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If you’re a public employee union member of the CTA, or SEIU, you’re qualified to apply and sit on the commission. How can that be; shouldn’t someone who pays union dues to a huge political influence like the public employee unions be considered a politically involved citizen in the process of campaigns and legislation that comes from votes in the Capitol? These employees and union members, administration officials and bosses stand to directly benefit if the district lines produce more sympathetic politicos who eventually vote for contracts, pension plans and government workforce numbers. Worse yet, will we see ACORN organize...

Could the Public Employee Unions commandeer the Citizens Redistricting Commission? Coming December 15th, the California State Auditor’s Office will begin receiving applications for the new “Rock Star Commission”, a group of normal citizens who will be selected to re-draw the lines of California’s State Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization Districts starting with the elections in 2012. In a previous HOGUE NEWS exclusive piece, I revealed the importance of this commission and the power they will be handed in determining California’s future. I am excited that California will remove the politicians from the census process of drawing district lines for...

With most of the state beginning to focus on their favorite candidate for the Primary Election coming next June, nobody is paying any attention to the selection of fourteen regular citizens who will become “Rock Stars” come February 2010. Next year fourteen citizens will be known as the “Citizens Redistricting Commission” for California’s future; regular people who will be selected from thousands of applicants between December 15, 2009 and February 15, 2010 put in charge of coloring the Golden State’s future. Have you read the application and qualification process here? These people will be "rick stars", and politically ignorant. The...

[snip] As 2010 is a census year, shortly thereafter, the Indiana General Assembly, as well as the legislatures of the other states, will begin the process of redrawing the lines for the various districts around the states. As with most states, Indiana’s current districts make far more political sense than practical sense. The maps look as if they were draw with a paintball gun and random luck, rather than thoughtful consideration. Todd Rokita wants to change all that.

Who Counts?: The next U.S. census chief wants to count people who aren't there. The acting director wants to count people who shouldn't be here. And Acorn will help do the counting.Back when he was the Census Bureau's associate director of statistical design, Robert M. Groves, nominated to be the next director of the bureau, recommended that the 1990 census be statistically adjusted to correct an alleged undercount of minorities in urban areas — areas that tend to vote heavily Democratic. Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher overruled him, saying the use of "statistical sampling," as it's known, was a form of...

Please click on the link and vote thumbs down in this poll. This idiotic editorial is pitching redistricting so republicans don't have an advantage! LOL

Census results probably will lead to jockeying for partisan representationNorth Carolina continues to be a fast-growing state. And new data released by the Census Bureau this past week shows the Raleigh area to be the fastest-growing metropolitan region in the nation. The increased population has a lot of demographers and politicians alike hoping that after the next census, North Carolina will get an additional congressional seat. The census will be conducted next year. Its purpose, as stipulated in the Constitution, is to find out how many people live in each of the states so that the number of members in...

First it was President Obama trying to break all precedent and run the 2010 census from within the White House. While the administration finally backed down from that politicization of the census, it clearly hasn't learned its lesson. Now it is having ACORN officially "partner" with the Census to help count the number of Americans in the country. It's like Santa trusting a child to tell him how many times he or she has been good in the past year. We could write a book on the false voter registrations submitted by ACORN. There are bizarre stories, such as one...

Republicans should begin to inform voters in swing states like New Hampshire, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Iowa just how much political clout and federal money a crassly partisan Obama census process would cost the people and politicians of those states. Republicans should encourage bipartisan state resolutions to demand a census free of theoretical projections and guessing. Reapportionment produces as many losers as winners. It is for just this reason that it must be fair. The losers are never happy. Republicans must, as soon as practicable, let voters in states which would be cheated with a partisan census count know...

The Obama administration is ending the Census Bureau's traditional autonomy – a move that has Republicans outraged over the White House's politicization of counting Americans. Last week, an administration official revealed that the yet-to-be-named director of the Census Bureau will report to the White House rather than Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg, a Republican. That prompted a blistering response from two key Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "Any attempt by the Obama administration to circumvent the census process for their political benefit will be met with fierce opposition as this ill-conceived proposal undermines a constitutionally obligated...

By Matthew Vadum Saturday, February 7, 2009 With all of Washington and most of the media mesmerized by debate on the porkulus bill, little attention has been paid to what appears to be an unconstitutional power grab by President Obama. The Obama administration reportedly wants the U.S. Census to be run directly out of the White House, as opposed to by a politically insulated official within the Department of Commerce. This would apparently be unprecedented and unlawful because federal law provides that the Census must be administered by the Commerce Department. Former Census director Bruce Chapman warns that no good...

The Obama administration acknowledged Thursday that the as-yet-unnamed Census Bureau director will have a direct line to the White House but sought to define the relationship as one in which the director would “work closely with” rather than report to President Obama’s senior staff. ***After black and Hispanic leaders raised concerns over Commerce Secretary-nominee Judd Gregg ’s commitment to core functions of the Census Bureau, a senior White House official told CQ on Wednesday that the director would report directly to the White House.*** That brought fire Thursday from Republicans, who accused the White House of attempting to gain advantage...

As Republicans brace for a 2010 election cycle that begins their long road back to the majority, they do have one major weapon in their arsenal — redistricting. In 2000, Republicans used redistricting to solidify their majorities. Now, with the party reeling from two straight election losses, the landscape for the 2010 round of redistricting could provide them opportunities to regain some of those seats and add some new ones. The 2010 census could add multiple House seats to red-leaning states — as many as four districts to Texas and two each to Arizona and Florida. And it could subtract...

One looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. One is called the "Ribbon of Shame." Some have arms. Some have fingers. Many seem to defy logic. They're California's state Assembly and Senate - but not Congressional - districts, and they will change after the next Census. That's not new, of course. Districts change every 10 years. But because of Proposition 11, which passed narrowly last week, the new legislative districts that will take effect for the 2012 elections will be drawn by an independent commission, rather than by state lawmakers. That could have big implications for the state's balance of power in...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger teams up with former business partner (in Planet Hollywood) and actor Sylvester Stallone for a fundraiser tonight in La Jolla. The money goes toward passing Proposition 11, the redistricting measure on the Nov. 4 ballot. --snip-- Chairs of the events (those who give $25,000) get two seats at the head table, 10 dinner tickets and two photos each for two people with Schwarzenegger and Stallone.

T A X P A Y E R U P D A T E . . . from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (www.HJTA.org) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HJTA's 2008 Ballot Recommendations Propositions 1, 3 and 10 on this November's ballot, if approved, will add another $32 billion -- including interest -- to our alreadysubstantial debt burden. Vote no on Propositions 1, 3 and 10. With state and local governments massively in debt, HJTA also urges voters to reject all local bonds. HJTA recommends approval of Proposition 11. This will make legislative elections more competitive and politicians more responsive to average voters.

Reporting from Sacramento -- The chief cheerleader and fundraiser for Proposition 11, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has insisted that the push to change how voting districts are drawn is bipartisan. But the half-million dollars donated to the backers' campaign last week by Florida businessmen with Republican ties has fueled opponents' claims that it's a GOP power grab. "Republicans from Florida are giving huge donations to this initiative for one reason," said Paul Hefner, spokesman for the campaign against the measure. "They're convinced it helps their cause and hurts Democrats." At the posh Fort Lauderdale home of well-connected attorney and Republican backer...

In an appearance in San Diego today promoting Proposition 11, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called passage of Proposition 11 "the most important thing." But Schwarzenegger also hinted at what good-government reform he might tackle next: open primaries. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled such a system in Washington state constitutional earlier this year. Political scientists generally believe open primaries lead to more moderate, centrist candidates. So here's what Schwarzenegger had to say today: "We will change the way the district lines are drawn and we will change the performance in Sacramento and will create more performance. And, of course, the next thing...

Jarvis Taxpayers Association Endorses Proposition 11 The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has announced the endorsement of Proposition 11 to stop the conflict of interest of lawmakers drawing their own districts and choosing the voters they want to help ensure their reelection. "The current system fixes elections so that fewer than five percent of state representatives face a challenge to their reelection," said HJTA president Jon Coupal. "This has resulted in a climate where lawmakers do not have to be accountable to voters for effectively addressing problems like on-going budget deficits and out-of-control spending." Proposition 11 will take the power to...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will campaign today with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for Proposition 11, an initiative to change how California draws its district boundaries. The two will appear publicly at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce offices, joined by representatives from AARP, California Common Cause and other organizations. --snip-- Schwarzenegger and Bloomberg have worked together to promote federal infrastructure investment. And the Republican governor once called Bloomberg his "soul mate," a reference to their shared moderate political views.

SACRAMENTO — If you want a less-polarized Legislature — if you want lawmakers who can actually compromise to get things done, such as agreeing on a budget — redistricting reform is not the answer. That's the finding of a report released Tuesday night by the Public Policy Institute of California, throwing into doubt the campaign message of Proposition 11, which would take the power to draw political boundaries away from lawmakers and hand it to a 14-member commission. Proponents have argued that the measure, which is on the Nov. 4 ballot, would rid Sacramento of the partisan bickering by setting...

Ban on Gay Marriage Trails -- Voters Split on Teen Abortion Constraints, Redistricting SAN FRANCISCO, California, August 27, 2008 — A majority of California’s likely voters oppose Proposition 8, the November ballot measure that would eliminate gay marriage, according to a statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) with funding from The James Irvine Foundation. Likely voters are divided on two other closely watched measures – one that would require a parent to be notified before a teenager has an abortion and one that would take the power to draw legislative district lines away from...

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has obtained a document outlining details of what would become the "Reform Michigan Government Now" ballot initiative. The document, in the form of a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, bears the blunt title: "GOVERNMENT REFORM PROPOSAL: Changing the rules of politics in Michigan to help Democrats." According to the UAW Region 1-C Web site where the document was originally found,* this presentation was given to local union officials at a leadership conference in late May or early June. UAW officials have not returned our calls, and both the presentation and a brief article that referred to...

Californians will get a chance to make history this November, an opportunity to seize control of their government from the politicians, handlers and consultants who have rigged the game to serve their own interests. Proposition 11 would take from the Legislature its power to draw political boundaries and give that job to an independent bipartisan commission that would operate under strict guidelines designed to ensure fairness for all parties and protect the rights of minorities. The process now allows the politicians to choose their voters by drawing district lines almost guaranteed to preserve the jobs of incumbents and freeze in...

Propositions that are on the November 4, 2008 General Election Ballot* Bond MeasureProposition 1 SB 1856 (Chapter 697, 2002). Costa. Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century.** **Note: The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century was originally scheduled to appear on the November 2, 2004, General Election ballot. Subsequently, Senate Bill 1169, Chapter 71, Statutes of 2004, provided that it appear on the November 7, 2006, General Election ballot. However, most recently, Assembly Bill 713, Chapter 44, Statutes of 2006, provides for the submission of this Act on the November...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken a keen interest in how California draws its political boundaries, already chipping in a quarter-million-dollar donation to finance a redistricting measure for the Nov. 4 ballot. Now Bloomberg plans to host a Thursday night fundraiser for the governor's "California Dream Team" political committee after the two leaders discuss political philosophies in a public New York City forum the same day. It should be a prosperous night for the governor's committee - cosmetics billionaire Ron Perelman is hosting a separate fundraiser for Schwarzenegger the same evening, according to Julie Soderlund, the governor's campaign...

Fairfax County, Virginia is about to re-draw district boundary lines, which will affect at least 1/4 of the families in that county. School board says this is being done primarily because South Lakes High School, in Reston, is under-enrolled. Reston, a planned community has a variety of income levels including government project housing for low or no income families. At South Lakes H.S., 1/3 of the students are on free lunch. Gangs have caused problems in the school and fights have been violent. The school does offer the International Baccalaureate program which has brought in a few serious students, yet...

The sad saga of redistricting reform opened a new chapter Monday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to lead a ballot measure campaign to create an independent commission to redraw legislative districts after each decennial census. Schwarzenegger called it "the best shot at restoring power to the people," but even with the support of a popular governor, taking redistricting – the single most important factor in determining who wins an election – away from lawmakers faces an uphill battle. Schwarzenegger has been there before, failing repeatedly to persuade legislators to give up the power and seeing his reform initiative shot down...

Having trended Democratic over recent decades, New York gave Democrats more to crow about in 2006 than most other states. The party re-elected Senator Hillary Clinton by a huge margin, replaced a retiring Republican governor with a Democrat, and picked up three previously Republican House seats. But even with an overwhelming majority in the state's Assembly - 107 of the 150 seats are held by Democrats - one prize stayed in Republican hands: The State Senate. With a slim 33-29 majority, Republicans are determined to hold the line in the upper chamber, and not just for the sake of the...

Honest and independent district line-drawing would divest both Democrats and Republicans of sure-thing districts in which elections are virtually over in the primary. More districts would be up for grabs, meaning that any Democrat hoping to win the election would have to have a message, and a track record, that Republican residents could accept. Any Republican would need Democratic voters to have a realistic shot. Lawmakers would stop playing to their extremist bases and appeal to more moderate voters in both parties.

Supporters of a proposed ballot initiative to alter California's legislative term limits announced Monday that they are submitting about 1.1 million voter signatures - 400,000 more than necessary - to qualify for the Feb. 5 ballot. Launched by Gale Kaufman and Matthew Dowd, political strategists for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, respectively, the initiative campaign needs 694,354 valid voter signatures. Kaufman announced Monday that the initiative petitions are being submitted to elections officials for certification. "Representing the people of California is honorable work," Núñez said in a written statement. "This initiative with its bipartisan coalition of supporters...

SACRAMENTO -- In the heat of Central Valley, with midday temperatures over 100 degrees, Democratic legislators are preparing to test their working partnership with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the ultimate crucible by asking voters to relax the limits on their time in office. They hope that by joining forces with the governor on a wide range of big issues, they will gain enough credit that their constituents will let them stay in office beyond the strict time imposed by a 1990 term-limits initiative. But before they take the new limits to the polls in an initiative planned for next...

Well folks, it looks like the U.S. Census Bureau is finally getting high-tech for their 2010 census. With $600 million poured into the Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) project, half a million (500,000) field enumerators will be getting hooked up with a HTC Census smartphone. Armed with an EVDO data-only Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC, and integrated GPS, the enumerator's job of collecting absentee census information will get nice and streamlined. As a high-tech plus, the built-in GPS unit also keeps the enumerator honest.Back in 2000, I was actually a census enumerator. My job consisted of driving to households to...

The presidential race might not be the only matter before California voters in February. The primary ballot also could feature a package of political reforms that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to craft with Democrats in the state Legislature. Schwarzenegger wants to take away the Legislature's power to draw California's political map and give it to an independent panel. He also wants to ban fundraising during the months when most of the state's major business is done. It would cover the period from mid-May until the budget is passed, the final month of the legislative session and the following month...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court today ruled against Colorado Republicans challenging a congressional redistricting plan favorable to Democrats. In a unanimous decision, the justices said that the four Republicans were not entitled to sue in an effort to replace a redistricting plan ordered by a court with one passed by a Republican-controlled state legislature. The case, Lance v. Coffman, was formerly known as Lance v. Dennis, 06-641. It involved a claim under the petition clause of the First Amendment. A Democratic state judge drew up the first redistricting plan in 2002, while the Republican Legislature drew one up in 2003....

Nuñez and others want lines drawn by a nonpartisan panel. Pelosi may oppose the plan. The new dynamic in Washington, with Californian Nancy Pelosi as House speaker, threatens to thwart an effort by state political leaders to overhaul the way voting districts are drawn. Fresh from their victories in the November election, Democrats in Congress don't want to risk their fragile majority. Many Republicans don't want their relatively safe seats threatened either. Their opposition promises to crimp an effort by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) and others to change how California draws political boundaries every...

The Legislature's march toward a more politician-friendly term limits law ran into an Austrian road block today when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he wouldn't support the planned February 2008 measure unless it was joined on the ballot by a redistricting reform plan. "Part of (a political reform package) could be term limits, but just to be out there by itself, I don't support that," the governor said this morning after a Burlingame news conference on stem cell research. Schwarzenegger's challenge was aimed directly at Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, and Senate President Don Perata, D-Oakland, who both have been...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger backed a constitutional amendment Tuesday to strip lawmakers of the power to create their own legislative districts, saying competition needs to be restored to state politics. The Republican governor proposed creating an 11-member citizen's commission to conduct the post-census, once-in-a-decade redrawing of the boundaries of California's Assembly, Senate and congressional seats known as redistricting. "In the past three election periods, as we all know, only 4 out of 459 congressional and legislative seats that were up for grabs in California have changed party hands," Schwarzenegger said at a Capitol press conference. "To me that is evidence of...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he will renew his push for redrawing political boundaries in 2007. “We are going to make every effort to change the way California draws its congressional and legislative districts to guarantee that our elected leaders are more responsive and more accountable to the people they serve,” Mr. Schwarzenegger says in remarks prepared for his weekly radio address. In the past three election periods, only four out of the 459 congressional and legislative seats up for grabs in California ever changed party hands, he says. “That's evidence of a system that needs to change,” the governor says....

One hundred seats in the California Assembly and Senate were up for grabs on Nov. 7. Not a single one changed party hands. Conceivably, you might think, there'd be one seat that would switch from a Democrat to a Republican, or visa versa. But no. Nada. Not a single seat. The same inertia was seen in the 2004 elections. No seats changed party hands. Until last week, there was a faint chance that Republican Lynn Dauscher would buck the trend and defeat Democrat Lou Correa in the 34th Senate District, a seat vacated by a termed-out Democrat. But Correa's lead...

SACRAMENTO - Energized by this month's landslide victory, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is assembling a wide-ranging 2007 agenda - hoping to help millions of Californians without health care, trying again to redraw the state's legislative districts and fixing the dysfunctional prison system. Some proposals could emerge soon after the new two-year legislative session begins Dec. 4. Others may come into focus in early January when Schwarzenegger delivers his State of the State address. Many details of the governor's plans - particularly health care - are still in flux. But the style in which he will pursue them appears clear. Schwarzenegger considers...

A runoff between Republican U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla and his Democratic challenger will be held Dec. 12, Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday. Bonilla finished with 49 percent of the vote in the Nov. 7 special election. He will face former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, who got about 20 percent of the vote. Early voting will begin Dec. 4. Eight candidates participated in the special election that was called after the U.S. Supreme Court found a portion of the congressional district boundaries unconstitutional.

(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.) WASHINGTON -- Gerrymandering was supposed to cement Republican control of the House of Representatives, offering incumbents a wall of re-election protection even as public opinion turned sharply against them. Instead, the party's strategy of recrafting district boundaries may have backfired, contributing to the defeats of several lawmakers and the party's fall from power. The reason: Republican leaders may have overreached and created so many Republican-leaning districts that they spread their core supporters too thinly. That left their incumbents vulnerable to the type of backlash from traditionally Republican-leaning independent voters that unfolded this week. That...

Bonilla, Rodriguez Ready For Runoff SAN ANTONIO -- Another U.S. House seat could turn Democratic, now that Republican U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla is headed for a runoff against a former House colleague. Bonilla received 49 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting on Wednesday. That put him in a runoff with the second top vote-getter, former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, who came in with just under 20 percent in an eight-candidate field. Six of the eight were Democrats. Bonilla told reporters Wednesday that he was proud of his campaign team and that he needed to "score one more touchdown."...

Bruce Reed had a great post on his Slate blog yesterday that discussed the implications of partisan redistricting. I highly recommend it. Here, I would like to offer first a critique and then, building on that critique, an amplification.First off, I do think he lays too much blame on the GOP for the current district maps -- it is true that the redistricting of 1992 and 2002 benefited Republicans more than Democrats. But Democrats (a) benefited as well and (b) would be just as eager to engage in it if they could. As Michael Barone is wont to note...

SACRAMENTO - The state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would force lawmakers to relinquish the power to draw their own districts, a day after legislative leaders abandoned efforts to link redistricting and term-limit reform for the November ballot. Despite the bill's passage in one house, its fate in the Assembly was uncertain. Even if eventually passed by both chambers, the proposed constitutional amendment is a longshot for the fall election. Friday is the deadline for the Legislature to place measures on the ballot. "It's not going to be on this year's ballot," said Senate President Pro Tem Don...

SACRAMENTO -- Legislative leaders on Tuesday ended negotiations that would have put a redistricting and term-limits reform package before voters in November, saying they hoped to tackle the contentious issues in their next session. Unable to reach an agreement days before a Friday deadline, Senate and Assembly leaders terminated a legislative committee that was charged with drafting measures to place before voters. "Given the tremendous impact any proposal crafted by the Legislature this year could have on politics and policymaking in our state, we feel it is the best course not to pursue a sweeping reform package in the waning...

If elected officials were half as imaginative at solving real problems as they are at perpetuating themselves in office, we'd see real confidence in government restored. Alas, the big issue on many pols' minds right now is getting rid of the term-limit laws that threaten to knock down their impregnable incumbent fortresses. Although the U.S. Supreme Court in 1995 threw out 21 states' voter-approved term limits on members of Congress, that 5-4 ruling didn't affect limits on state and local legislators and other officials. This year, such officials are mounting full-scale efforts to overturn the will of the people. Voters...

California lawmakers decided Thursday to consider linking two of the state's thorniest governmental reform issues -- term limits and redistricting -- in a last-ditch effort to reach bipartisan consensus on both. The Assembly and Senate voted to waive procedural rules and create a joint, six-member conference committee, which is expected to meet today in a frenetic attempt to reach agreement before the legislative session adjourns Aug. 31. Redistricting is a controversial, once-a-decade process in which the Legislature draws its own political districts. Term limits are a voter-approved cap on the number of years that a lawmaker can serve. Both issues...

SACRAMENTO - State lawmakers on Thursday signaled a desire to alter term limits and relinquish the power to draw their own districts by voting to begin negotiations that could put two constitutional amendments on the ballot this November. The procedural move laid the necessary groundwork to meet an Aug. 18 deadline. "The ballot we're shooting for is the November ballot, no question about it, if we can do it," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles. Lawmakers would like to link redistricting reform to a change in the term-limits law because neither idea has sold on its own in the...