Posted on 03/25/2011 8:04:02 AM PDT by SmithL
If those who volunteered for the state's new redistricting commission believed that it would be a convivial civic exercise, last week's initial clashes over hiring legal and demographic advisers proved otherwise.
The decisions that the 14-member commission makes on 120 legislative, 53 congressional and four Board of Equalization districts will affect not only political careers, but the state's ideological ambience for the next decade.
An odd-bedfellows alliance of political reformers and right-of-center business and political groups, including former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, pushed two ballot measures that empowered the commission as the alternative to the Legislature drawing districts.
. . .
It became evident during meetings of the commission and its subcommittees that most of the independent members have a liberal bent. The Democratic members are also quite liberal, and the Republican members are moderates, or at least not strong conservatives.
Thus the overall tenor of the commission is definitely left-of-center – no small irony given the right-of-center support for the ballot measures that created it.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
What happened to good, old-fashioned gerrymandering?
We’re screwed. Again.
Just have to hope that the courts will reject, based on the enabling language, any unfair plans.
Unless natural boundaries prohibit,
districts should be required to be rectangular.
Requiring them to be rectangular is remarkably inefficient, speaking geometrically. If you wish to insist on relative congruence of districts, go with hexagons.
CA Senate 25 D, 15 R CA Assembly 52 D, 27 R, 1 vacancy in an R district.
Dem majorties are 63% Senate, 65% Assembly. They hold all constitutional offices.
A 2/3 supermajority is only needed to raise taxes, no longer for passing a budget, thanks to the Nov '10 moronic majority voters.
Dems have held both houses of the legislature since 1970 except for an anomaly where Republicans had a 1 seat Assembly majority in '95/'96.
Any redistricting plan is risky but when you're frustrated by extremism and graft with one of the two major parties on the verge of extinction, you're bound to try anything to inject competition. Term limits didn't help.
We have to face facts: short of an catastrophic event changing the demographics of voters, we're not going to rid ourselves of the Mark Leno radical types. We might, however, stumble into creating some new districts that are not protectorates of one party or another.
Unfortunately the new "top two run-off" scheme might make it even less likely a Republican will even be a choice on the general election ballot but it might mean new coalitions of I's and R's behind the less extreme of the two D's and thereby pull the legislature back towards the center from the Left cliff-face it clings to.
BZZZT! Wrongo!!! We screwed ourselves, again.
Um, whom did you support during the recall?
You still don't get it.
Yeah, hon: You’ve stalker-like archived my ancient and stupid support for TaxenHiker, but you seem to have missed my several Mea Maxima Culpas about it. Hell, I’ve had that ‘culpa on my user page for over a year now.
Ass. You may have been right, but you rubbing my nose in it is no way to persuade people to listen to you, you consummate asswipe.
"Stalk"? You flatter yourself. I simply notice you when I'm checking California threads, along with your usual lack of comprehension, not to mention hypocrisy.
Here's one you never rescinded:
Yup, when it comes to personal attacks, you've got style. As to whether I ONLY comprehend environmental science, I guess you didn't check my page either. When you start making a real contribution of original and thoroughly documented work to FR, maybe you've got a right to whine about whom you see. Otherwise, admit your wrongdoing to the people to whom you fling your baseless insults. I've got cause to rub your nose in what you've done.
Hon, when I accuse you of stalking, and you dig up another years-old post, you are confessing.
And of course, your initial comment to me on THIS thread — “neener neener, you supported Schwarzenegger over McCclintock in 2003” — has absolutely NOTHING to do with MY comment bemoaning the liberal tilt that’s emerging on the citizens’ redistricting commission.
Leave me alone, you miserable, have-no-life troll.
Should come as no surprise to anyone in California. Perhaps the accountability will have to be imposed at the local level when the districts are in the approval process?
Tell ya what, though: I DO apologize for “ass” and “asswipe.” There was no call for that; I simply lost my temper at your obvious petty harassment.
I cannot and do not apologize, however, for accurately labeling you as a stalker and a troll. Your response to my initial comment had nothing to DO with that comment and betrays your obvious troller/stalker intention, namely to bring up / link to my 2003 support for TaxenHiker.
And for someone who pretends to love facts so much, it is ironic that you post that I’ve “learned nothing” even though I’ve posted mea culpas several times — including on my user page here. For someone who expects one and all to memorize HIS user page, and for someone who seems to summon forth 7-plus-years-old posts in an instant, you sure seem to have overlooked posts that show what I HAVE learned about TaxenHiker. Will YOU apologize for THAT in good faith? Of course not.
Schwarzenegger pushing for this redistricting should have been a major warning.
The only upside is the redistricting hearings will require public input and can no longer be a sweetheart deal between party leaders.
Whether that will result in competitive elections remains to be seen.
Nonsense. I didn't keep it. I know how to use a search engine. Nor did I know what I was specifically looking for. I knew you would have blown it. Further, you wrote "he/she" about me when even the most cursory look at my page says that I am male. Further, you accuse me of not looking at your page. That makes you a hypocrite.
And of course, your initial comment to me on THIS thread — “neener neener, you supported Schwarzenegger over McCclintock in 2003” — has absolutely NOTHING to do with MY comment bemoaning the liberal tilt that’s emerging on the citizens’ redistricting commission.
Of course it does. The redistricting proposal was proposed and promoted by Arnold's claque. That makes you accountable for the very thing you were bemoaning. That you were clueless about it only reinforces the charge.
Leave me alone, you miserable, have-no-life troll.
LOL! Tough. Post your crap here and you'll get a reply.
You can pretend no accountability, but the facts speak otherwise.
And for someone who pretends to love facts so much, it is ironic that you post that I’ve “learned nothing” even though I’ve posted mea culpas several times — including on my user page here. For someone who expects one and all to memorize HIS user page, and for someone who seems to summon forth 7-plus-years-old posts in an instant, you sure seem to have overlooked posts that show what I HAVE learned about TaxenHiker. Will YOU apologize for THAT in good faith? Of course not.
Unlike you, I make a contribution to this site, both monetarily and in content.
Environmental Issues
An Analysis of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Environmental Policy
Klamath Basin is a Watershed Event
Free Advertising: How Eco-Drivel Can Destroy a Forest and Feed Developers
Wild Cow Mary Could Save Norton Nomination, But Who Saves the Cows?
Social Sciences
How to rid ourselves of the entire education bureaucracy
Ballot Transparency to Eliminate Fraudulent Counts
Abortion A Small Part of a Larger Issue
Kelo and the 14th Amendment: Exploring a Constitutional Koan
Energy Racketeering and the NRDC
So you see, we're different. You think we're the same. Are you interviewed because of your contributions? I am. Interview with Mark Vande Pol (FReeper Carry_Okie) Since when do scientists, policy-makers and politicians extol your work? They do mine. Since when do you make Biblical discoveries in Hebrew? I do.
A "stalker" is one who follows and looks for a victim to harass. You aren't worth that much effort on my part. Post your drivel here and expect to be held accountable.
Yawn. Another dissertation (tl;dr) (the second in a row) from the um, non-stalker. Quite a “contribution” — gathering dust on shelves in the monographs section.
The R’s better not be “moderate” on the issue of electing Republicans.
The Legislature is no place for an honest citizen, anyway.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.