservative, i.e., class elitist, Supreme Court to limit changes and roll back any that “wayward” judges have made. That’s one of the fundamental ways a small minority class has maintained control over the vast majority from the beginning.
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I tend to agree - gerrymandering is terrible and should be ended via independent or judicial commissions setting district boundaries, but I see it as secondary to supporting Republican extremism.
Gerrymandering works by creating modest majorities for Republicans in as many districts as possible while cramming super-majorities of Democrats in as few districts as possible. This could actually limit extremism in Republicans, because if they go too far they could alienate their more moderate voters to give the win to Democrats.
Again, gerrymandering is terrible and promotes non-democratic, minority viewpoints, but I think other things are driving Republican extremism.
In fact, it’s no coincidence that the vast preponderance of those who incited the insurrection by objecting to the counting of electoral votes were politicians who owed their perpetual re-election to gerrymandering.
On the state level, GOP officials in key swing states — who more than anyone sustained Trump’s election delegitimization crusade — were also completely protected from democratic backlash by their impenetrable gerrymanders (and constant efforts to suppress the vote).
Key insights from Mr. Eichen.
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It can cut both ways, but on the whole, it pushes the GOP to cater to the crazies. It does create a “brittle” majority, where a “blue wave” like the 2018 midterms can wash away some of those districts, but most of the time if the Dems aren’t able to field a viable candidate, it’s a fight between two GOP members in the primary and that’s going to push them to out-crazy each other in order to establish their bona fides.
For all the talk of people being “independent,” when the chips are down, people vote for “their” party. Sure, some Republican voters might not like the nutbar that won their primary, but choosing between the GOP candidate and anyone (no matter how moderate) with a D after their name, is no choice at all for them. Humans are still very tribal and it’s difficult for many to break that mold and vote truly independently. No matter how much lip service they give to it, it’s hard to “switch sides” on an emotional level.
Agree more ambitious reform is required.
This piece makes the case for multi-member districts.
I agree that gerrymandering is a symptom and not a cause of the disease. As to the disease itself, it is Fascism. Fascism is based on the biggest, meanest and most powerful being the law and always getting their way running over others. In short, Fascism is a system that unlike Democracy is compatible with Racism. That is for Democracy to work all people must be equal whereas Fascism is based on raw power making some more equal than others.
Furthermore, history has shown that appeasing Fascists only emboldens Fascists to take more provocative and anti-democratic actions. Therefore the only way to deal with Fascists, the only language Fascists understand, much like the playground bully, is through forcefully applying the law to the maximum extent possible.
On 6/1/2020 Paul Krugman when addressing how we got to our current political situation said, ""How did we get here? The core story of U.S. politics over the past four decades is that wealthy elites weaponized white racism to gain political power, which they used to pursue policies that enriched the already wealthy at workers’ expense.
Until Trump’s rise it was possible — barely — for people to deny this reality with a straight face. At this point, however, it requires willful blindness not to see what’s going on."
In his column in the NYT 1/11/2021 titled “Appeasement got us where we are”, Paul Krugman began with, " So, is it finally OK to use the F-word?
One shouldn’t use the term “fascist” lightly. It isn’t a catchall for “people you disagree with.” It isn’t even a synonym for “bad political actors.”
Donald Trump, however, is indeed a fascist — an authoritarian willing to use violence to achieve his racial nationalist goals. So are many of his supporters. If you had any doubts about that, Wednesday’s attack on Congress should have ended them."
That is well Gerrymandering is a symptom caused by the disease itself, the disease is Fascism caused by Racism and manipulated by those representing billionaires to steal from the middle and working classes well blaming minorities for the pain they caused to their own supporters.
Krugman concluded his article by pointing out that trying to appease Fascists merely incentivizes them to take more dangerous and anti-democratic acts. Well Krugman does not say it, but those responsible for ensuring democracy may have to treat the Trump brown shirts or red hat wearers like they treat others with other than White skin.
Yes, H.R. 1, For The People Act is everything I want. Was so invigorated in early 2019 when Pelosi harnessed the blue wave to produce this amazing bill. Let’s get it done!