GOP drooling over redistricting the nation, now that they have control of state houses. They're

[Pryderi]

going to do to the nation what Tom DeLay did to Texas.

[Pryderi]

1. Plan 1374C

After Republicans won control of the Texas state legislature in 2002, for the first time in 130 years, they set their sights on establishing a majority of House of Representatives seats held by their party. After the 2002 election, Democrats had a 17-15 edge in House seats representing Texas, although the state's voters voted for Republicans in congressional races by an 17-15 margin.<1> After a protracted partisan struggle, the legislature enacted a new congressional districting map, Plan 1374C, introduced in the Texas House by Representative Phil King of Weatherford. In the 2004 congressional elections, Republicans won 21 seats to the Democrats' 11.<2>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Texas_redistricting

[BrklynLiberal]

2. EXACTLY! and that was their plan all along...Let the Dems win the Presidency..with all the crap

that Bush left...an inevitable economic catastrophe..and then they will take over when the redistricting occurs. That means AT LEAST 10 YEARS of repuke consequences.

I am going to vomit.

The Dems..most of them..played right into their hands. They are so much smarter than the Dems that it is pathetic.

[BonnieJW]

3. Not smart; devious.

Much more dangerous.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. You are absolutely right..

[Pryderi]

5. Republicans took control of 500 seats and at least state 18 chambers from Democrats

Republicans took control of at least state 18 chambers from Democrats, according to Tim Storey, an elections analyst at the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures.

"The Republicans really swamped the Democrats," he said on Wednesday, adding that Republicans will be in the best position to control congressional redistricting since the modern era of remapping began in the 1970s.

The party in control of the White House almost always loses legislative seats in midterm elections and 2010 was no exception.

Republicans saw a net gain of at least 500 seats, giving them control of chambers in states including Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the NCSL reported.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0328435720101103

[BrklynLiberal]

7. Makes me physically ill.

[End Of The Road]

6. BTW, Texas is getting ready to do it again, too.

I wonder how much more damage they can do, though. I live in Austin; my State Senator is from San Antonio -- the two cities do not have alot of similar issues.

And, FWIW, I believe Tom Delay will be found not guilty. His trial is in process here in Travis County.

So Delay's success should spur the GOP on!!

[ellenfl]

8. on the bright side . . .

florida voters approved 2 constitutional amendments that dictate how districts will be drawn. hopefully, this will eliminate the serious gerrymandering that currently characterizes our state districts. these amendments were put on the ballot by petition. maybe other states will do the same.

ellen fl

[IndyPragmatist]

9. maybe now is the time for a push for proportional representation in the house

Gerrymandering has gotten out of control....from both sides. I think its about time we learn from the rest of the modern world and shift to proportional representation in the House. Not the Senate, just the house. You keep the constitutional frames of the Senate representing the States and the House representing the people.

Let each state do its own race. If Indiana has 11 Reps, and the vote turns out 45% Dem, 35% Rep, 10% Lib, and 10% Tea Party (or whatever), you would get 5 Dem reps, 4 GOP reps, 1 Lib rep, and 1 Tea Party rep. It doesn't violate what the founders wanted for the House, but instead updates it to reflect modern advances in government.

[End Of The Road]

10. Really hard to pass that

when the GOP is now in charge of the HOUSE and they want to be permanently in control.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. The time to do it was when the Dems were in charge, but somehow election reform

never scores very high in priority, so we're left with this mess.

[IndyPragmatist]

13. it will never be top priority, but it needs to be done

It will be tough to do, as it essentially will lead to both Dems and Reps losing seats in the House, but that doesn't mean they would lose control. Yesterday showed that many Americans believed the Dems were moving too far to the left. This will allow the Dems to move left, right, up, down, wherever. It would most likely create an actual Moderate party that would side with Dems on some issues, and Reps on others. The Green party would side with Dems on most issues.

The GOP wouldn't have to pretend that they agree with the Tea Party, but would get their support on some issues.

This helps the government to actually reflect the population. However, few people on both sides actually want this. They want their party to be in power....period. I hope this dissonance will help push some institutional change in America.

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Yes. I think here in Maine you will find us reworked so that all the liberals will be

lumped into district 1 leaving district 2 more likely to go red from now on. This may be our last time to send 2 dems to the House in DC. :(