This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1238880
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1238880
This (Roberts’ excuse for the pro-gerrymandering SCOTUS decision) sounds like the same BS reasoning the conservative majority used for Citizens United. “Sure, the money will be unlimited, but there will be full transparency on who is donating”.
How long did that little fantasy last?
Long enough to give the republicans another decade of graft.
The oligarchy has recognized that independent redistricting commissions represent a single point of failure that’s less well-protected than the regular legislative process. It’s cheaper to sneak 4 agents into a 7-person panel than it is to pay for ads and astroturfing for enough legislative candidates to maintain a majority.
All they have to do is find a Federalist judge who’s willing to bless an absurd assertion, stripping away the protections and leaving the process entirely at the mercy of organized money. At that point, they can count on a compromised DOJ and SCOTUS to magnify that error and chisel it into stone in all 50 states.
ETA: to be clear, I totally support independent redistricting commissions, in theory and in practice.
Why do you hate democracy so much, Gov. Walker?
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bikerdad said: “Why do you hate democracy so much, Gov. Walker?”
I’ve lived in Wisconsin throughout the Wanker Reign of Error.
–> Believe me, incompetence & graft like his need every advantage to continue.
The new GOP lawsuit alleges, however, that not only are the requirements unconstitutional, but that they are not severable from the rest of the commission — meaning that the whole commission should be dismantled if the prohibitions on commissioners are found to be illegal, according to the Republicans’ arguments.
That claim is at odds with the text of ballot initiative itself that 61 percent of Michigan voters last year approved. “Any provision held invalid is severable from the remaining portions of this Section,” the initiative text said.
Trying to pull an Obamacare lawsuit on this commission, even in spite of the clear text of the law. I’m looking forward to the creative reasoning five Justices on the SCOTUS will use to invalidate the whole law in spite of the clear severability clause.
And spite of the fact that they cited the existence of this commission as a reason not to touch gerrymandering. Perfect Catch-22.