Census Data Suggest More Power for South in Congress

[last_texas_dem]

Source: New York Times

>>>>A report released Monday predicts significant changes in the makeup of the House of Representatives in the next decade that could see a continuation of the trend of the South gaining even more seats. The report also cautioned that current economic factors could affect some of the population trends driving the most recent predictions.

After each decennial census, the 435 seats in the House are reallocated among the states to account for shifts in population. The changes made following the upcoming census will be put in place for the 2012 elections.

The study released by Election Data Services, which used recent Census Bureau projections, predicts the continuation of shifts that occurred in recent reapportionments — when states in the Sun Belt and West gained seats while those in the Northeast and Rust Belt lost them.

The report projected that, if House seats were redistributed based on 2008 population estimates, Texas would gain three seats, while Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Utah would all gain one additional seat. Except for Utah, all of those states gained at least one seat following the 2000 Census.
Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania would likely lose one seat apiece. The last four all lost seats following the most recent census.>>>>

Read more: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/census-data-suggest-more-power-for-south-in-congress/

[BlooInBloo]

1. We're doomed.

And including AZ, NV, and UT in "the south" is misleading *in the extreme*, of course.

Go on - pretend it's not misleading by saying "but look at a map!" :rofl:

[bluestateguy]

2. Obama MUST target Texas in 2012

Make their nominee (their Alf Landon or Walter Mondale) earn the Texas electoral votes, so he/she gets bogged down trying to nail down a once safe Republican state.

[newfie11]

3. Well if enough yankees keep moving south

the problem should be solved.

[QC]

6. The yankees around here are freepers.

So much for that plan.

[tom_paine]

14. You must be overjoyed. Everyplace needs more Freepers living there!

Did I just say that? Even in :sarcasm: and jest?

:puke:

I need a shower.

[SharonAnn]

18. And around here, too. Lots of retired auto company management..

[2Design]

10. most are rw nuts - they are the rich ones and rich people don't like

dems unless the rich people have a heart

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. If you look at a voting map for the 2008 election,

you will see that a great deal of the South shifted towards the Dems. They might not have
been Dem overall, but they shifted that way. Check out the voting shift map:

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html

If there is more effort to counteract the Repub memes, the shift can continue. In SC Cong.
Dist. 01, and out lesbian named Linda Ketner almost upset her incumbent, white male
opponent. She did this with her own money. The DCCC didn't help until the end. If that
can happen in SC, anything can happen.

[boomerbust]

5. OK

[Number23]

7. So LA is not the South now, but AZ, NV and UT are??

Damn NYT, you are reeeeally reaching aren't you??

[acmavm]

8. Aren't they always?

[Hulk]

9. Ugh....just what this country does NOT need.

Is it too late to let them just peacefully secede from the Union?

[Endangered Specie]

11. Kinda funny since our population increases is mostly non-Southerners moving here...

must be the better weather!

[tom_paine]

15. Yes, the advent of widepsread air conditioning made the overpopulation of the South

a possibility. Now you can be just as overcrowded and polluted as the NE Coast.

Hooray for you? :shrug:

One wonders, depending on how fast Peak Oil hits, economic depression or no, how fast the trend will reverse itself once those A/Cs start becoming prohibitively expensive a decade or two from now?

And don't let the low oil prices fool you, PO may come early or later but barring what seems a mathematical impossibility or the implemented widespread use of fusion generating power for 50% of the world's cities in 20 years, IT WILL COME.

[Endangered Specie]

16. I've lived without A/C... its doable, far better than freezing

if say, the north weren't about to get natural gas to heat their homes (imagine how the Ukranie feels right about now).

Cold shower = old fashioned A/C.

[Endangered Specie]

12. The south is a great place to live...

yeah we got our problems and nuts, but who doesn't?

[tom_paine]

13. Apologies to DU Southerners: but the cold hard fact is this is bad for the country.

It is because of the immutable fact that by far the greatest power of the Bushie Corruption emanates from the South.

This is NOT a knock on the South as a whole or the many good, decent people who are from the South, like Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, and our own awesome DUer retired Chief BOSSHOG, to name three of MILLIONS.

This power shift is NOT a good thing, given where our nation is at, at this time.

[Endangered Specie]

17. It won't amount to much if Obama can pull off what he did in 08

that being... win southern states, it can be done!

Fair is fair, if we have more people we get more votes, good/bad? how about we just try to be competitive everywhere!

[SharonAnn]

19. I agree. This is very dangerous for the country. Here in Tennessee the legislature

went Republican majority for the first time since the Civil War. Of course, some of our Democrats were pretty right-wing, but still...

We need states like Tennessee to have lots LESS power, not MORE power.

[blue_onyx]

20. The south may gain

but that doesn't means it's going to be that way forever. Population trends change and things may shift away from the south. I read an article once that stated that, based on the population projections from 30 years ago, Michigan should have about 15 million people now, instead of 10 million. In the near term, the south will gain power but who knows about the future.