Re-districting LA, MS and Al *IS* Rove's plan

[gasperc]

With a blank check to "rebuild" the Gulf, it is immently clear that the re-building will be too the Republican party's national standing and little to do with the 1.1million displaced and bankrupted American victims of the Hurricane diaster.

Rove intends to relocate as many people as possible to essentially redraw the districts. Shifting voters in such a way that 3 to 8 democratic seats may be toppled.
Also, for good measure we can count on alot of reliably Republican supporting businesses get a lion's share of the cash and the voters will be repeatedly reminded where their new or better job has come from.

This is all about keeping the GOP in the majority and little to do with addressing the socio-economic or environmental problems that plague the region.

as Billmon put it
"But the real question is where these "surplus" federal properties are located. Is this lottery idea the thin end of a policy wedge designed to relocate the low-income neighborhoods of the 9th Ward to former Army bases deep in the Louisiana back country? Are the Rovians testing out a Heritage wonk's bright new idea, or clearing the way for the great New Orleans land rush?

If that sounds like rampant paranoia, just remember who we're dealing with here.

The final thing I noticed was what I didn't notice -- any mention of the destructive environmental policies that are causing South Lousiana to slide into the Gulf of Mexico (or the Gulf of Mexico to slide over South Lousiana)."

[DemsUnited]

1. Oh, hell. You're probably right.

All we can hope for now is that Rove will be indicted and taken out of the equation (or at least neutralized somewhat).

[peacetalksforall]

2. You are amazing. They are transparent once again to people who

can connect the dots as you have. Recap with not-so=paranoid additions:

Put them on Army bases - a near-virtual prison. Their lives could be dictated to. The perfect soldier farm. All activities can be easily observed and tracked. Create a prison within a prison on each.

Give all the reconstruction and construction business to Allbaugh, Kissinger, Cheney, other friends, and the CEO's and stockholders of right wing corporations.

Control the migration to gain voting districts.

Move them out of their poor areas so that they can claim the properties for Abramhoff and DeLay and friends.

May I add (with all cynicism) - rid the city of 'undesirables' so that the Heritage Foundation can move in and convert the sinners or figure out a way to vanish them (to complete the picture).

Or will they place oil wells there?

[Gildor Inglorion]

3. Brilliant deduction...I'm sure you're right.

Not much they can do with Mississippi, though. We keep losing representatives - down to 4, and my rep., Gene Taylor, though nominally a Democrat, reliably votes Republican most of the time. The whole scheme is just the same song, different verse: "Socialism for the Rich, Free Enterprise for the Poor."

[realFedUp]

4. So Grover Norquist is heavily involved....

Hard to understand why MSM didn't pick up on
the disclosure that Grover gives permission
to people who want to contact Rove.

[peacetalksforall]

6. Can you elaborate? Thanks.

[realFedUp]

8. Here's some info....google Susan Ralston, assistant to Rove

http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/8/3/141256/2833

snip

It's also interesting to note that one of Ralston's primary functions in Rove's office is to "take messages for Rove at the White House, then call Norquist to tell her whether she should put the caller through." Now, this is undoubtedly just the case for lobbyists. There's no way in the world that Karl Rove is having calls from journalists screened by Grover Norquist. I know this crowd is corrupt, but that would just be plain stupid.

However, it makes you wonder how many calls to Rove go unrecorded in the logs. If Rove is denying the existence of other phone calls with journalists and citing his phone logs as evidence, Fitzgerald may have caught Rove in a bit of a pickle. Even if this isn't the case, Ralston is the one person with intimate knowledge of what calls come into and go out of Rove's office. I can see where this would make her very valuable to the grand jury, despite the insistence of at least one Rove loyalist, who said her questioning was simply a matter of "wrapping up the loose ends."

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. most of this is being done in the dead of night

oh and also the plan to rebuild the gulf coast is another version of Little Baghdad... you are not the right person, forget about any Federal Help... because well you know you are not the right person (White, Republican and at least middle class)

[hedda_foil]

5. That's it!

Brilliant recreation of the mind of Rove. That's exactly what they intend to do, the slimy bastards.

[gasperc]

7. thanks for the input

although the army base angle kinda floored me but I wouldn't put it past them

:kick:

[Hippo_Tron]

9. There's little that they can actually do with Louisiana and Mississippi

Mississippi and Louisiana each have one Democratic congressman in a district that voted for Bush. Charlie Melancon of Louisiana's 3rd and Gene Taylor of Mississippi's 4th. The 3rd LA district is a moderate district and Melancon is a moderate dem. They can try to gerrymander him out of it, but with the fact that the rest of the state is Republican (except for New Orleans and their voting power has been gerrymandered into the 2nd district. If they are going to take out Melancon, they are going to have to do it the old fashioned way.

In Mississippi, the only blue district is Bennie Thompson's. I suppose that they could gerrymander him out of it, but again I think that the central strategy that they have to use in the south is to concentrate the black vote into one place, so that the rest of the districts go for Republicans.

Gene Taylor already represents a very Republican district, but his socially conservative economically populist record makes him extremely popular. The district was once represented by Trent Lott and at the time, it was the only GOP congressional district in the state. Taylor recieved a challenge from someone in Lott's family (son, nephew?) either in 2002 or 2004 and still wiped the floor with him. As long as he keeps running for re-election, his district won't go red.

As far as Alabama goes, I don't know exactly what the situation is.

[gasperc]

10. great analysis, thanks

so it looks like TPM cafe's theory might be closer to reality. Create a poisonous Katrina relief reconstruction bill that will make it difficult for the DEMS to oppose but politically lethal like the homeland security act in 2002. pit saving Katrina victims against liberal union bosses.

My angle would be the relief will likely be very wasteful, corrupt and inept and a coordinated campaign by the DEMS will be necessary to exploit that message, cause we KNOW the media will let us down

[Hippo_Tron]

11. I think Bush might have to do this one right, to make up some ground

I have to roll my eyes while I say this because I can't picture this administration doing ANYTHING right.

But something tells me that they have to get this right, or Bush's approval ratings will sink into the 20's.

Of course, I could be totally wrong. What if they propose a bill to give Halliburton the reconstruction contracts? If the moderate Republicans go along with it and it gets to the floor, then the Dems are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

If Bush does try to pull a stunt like this, then the dems need to get on television IMMEDIATELY and trash him for using Katrina relief for personal gain. We need to make the story "Bush is using Katrina relief for personal gain" before it becomes "Democrats refuse to vote for Katrina relief".

[AlGore-08.com]

13. The thing about reconstruction is that it will take a long time to finish

And the really negative effects won't be seen for years. For example, if they don't enforce the building codes, we won't see the buildings collapse right away - - we'll see them not withstand a future hurricane, or ten years from now we'll all be rebuilding the same buildings to prevent them collapsing.

Same thing for ignoring/repealing environmental standards - - you won't see the negative results for years. Then - - again - - we'll be picking up a second bill to clean up that mess.

The problem with figuring out whether Smirk is getting it right is that there won't be a consensus about what getting it right means. If Smirk's plan includes rebuilding NOLA with the same emphasis on service industries and tourism - - but using more of the "prime" real estate to build casinos or hotels - - that can be seen as a positive provided that housing for the folks who lived in those areas is provided somewhere else. Is that right or wrong? It could be argued that such a plan will provide jobs and tax revenue. And it almost certainly will - - that's why so many state governments fight to get legalized gambling.

IMNSHO, what will almost certainly happen is that what Smirk has promised will not come to pass in the form Smirk promised. And anything that doesn't fly will be blamed on either state or local government, or the Dems whose Amendments were added to the package.

And you're right, there will be a lot of pork slapped onto any of these Katrina bills and a lot of hyper-conservative elements - - no bid contracts, no union shops, we all know the list... dollars to donuts.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Their program does not include

any of the locals but the ususl suspects,. they are going to create Enterprise Development Zones (look at the plan for Iraq, you will find a similar plan) and all of this is coming from Enterprise... nope they are still going on ideology.

They also have refused to ask the nation for any sacrifice adn have said programs, read social security and medicare, will need to be eliminated... this is their chance to destroy the new deal in the name of reconstruction and ideology

[Hippo_Tron]

12. LA, MS, and AL don't have 8 dem Representatives between them

This is sort of a more complete analysis of what I said above.

They have 6. As I said in my poast above, 3 of those dems come largely from concentrated African American areas (Bennie Thompson (MS), Bill Jefferson (LA), and Artur Davis (AL)). The other three are Charlie Melancon (LA), Gene Taylor (MS), and Bud Cramer (AL). Taylor already represents a district that went overwhelmingly for Bush, there's nothing they can do to it. Melancon and Davis are in districts that voted for the GOP less than Taylor's district, but without incumbency these races would be tossups with the Republican as a slight favorite to begin with.

It would be a different story if there were actually some dem representatives to squeeze out of these states. The truth is that the GOP has already done pretty much all the gerrymandering that they can do.

[Hidden Stillness]

14. This Would Explain the Preposterous Choice of ROVE

I also think you may have something here. Otherwise, why appoint someone to supervise "rebuilding" who has no expertise or background at all, (and the work that will be done is vague and not spelled out), but is, however, a strategist, political consultant, smear campaign and leak operator, and a go-between for lobbyists and Federal statute rewrites. This is just another example of Republicans putting someone totally inappropriate in charge of something, 1) to sabotage it, and 2) to accomplish "something else." God, I fucking hate these people; they never govern, they only manipulate. They have already worked it--and this has been proved and posted on this website--so that their smaller national vote totals gives them more seats in Congress, because of their reworked districts; illegal because not based on real population shifts.

[Wordie]

16. a Dem congressperson needs to propose an absentee voting plan quick!

Something where the displaced residents would not lose the opportunity to vote for candidates from their own districts, even though temporarily residing elsewhere. It could have a two or more year window (at least through 2006, and better through 2008). It would be difficult to pull off, but how else can this likely strategy of the Repubs be countered?

And even if if this is a paranoid fantasy here regarding the Republican intent, it's likely to be the result anyway, with evacuees scattered all over the country.