I have to agree with this guy:
"Have you ever seen the difference between Democrats and Republicans demonstrated so starkly? If the roles were reversed, Republicans would have long since declared war. They’d have a huge team of lawyers with lawsuits ready to file the moment the legislation was signed into law. Fox News would be screaming 24/7. The incoming governor would go on TV to loudly declare that he was going to ignore the law and continue exercising his traditional powers—and the incoming attorney general would back him up completely."
https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/12/why-are-democrats-such-milksops/
Michigan started their Healthy Michigan Plan in 2014. Over 650,000 Michiganders enrolled by 2018. A subsequent University of Michigan study found the plan created 30,000 jobs and $2.3-billion of economic benefit to the state. "Economic Effects of Medicaid Expansion in Michigan," New England Journal of Medicine. Despite its success, the GOP plays with a devious work requirement.
The Michigan legislature introduced work requirements (federal approval pending) of 20 hours a week (Snyder negotiated this down from 30 hours week) to maintain Medicaid insurance.
There is only a small window where Medicaid eligibility then applies for a single people with no dependents who have no full-time employment options.
To maintain Medicaid benefits a minimum wage employee ($9.25/hour) must work 20 hours/week (to meet work hours requirement) but less than 30 hours (to avoid maximum wage rules of approximately $14,500) to keep benefits. This requirement further undermines fair wage efforts.
The Michigan legislature reversed a law to raise the minimum wage to $12 hour by 2022. (A GOP ploy to avoid a 2018 ballot proposal doing the same.)
A minimum wage of $12/hour would have made it possible to get Medicaid only if you worked between 20 and 23 hours a week. An impractical mathematical barrier. At either wage, the work requirement effectively discourages employees with chronic health issues from working more hours for more money. Such a rule creates mistrust and cynicism.
I hope he shuts the government down and this puts his immoral administration in a big recession he deserves. Their fake wall and immigrant problem is fake. The Brownsville Mayors office and other border towns were asked recently by the NYT's
how serious the crime rate is from the Mexicans. They laughed and said they have no crime problems. The fake wall is just a gimmick to avoid dealing with the real issues climate change , health care and homelessness . Trump is unhinged and getting worse every day.
2
Gerrymandering is like the Green Bay Packers starting at the 40 yard line. Would we ever accept this or would we consider it totally unfair play?
1
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
- John Kenneth Galbraith
2
The fact is, Republicans and their extreme ideology are the minority by absolute numbers. They know they're in a fight for their very existence.
Therefore the only way Republicans can win elections is by cheating and limiting the voting rights of citizens. That is NOT democracy. Rather than adapt to changes, they are willing to crash and burn with their extremism and bring the country down as well.
1
"Lame ducks"? No, these are zombie legislators passing zombie bills to be signed into law by zombie governors.
Republicans:
No matter how cynical you are about them and their tactics, it's never enough to keep up.
2
As has been said before, it's the bullet or the ballot box. Republicans better hope they don't get what it appears they're asking for..
I'm hoping Gov. Snyder cements his legacy by vetoing these bills. His changes to public schools has been harmful, but I truly respect him for continuously rejecting hyper-partisan rhetoric.
I just hope he'll keep it up.
The Republican Party has left happily left behind a cornerstone of Democracy, Majority Rule.
They now embrace the unAmerican and treasonous practice of Minority Rule.
"But Mr. Vos pointed out that Republicans have won State Assembly majorities with court-drawn maps in recent decades and argued they could do so again."
Then why are they cheating voters and fighting against court-drawn maps like cornered rats?
Midterm elections were a significant referendum on Trump. Now Republicans are showing what they can do at the state level with Michigan and Wisconsin power grabs, and election fraud in North Carolina. They ALL need to go until the GOP is reduced to ashes.
In 2010 the Tea Party arose in WI born of the hatred of older, rural Whites felt toward the first Black President. The Koch brothers financed the organization.
They and the Republicans won a narrow majority that year, there was a sitting Republican governor and they hired a conservative law firm to help them change the boundaries of Congressional and state legislative districts.
In my town an assembly district border bisects the city so the more Democratic west side is not included with the more Republican east side.
A Federal court ruled the gerrymandering was unconstitutional but the case has been tied up with Republican appeals.
The rural Republican population is decreasing. The Democratic population in Madison and Dane county is increasing as are the populations of Democratic leaning university cities dotting the map of rural Wisconsin.
The 2020 census will reflect that and if the boundaries are drawn fairly WI will be a state in which neither party will have a dominant position. That will make for a much better situation than we have now.
1
"The Republican efforts could hurt the party’s image with moderate voters in a region that President Trump considers crucial for his 2020 re-election effort, and where his standing has fallen in suburbs that he would need to carry again to win."
Given how unsubtly bad Trump's behavior was before they voted for him, yet they still voted for him, and considering Wisconsin voters kept Walker as governor despite his policies, I doubt that something this relatively subtle (to them) will affect their vote. The GOP will play it as trying to protect their state from a crazy socialist governor etc. play themselves and their base as victims, scare scar scare - seems to work every time - and even though they might not approve of Trump,, may end up voting for him as the lesser of 2 evils (to them).
One can only hope that the patriotic citizens of the mid-western and southern states who give more than a rat's nether region about our democratic foundation will whack ALL the GOP moles on the electoral board in 2020 and well beyond that.
The alternative is a vastly different and greatly degraded country than the one our founding fathers originally envisioned.
The republicans shameful ways have turned this independent into a rock solid democrat at least until they remove the lying cheating stealing republicans that now hold power. I have never seen such deceitful and down right evil people in my 61 years. Politics can get ugly but this is a clear attempt to steal our democracy. Republicans MUST BE STOPPED before they destroy our nation.
4
"In Michigan, voters this year approved an independent redistricting commission, but Republican lawmakers are using the current lame duck session to try to curb the new Democratic secretary of state’s implementation of it."
Bring them to court!
See the precedent:
Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission
http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/arizona-state-legislature-v-arizona-independent-redistricting-commission/
1
All one can think of is Hyman Roth's boast to Michael Corleone, at his hotel suite in Havana: "Michael, we're bigger than US Steel."
The Republicans are outdoing themselves this time. Long considered the 'party of dirty tricks', they have taken them to a new low or high- depending on how one sees it.
Let's hope that, for the sake of democracy and respect for our country, they come to their senses and stop this assault on our country's founding principles. Barring that good fortune, Dems- it's time to step up, figure out a strategy for redistricting and tap into righteous voter outrage.
2
There is good news. The old white men who support the republican party are dying out and more young immigrants become eligible to vote every year.
The democrats must organize now to make sure ALL republicans are voted out of office in 2020!
When Gretchen Whitmer refers to Republicans by saying that “They’re thinking short-term,” she is being far, far too kind.
I am not sure when the idea that the mid-term election results would keep the activists engaged popped into my head, but as Gretchen Witmer said: "This gamesmanship will keep voters and activists active through the 2020 election" I think is very true. My wife asked how can the pundits say this is a huge victory for Dems, they are winning elections by minuscule percentages? My response: "Think about it. They're not winning, they're gerrymandering and there is a difference."
Gerrymandering is one of the few arrows that republicans have remaining; that's how they win. Cheating and rigging are at the forefront of any republican strategy. If they play the political game fairly, they lose. Simple as that.
1
Elections have consequences, and GOPers should have known better. Now they are paying the piper.
1
Great News!
Smart people who used to call themselves republicans are finally realizing the International Mafia took it over and are bailing.
I spoke with a lifelong female friend yesterday who has always been a republican and we have had some interesting conversations over the years. She told me yesterday that she is no longer a republican and not a democrat. I welcomed her to the independent voter realm.
We must not let anyone co-opt the independent movement. It is the third voice in politics and those of us who are part of it will determine the future of the country. Our independence from any party affiliation means we will select the most qualified, smartest, most courageous Women and men to manage OUR United States of America for 99.9% of us.
1
People should start spreading the gospel of just not voting for Republicans. At all. Bipartisanship to fix a few potholes here and there is a delusion that will only prolong the disease of Trumpublicanism. What is left of the former Republican party needs to spend a time in the wilderness until it rediscovers democracy. Until then, it will wage a very nasty struggle to prolong a minority grip on power, and it will have the help of wealthy people and powerful corporations. If Americans are complacent, it could succeed.
3
It's very simple: unless and until voters cast their ballots for Democrats -- by overcoming their hard-wired brains (which impel them to vote for Republicans if that's the way they've voted in the past) -- democracy in America as we have known it is not going to exist in a few short years.
David Koch and his Republican acolytes and enablers throughout the U.S. have done everything they can, through implementation of their long-range game plan (see National Book Award Winner "Democracy in Chains"), to make sure the wealthy minority is in control of our government at all levels -- in order to increase their own wealth and prosperity, not the wealth and prosperity of all Americans. They literally do not care about Americans' health, the water we drink, the air we breathe, the safety of our workplaces, the protection of our hard-earned money from predators, our access to good schools and decent housing, and so forth. Their only goal is the freedom to do whatever they want, whenever they want, without any government interference.
Anyone who thinks the GOP is a "dying party" should think again. They need to be voted out at the state and federal levels, and then it will require constant vigilance to keep their poisonous policies as far away as possible from our democracy.
8
It's true. The book is an eye opener and essential reading for those who really care about this country. Read it and decide for yourself if the vision of America that the donor class is in the process of enacting is the America you want to live in, and then vote accordingly.
Republicans have to cheat to win.
6
The opening battles of Civil War 2.0, no longer politics as usual with an orderly transition of power between the different groups as a result of an election. Instead, the deposed group is trying to sabotage the government to annul the results of the election. This is an attempted coup and should be treated as such. It is an attack on the country itself.
11
"... fundamental defiance of the will of voters..."
IOW, SOP for the GOP, the party of unprincipled power.
3
To all the young people who voted for the first time this past election, remember how the Republican party spit on you! Remember how this feels, never forget how this feels. Republicans in Michigan consider you a "garbage Democrat".
7
If these sorts of actions were done in Russia we would not call it democracy. It is nothing less than anti-democratic. I don't know how else to state my opinion.
6
When Republicans can’t win fairly, they cheat. Gerrymandering, denying President Obama’s his last Supreme Court pick,.... This is yet another example.
5
Republicans- even before the Trump thing- knew they were on a path to taking a dirt nap as a national political party. Each year sees their voter base decline as they age out and newer voters from a more diverse and tolerant America enter the electorate.
California is now overwhelmingly blue and within not too many years states that now seem very red will switch as demographics shift. The fact that Florida and Georgia were as close as they were tells you the days of Republican control are numbered and Texas and North Carolina are not far behind.
3
The final take on all this, as usual, is the devious, dishonest, and frankly corrupt maneuverings of Republicans. This party has for too long felt it necessary to cheat, cheat, cheat. Finally, the sleeping electorate is starting to stir to wakefulness. And high time.
6
Michigan was the first English-speaking government in the world to abolish the death penalty for "ordinary crimes" in 1846. Until now.
The GOP leadership has just written its own death warrant, and the voters will carry out the sentencing.
As a recent transplant to "Pure Michigan", I can tell you one thing for certain: People around here don't like their votes thrown out with the trash. They don't like to be disrespected. They won't tolerate being the pawns on a political chess board.
GOP of MI, Let this sink in: WE, the voters, SEE YOU! Start saving for retirement now, you maladaptive thieves. We will vote the lot of you criminals out the second we have the chance.
7
@Sarah I assume you transplanted to an urban hub. Sadly, the majority of this state is rural, and they get Sinclair piped into their homes every night. White fright is real here, so hope for sudden change and a demand for the adherence to democratic mores is only so so. These people blame the unions for closing their supposedly beloved auto factories. They live off of farm subsidies and food stamps, yet cry foul when urban ethnics receive government assistance. We enacted a work requirement for benefits here recently, but the republican government made an exception for people who live in areas that aren’t densely populated, read: white rural. I’ve lived here my whole life and have been endlessly confused by what the rural electorate is willing to swallow as truth from the campaign trail.
2
Gerrymandering is a cancer on the body politic - it must stop. As to the Republicans and their unethical behavior - why since Newt Gingrich should we expect anything different? It's been mostly bankrupt morally since then and its only getting worse.
7
What is going on in this country? Democracy is about the
many. It’s not about control issue as outlined by Freud, whose
Symptoms are synonymous with the letters GOP.
I’m shocked and ashamed my country is part of this.
This spells an end to the America I grew up in. I lay blame at
the doorstep of the most narcissistic man in our society.
3
Let's hope that a party that relies on lies, Fox News propaganda, gerrymandering, Russian support, and Trump's threats loses in 2020 before the Democrats are left with another decade long recession to clean up. It's time for fair taxation that includes the wealthy, universal healthcare, and a huge reduction in fossil fuel use. With the right progressive tax incentives, nearly all the cars and trucks driven in the U.S. could be electric within five years; if the U.S. got a head start on this we might have an economic chance against China. We might persuade China and India to do the same instead of being the pathetic ostrich of nations on climate change. fThe Republicans appear to have no future, policy, or courage to lead into the new century; it's well past time for a change.
4
What happened to "Elections Have Consequences." That adage only seems to apply when Republicans win.
3
Cities, suburbs, and exurbs (you know, the places where people actually live, work, and generate the tax revenue that subsidizes rural America) are turning away from a GOP that is becoming increasingly older, whiter, and more comfortable in expressing their bigotry. Rigging the 2020 Census is the only way Republicans will be able to stave off the inevitable; is a ten year reprieve from irrelevance the best the GOP can come up with?
7
@hwk Nope, what they're hoping for is a thousand-year Reich.
The very people who (rightly) comment negatively on dictatorships in China, Russia and elsewhere, are the very ones trying to do the same thing through gerrymandering and voter suppression in the US. They call themselves champions of democracy while doing anything they can to stamp it out in their own districts and states.
They are also the same people who are unable to see how this will hurt their party and ideology in years to come. GOP, please continue your good work in making it easier for a democratic and Democratic takeover in the early 2020s.
5
Michigan's Republicans were doing this years before Trump.
That is part of why Michigan Republicans voted for Trump instead of the Party machinery favorites. Trump was the protest vote.
Michigan Republicans are still doing it. That is part of why they lost a clean sweep here in my district.
Nobody likes it, but it isn't Trump doing it. He just didn't stop them. That won't drag him down, it will reinforce the need for him as the anti-Party. It isn't going to bring back a "normal" Republican -- anything but that.
Since even Trump hasn't been able to clean up their act, that may drag down the whole Republican Party. However, that depends a lot on what the Democratic Party is next time.
Remember Bernie defeated Hillary here before Trump defeated Hillary here. How Trump does next time will depend on which version of Democrat runs. Are they going to do it again?
Both were "surprises" to our media elite. Two wrong out of two doesn't speak well for the media elite understanding what is going on here.
5
What about the powers granted in every State's Constitutions? How does a law passed and signed by the outgoing party override the Constitutionally assigned responsibilities and duties? To get changes in these job descriptions wouldn't require some kind of state convention?
The U.S. Constitution has clear and detailed definitions of what are presidential powers and that of each legislative body along with the judiciary. Perhaps someone with detailed knowledge of the Wisconsin and Michigan Constitutional documents allow for in a similar situation. How can the 'Written in Stone' separation of powers be changed. Surely to achieve some fundamental change(s) requires much more than an angry and peevish simple legislative act to strip an incoming Governor's ability to carry out the Constitutional job description. Otherwise political rivalry would be an open invitation to create pure chaos in State Government every election cycle.
2
I hope the folks in Wisconsin and Michigan keep at it. Our republican senator Cory Gardner is now very interested in climate change and alternative energy sources here in Colorado after gluing himself to Donald Trump's shoes for 2 years.
He is up for re-election in 2020. Must be smelling Trump's flop sweat or else Reality. Coloradans have been meeting a cardboard version of our GOP Senator for years because he no longer enjoys meetings with constituent riffraff . Many folks would like to return the favor.
8
What you read, you shall sow. Be careful of naked power grabs because they have a way of making you and your party a very easy target in 2020.
2
It was late in the day when I scanned my NYT home page and this article caught my eye "With Power Grabs in the Midwest, G.O.P. Risks a 2020 Backlash" but my brain read and saw "White Power Grabs...." and after reading the article about the G.O.P. strategy, my first instinct was right.
7
Republicans are for the richest 1%. Their only policies give more money to the rich, take away from the rest, prevent as many people as possible from voting, ignore science, neglect climate change, steal court seats, and support a felon president who colluded with an enemy foreign power to influence the election and dismantle American democracy.
Democrats are for the rest of the 99%. Their policies include combating climate change, ensuring voting rights for all, protecting all citizens from hate crimes and discrimination, expanding access to educational opportunities for all, ensuring health care for all, maintaining strong alliances with our traditional allies, and upholding the rule of law.
Simple, and clear.
If you think the GOP is on your side, you are living a delusion; they couldn't care less about anybody but their donors and those who ply them with money...for them there is only money, and people no longer have value.
9
Bravo to League of Women Voters for taking the Repubs to court on their dirty tricks gerrymandering. Michigan voters have spoken - we've have enough.
12
There certainly should be a backlash at the peevish antics of the exceptionally childish "take their toys and go home" Republican Party. Their actions are beneath abhorrent. If they aren't suppressing the vote to win, they're changing laws after the loss to prevent a Democrat from carrying out the agenda they were elected to execute. They're not merely acting like children, they are acting like misbehaving children with no parental figure to tell them to act their age. To think there are mature and educated Republicans who simply cannot see their party represents the end to decency in this country and if left uncheck will be the end of the not so United States...is simply delusional.
5
If the voters of WS and MI let these power grabs stand, if they don't drive those who perpetrated them from office, they deserve the oligarchies they will have to live under.
2
Democracy is unwanted by the GOP. They know that if everyone eligible voted, they would be marginalized and fade away.
They are counting on everyone to have poor memories of GOP today’s gerrymandering, illicit power grabs, and voter suppression atrocities by the time of the 2020 election.
6
The GOP has become the enemy of democracy in this country.
Any party that must resort to widespread voter suppression and extreme gerrymandering to compete is incapable of serving the people it purports to represent.
Liberals are now deeply engaged in state politics, and we're going to stay engaged for the rest of our lives. The huge imbalance between votes and results in Midwestern and Southern states, and the various disgraces of the Trump era they have enabled, will never be forgotten. Never.
5
Are we really shock by the republicans? It always been farce since saint regan came into office. Republicans only service one god and that is money. They plan to destroy social Security and Medicare. They do not care about the everyday people, but I doubt New York elite care either. We need third party and vote of common people again.
6
Well, I can’t imagine the GOP allowing real Americans to vote if they think they’re going to lose power.
4
Baby boomers will just shriek "BUT HILLARY" and all will be OK.
3
What is clear, and what this article skirts around, is that Republicans no longer believe in democracy or democratic institutions. Central to both is respecting the results of elections and peacefully transferring authority from one election to the next. It's obvious that that is anathema to modern-day Republicans and that they are only interested in one thing: power.
23
As Charles Darwin so succinctly put it, “Struggle for Existence”, that is the behavior we are seeing from the Republicans. Too bad that most of the electorate do not care.
58
@VS Only about 38% doesn't care...
18
@VS The fact that the Democrats boosted their mid-term turnout by three-quarters in a single election cycle tells me that there are lots of people out there who do care. Highest mid-term turnout since the First World War. That's a big deal.
23
Gerrymandering and term limits have proven to be a toxic combination.
38
@Want2know
Solution:
1) Voting by county.
2) AGE limits.
What the GOP is pulling in these states is a vile assault on democracy. It’s, fortunately, mostly failed in North Carolina. These maneuvers reek of a dying party desperately seeking anything it can find to slow its demise.
185
@Clean The Swamp The democrats should make sure the American votes know that the republicans party is the anti-democratic party. All their underhanded trick must be exposed. Hopefully, the people want fairness.
1
@Clean The Swamp
Every 2-4 years, one or the other party is said to be dying, has no message, etc. yet every 2-4 years, it flip flops to the other party as the parties adapt, new individuals and themes emerge, voters forget and change. I no longer teak such talk seriously.
Of course Republicans would try to weaken an independent redistricting commission because it won't result in rigged elections that favor Republicans. Back in 2010, the majority of my fellow Californians (about 62%) voted to take redistricting away from the legislature and put it in the hands of citizens. Low and behold, who came out fighting against this common sense solution to a partisan problem?
Republicans. They whined and threatened court actions, but ultimately couldn't undo or override what the voters approved. The result was a more fair process, better districts that generally make sense geographically, and an electorate that more accurately sees itself reflected in its legislature. But you would have thought the sky was falling based on Republican hysteria. You've got to wonder why Republicans are so deathly afraid to face an honest and equal system of voting - perhaps because their wins will diminish year after year.
243
@Mark Hawkins
Michael Moore is absolutely correct when he say the U.S. is more liberal overall than voting results tell us.
With fair districting more and more states will turn forever blue. The GOP knows this and prefers to abolish democracy than yield their power.
115
@Mark Hawkins As a result, the Republican Party has cratered in CA. Many of their worst offenders (Rohrbacher, but not Nunes) have been turned out.
25
@Mark Hawkins
Mark, I note, (with others) that the the GoP in CA is down to seven in the House.
The people have spoken!
14
"The way the system works, there's very little we can do about it."
And we wonder why Americans have increasingly grown dissatisfied with the our form of democracy. They "system" works only for the politicians and not for the electorate at large. In Wisconsin, Vos is banking on voters not remembering what his party did in the last days of 2018.
Who is served with an attitude like that? Certainly not the voters. Certainly the donors. Follow the money, voters. Follow the money.
85
“That’s four years away,” said Mr. Vos, a Republican, adding that he expected Mr. Evers, the governor-elect, to reject whatever map they fashion. “I would be surprised if he did not veto what we do,” he said.
Gee what if you did something fair and equitable? Maybe he wouldn't veto it. What a mind set.
78
Risk? I don't buy it. The Republicans have been staging unethical power grabs for years. McConnell's refusal to consider Obama's court nominations, holding the country's credit hostage to political demands, suppressing votes, colluding with Fox & the conspiracy theory industry . . . Their voters are addicted to their media and in the bag.
108
@Martin
What happened in North Carolina in 2018? Did voters reject the same anti-democratic move by the NC Republicans?
The NC Senate went from 34/16 R/D to 29/21 R/D; so D's flipped 5 seats. Not a landslide, but it broke the Republican supermajorities in the state Senate (and House). Hopefully, the voter rejection will be more pronounced in WI and MI.
20
I never knew jerrymandering was considered an "elitist" issue.
There have been complaints about for years, yet the Democrats have sat by passively as the Republicans carve up territory. Their lack of action is as much to blame as the aggressiveness of the Republicans.
Perhaps one solution to lame duck sessions is to adapt the Canadian model: short campaign season of only 11 weeks, followed by assuming office shortly after the elections.
I remember Justin Trudeau moving into his new office before his predecessor Stephen Harper had barely moved out.
There was no prolonged period of waiting, no elaborate inauguration celebrations, no time for lame duck shenanigans.
Out with old, in the the new, that's it.
72
Well yes but Canada and the UK can legally compress campaigning to three weeks before the vote.
So minimum of a week to get Voting cards out to every registered voter. Every home owner or Renter is legally obliged to add every eligible resident to the roll which is renewed annually. Exceptions are allowed for Students to vote at their Uni and prisoners at their jail.
Once Election Day is announced postal votes are allowed for disabled people serving military etc otherwise you turn up with your voting registration card at your appointed place to vote, often the local church or sports hall.
When the Polls close and not before the votes are transferred to be counted by hand. At constituencies central counting building where the candidates, up to twenty or more in many places observe the process.
At the voting place you are Given the voting slip with the listed names of the candidates. You mark the box next to the approved name. In a booth and fold the slip and deposit in the vote box and leave the building. Outside the booth it lists the Names by party on the voting slip names only.
Counting start as soon as boxes arrive after polls close, at ten pm Even if a recount is need almost all counts will be done by 5am.
You will know who won and who the queen invites to form a government if that person accepts, a cabinet will be announced from elected representatives in less than two days and the new Government could sit the next day and pass any law they want.
9
The voters, most of all, want competent, effective, representative government. These power grabs are the antithesis of those desires.
They are also deeply and clearly unpatriotic. Dems need to yank the faux patriotism from the GOP's slimy claws and show America that REAL patriots support voting rights, fair government, and not just the rule of law but civic integrity.
18
When will the democrats lern that republicans are all about what you get away with?
Stop whining and start striking back!
63
It keeps coming down to the same thing: Republicans have to cheat, because no one likes their policies. Kneecap the governor, gerrymander, limit who can vote, or when you can vote, or close your polling place, these guys are cheaters pure and simple. And Americans don’t like cheaters...
69
@M. Gorun
Republicans don’t have policies. They have plots ... plots to hold onto power in spite of voters’ preferences; plots to cut out the entitlements that keep millions of Americans afloat; plots to benefit from massive tax cuts that don’t help the average person but that very much help their donors. Where is Donald Trump’s ‘beautiful’ health care plan? Where are his infrastructure initiatives? He’s given up on making Mexico pay for the wall, so now he wants American taxpayers to.
It confounds me that so many people will vote for him anyway.
13
@M. Gorun
Evidently Americans admire and elect cheaters. That's how we got to the Republican majorities in the first place.
8
@M. Gorun
If they don't cheat, they can't win.
11
The corrupt electoral college has given the culture of corruption GOP years of being dishonest and stealing elections. They can never get the popular vote because they are only for the rich and corporations. When we get rid of the electoral college I see a fair election then . Until then more lies and nasty politics from the culture of corruption.
1
Voters were robbed in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina. They were played for chumps. The Republicans have long accused Democrats of not respecting ordinary citizens--of elitism, of frustrating democracy. Now they will have to answer for their own authoritarian power grab. The voters should be totally up in arms. Other states should take note.
I hope that the rest of the nation will boycott these three states and their corporate overlords (Walgreens?). There needs to be a true populist revolt against the elite dictators--and these are the GOP vote-stealers and cheaters.
3
Republicans have become so Machiavellian in their outlook that I am sure they think the Dems will do the same if/when they win back the power. This amorality is one-sided though. After Watergate and Iran Contra the Dems passed reforms instead of creating their own enemies lists or covertly funding sworn enemies. Not all Republicans have condoned such cheating, but McCain and GHWB have now passed on and Trump Requires Loyalty!
Being unconstitutional is one thing. Being anti-constitutional is both a violation of the oaths of office-holders and seditious. Vote fraud is bad enough, but legislator fraud? Pay attention, people. We are paying for this.
4
2020 backlash? What's being done NOW? In what kind of banana republic circus, in broad daylight, can something like this happen, without legal and consitutional circuits being tripped? These gilded halls of state, like in the photo, are just Potemkin shiny objects for the masses if there aren't consitutional firewalls to prevent *power grabs*. These maneuvers are coups d'état, plain and simple.
3
The Republicans thought that their 2010 gerrymandering of the House of Representatives would guarantee a permanent Republican majority for generations. But the voters watched the Republican House did virtually no work for their voters and spent virtually all of their time further enriching the already obscenely rich, undoing every Obama project they could, even if they were popular & beneficial to the voters, & mostly misspent their time & powers trying to protect Donald Trump, his associates, & the Putin regime in violation of their Constitutional oaths & the best security, social, & financial interests of their own constituents. Their "thousand year reign" only lasted through the 2012, 2014, & 2016 elections. Even in many of their heavily slanted dustricts, the voters replaced many "guaranteed" Republicans & cut into previous giant margins of others & turned them into nail biters. The state GOP officials in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, & North Carolina may find very painfully that their once protecting gerrymandering won't protect them from the wrath of the people whose welfare they are trying to undermine. For a 2-year period of anti-democratic power grabbing, they are risking having to go to work to earn a living after the 2020 election. And, their Democratic replacements & former constituents are not likely to go easy on them. What comes around goes around. We voters will not forgive & will not forget.
1
The Republican Party and 45 continue, and will continue, to obstruct, impede, impair, and frustrate the transition of power to the Democrats in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and other Midwestern states, out of spiteful reactionary defiance. The underlying message, though, is the GOP’s desperate efforts to maintain the image of racial and ethnic superiority politics to assure whatever vestige of maintenance possible. Racial politics and anti immigrant dissension are the hallmarks of the Republican Party, and the history is extensive, tracing back to the 1968 Souther Strategy. Republicans know they have no choice but to stay the course because their base is committed to maintaining the image of racial superiority. Adamantly refusing to denounce white nationalism while gladly accepting their monetary contributions speaks volumes. So, until the day comes the Republicans finally standup and become Americans, first, and take the position that 45 must be removed from office, America is destined to experience far greater difficulties. They know the changing demographics favour the increased active participation of multi racial, multi ethnic, LGBTQ, and far more female activists in the Democratic Party. Race and ethnicity are the mutually recognized components the GOP must continue to materially exacerbate and significantly exploit through fomenting and engendering anti immigrant bias, promoting xenophobia, encouraging racial internecine by embracing white nationalism. Race matters.
I envy all of the states that get to choose between 2 parties . Here in Illinois (cook county / Chicago )we have one party .......The Machine
When you crush your opponents absolutely....you get The Machine
Trump will not be the Republican candidate in 2020, unless prisons have mock elections.
6
Power and profit -- unrestrained, unaccountable and in total contempt of the foundation principles of our democracy -- remain the twin gods Republicans swear absolute faith in.
These are the Old Testament gods of wrath that serve as role models for GOP troglodytes -- unquestioned authority, an eye for an eye, might and spite, and obscene wealth buys a courtside seat in heaven.
They believe their own lie: they merely do god's work to seize power and suppress those with the audacity to question their mission from god.
They omit the role of morally bankrupt commercial interests like Walgreens -- identified by David Leonhardt as a driving force armed with campaign contributions to cement the Republican power grab because it's highly profitable to own politicians who serve only one constituent: pugnacious greed.
No national corporation located in Wisconsin -- Johnson Controls, Northwestern Mutual, ManpowerGroup, Kohl's,, American Family Insurance Group, Rockwell Automation, Oshkosh, Harley-Davidson, or SC Johnson -- makers of Pledge, Raid, Ziploc, Off!, Mr. Muscle, Windex, Glade, Scrubbing Bubbles -- can deny culpability for supporting Wisconsin's proto-facists.
These brand name companies may own GOP legislators but they don't own our vote at the ballot box and our dollars in the marketplace.
They can buy corrupt politicians but we can easily not buy their products and services.
Robin Vos is as bad as E. Coli on Zip Locked Wisconsin butter and cheese.
12
What goes around, comes around.
3
The Democratic Party agenda:
*Health care
* Taxation equity
* Pay equity
* Voting rights
* Civil Rights
* Addressing climate change
* Livable wages and benefits
The Republican Party agenda:
*Social Darwinism
*Tax relief for the super wealthy
* Limiting democracy
Is it any wonder that the majority of Americans vote Democratic? And yet....
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@Gustav Aschenbach
Frankly, I never hear the Democratic leadership embrace any items on your list that might adversely impact their major donors. Taxation equity? Livable wages and benefits? Lip service at best from Chuck and Nancy. You're just projecting your progressive fantasies upon these corporatists.
@stan continople well, sure, you're not going to hear it on fox news; just an endless loop of hillary and the emails and gender neutral bathrooms, and illegal aliens assaulting white women. talk about an "agenda!"
1
Thank you Mr. Trump for showing the world what the true Republican Party’s colors were all along. America was fooled into thinking that it was a group of moderates with a right wing fringe element, when in fact it was fascism all along. Nothing else explains the actions in Wisconsin and Michigan.
19
Single payer Healthcare
End Gerrymandering
End Citizens united
A constitutional amendment that states that the person with the majority of the votes is president.
All presidential candidates must supply 5 years of tax returns.
Out of Afiraq.
All of these as solutions in the 2020 Democratic platform.
16
Ruling Republicans in gerrymandered states fear what has happened in California. A nonpartisan commission drew congressional district lines. And they adopted "top-two" primary elections so that the winning vote-getters, regardless of party, compete in the general elections. The result in CA has been that, among the 53 congressional seats, only 6 are Republicans.
In states like Maryland, where Democrats drew the lines, they should fear the electorate fixing those problems too.
3
We can always find one example of Democrats gerrymandering
And fix it
Let’s see how many states the GOP has stolen and STILL cheats and still can’t steal it all
North Carolina
Georgia
Mississippi
Alabama
Ohio
Texas
Pa fixed for now
Wisconsin
Michigan
Indiana
Iowa
Missouri
Any questions?
6
Rumor has it that Nick Ayers vetoed Trump's Chief of Staff nomination because Trump's being primaried by his own party and Ayers is going to work on that campaign. 2020 is going to be a mess for the GOP and I'm already popping my popcorn
11
The Republican Party, the party of the unethical.
11
Republicans hate voters. Hopefully the voters will remember this.
19
The GOP would cease to exist as a political party if it didn’t cheat.
34
Hurt trump re-election. 1) trump is about to lose his job 2) republicans have shown repeatedly that they are against democracy so why should we believe they will suddenly have a fair election?
8
There's no doubt this is the one fight Republicans didn't reckon with when using their business-as-usual tactics of securing enough votes in gerrymandered districts to keep control, but they forgot the resolve of Midwest voters and the fact that they don't forget -- and they won't.
8
Politicians who work to undermine the will of those they are meant to represent should be forced to step down from their positions of power.
It doesn't matter what party a representative is registered to. Their job is to act on the will of those who voted them in.
12
2018 demonstrated moderates abandoned the GOP, these recent deplorable actions will only cement peoples decisions. The GOP has lost younger people and is now at risk of losing older moderates and independents.
8
They'll get away with it. in 1 1/2 years when voters are deciding who to support we'll be in recession and what happened after the last election will be ancient history.
Rural WI voters are facing heroin, meth, factory farms, worker shortages, tarrifs, and suicide as the leading cause of death among dairy farmers. I don't think that electioneering is an issue that will rise to the top. These voters want action on issues that affect them personally. The WI Democratic party doesn't have a solid record on that. The last time Democrats had power in WI they used it to ban smoking in bars - because ya know the fundamental problem with America was some white guys smoking a cigarrette with their Bud Light. While that's a noble cause for the urban-yoga-elite it seems frivolous and socially intrusive when you're faced with bread and butter issues that aren't addressed. Democrats had better find a way to win hearts and minds in the heartland. Blaming middle aged white men for the world's problems might even be justified - it's just not a platform that can win...but it sure seems like that's what 2020 will be all about. It surely won't be about a lame duck session from '18.
5
@Kenneth......so cheating is acceptable to "non elite" rurals?
10
If that’s the case, why did every republican running is Wis loose this election?? Apparently someone in those counties is voting Dem....
1
I wonder if maybe, just maybe, this is the final, dying gasp of the old republican party - their last, worst attempt to maintain the 200+ year of white male rule. At some point they won't be able to gerrymander the midwestern states any more and then they will lose them. And then they will be done!
11
So much for the will of the people...
11
The nightmare scenario, of course, results when Democrats adopt the same tactics as Walker's thugs and both parties become complicit in destroying democracy. As one source put it, the problem with using the law to undermine a rival party is "that once the GOP does it, the Democrats have a terrible choice": either match their foes' violation for violation and potentially destroy fragile democratic norms, or step back and give Republicans a permanent advantage. It's possible the GOP will back down if WI voters' backlash is powerful enough, but if it isn't or WI Republicans adopt Trump's desire to reflexsively win at all costs, then what?
3
It seems that the Rs can only win if they cheat.
16
This article tends to reify the GOP as a political party, when it's more like a gangster crew, at least in my state That's not exaggerated. Republican legislators can no longer do anything by themselves. They are nice (not always) but clueless local real estate agents, small town bankers and lawyers. The real powers are the right wing foundations, propaganda shops, dark money funding operations and similar institutions that have been built over the past decades. In Michigan, the DeVos family political funds and organization, the Mackinac Center, and other "non-profit" institutions funded by the Koch Bros. organization of oligarchic interests are the real power: ALEC writes the legislation. The Republican legislature as the people's voice is a joke. They vote for what they're told to vote for by the "leadership." And the leadership is the permanent presence of the party officials beholden to the "donor class" through the institutions they've set up. These are the people in an organization that really knows's what's happening and how to dominate the process. The perpetual rookies, due to stringent term-limits, can barely find the bathroom in the Capitol before they can engage as relative equals with "the leadership" It's a pathetic charade, and until this gerrymandered, term-limited regime is overthrown, democracy is a dubious proposition.
41
@stuart. Well said...the GOP actually uses thugs and paid mercenaries to force their way......this is really sick stuff and MI certainly deserves far better then this....this is seriously scary stuff.....the GOP is more like the zombies in The Walking Dead then a political party, compelled by pure greed and an endless appetite for death & destruction.
I think Republican tactics are not only immoral but a major problem in America's democracy right now.
With Mitch McConnell blocking Merrick Garland, Gerrymandered states like Wisconsin where 54% of votes are Democrats but they only make up 36% of the seats. Superpacs in where basically companies buy politicians votes to benefit them but not the people. (net neutrality for example where 83% supported it, but politicians money overrode support)
Republicans are threatening democracy. These powergrabs are taking power away from the people. Stealing democracy. Stealing Freedom.
35
@Samrat Pradhan.....lot of it thanks to Citizens United, the power of a political SC. Lots of changes needed if democracy is to survive.
7
The American public has a memory span of about 4 days. By the time 2020 rolls around, the power-grabbing Republicans are doing in 2018 will be long forgotten.
6
The GOP’s crook president is crumbling.
The welfare states they control are examples of economic policy failure.
Their base is dying off.
Their behavior has turned their religion into something viewed exactly opposite of what it espouses.
As a result, they have chosen to lie, cheat, and ignore our Constitution.
They are forced into desperation as they see their belief system being overwhelmingly rejected by most citizens.
Deservedly so.
Country before party!
25
Good, it should hurt the Republicans and hurt them so hard the party itself goes down with trump in 2020, so far down that it ceases to exist.
28
Please Proceed, GOP. Show everyone what you're all about. What have you got to LOSE ??? LOL.
11
I understand that more Democrat voters live in cities while GOPers tend to live in more rural areas, but I don't understand why I keep reading that, this being the case, Democrats will still be at a disadvantage after districts are more fairly drawn. Districts are supposed to be based on population, not land mass. If more people live in the cities then more districts should be drawn in the cities, with fewer, but bigger, districts drawn in rural parts of states.
15
I am reminded of the lines from The Grapes of Wrath to the effect that every act of repression by the owners, in their attempts to avoid the day of reckoning, only made it certain that the day of reckoning would come.
16
@Publius
Oppression, not repression. Oy,
8
Here is the simple message being sent by Republicans, "Go pound sand, your votes don't count...mine do. Deal with it."
39
People who would vote for Trump again are not moderates.
45
The GOP knows they cannot win any honest election held in the United States. Reminds me as a kid of elections in South Africa...
Wait till the southwest starts running low on water. Let them drink oil!
25
@Kevin Bitz Hey wait a minute. We had our our own Blue Wave here in NM. AZ is dangerously close to taking on some sane ideas. Of course there are always TX and OK.
The West has been running low on water for decades, and will forever. Cities have greatly reduced their water needs, agriculture not so much. Good minds are working on compromises, with AZ the problematic player as usual.
If you really want to learn about water in the West instead of just popping off, I recommend
https://www.amazon.com/Water-Fighting-Over-Other-Myths/dp/1610916794/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544495530&sr=8-1&keywords=john+fleck
Cheat steal and lie seems the only way the GOP can stay in power especially as their hero seems to be lying crime boss betraying America for 100 milion bucks.
38
We as a nation are under minority rule. That must change. I fear only the courts can save our democracy now.
17
After the 2016 election I heard "Elections have Consequences and You Lost-deal with it!" garbage for months. Now that they lost they try to lie, cheat and steal to stay in power.
The GOP is lost, they died years ago. The once great party is in total decay & ruin. let them sink with the SS Trump, he's talking on water now. It's just a matter of time.
96
GOP has an image problem? Donald; head of the party; is under many many many investigations for many many many crimes. Image problem? Yep. Ray Sipe
15
Anyone who thinks Trump is anything more than a symptom of the rot in the American right wing is kidding themselves. Trump is the fulfillment of the Republican's policies, not the abolition of them.
64
@Benjamin Hinkley
I'm pretty sure most people already know that.
2
Oh, I get it. It is really only a democracy if the GOP calls all the shots. We wouldn't want everybody in America who is a citizen to have equal votes because ....er.... Democracy is so overrated, right?
39
This appears to be right out of the Koch Brothers/Dark Money playbook.
28
@Greitje B. .....because it is, the Kochs provide the direction and the scripts and the $. Look at robotic Tom Cotton in Arkansas....is he a real person or a Disney created Automatron? hard to believe that the poor people of Ark actually voted for him and against their own best interests. The GOP is currently filled w/ hacks and lackeys.
The GOP, a minority party for many years, has decided it must cheat to win.
1. Gerrymander
2. Manipulate the uneducated
3 . Stoke racism
4. Lie
5. Refuse to give a hearing to Garland
6. Blow up deficits on purpose to gut SS
92
Everyday the culture of corruption GOP think of evil ways to destroy our environment and our democracy. The states allowed to do this will be small authoritarian powers denying voters rights for the poor ,the disabled and millions of others away from their states voting centers to insure a win for the GOP every time. They can never get the popular vote like the Democrats because they are the culture of corruption and that type of person I don't want making laws for me.
42
@D.j.j.k. I find it strange that the GOP is aligned w/ the so-called Pro-Life movement while they are literally the party of death & destruction and are truly anti-Life in every way.
I wonder what noises dinosaurs made as they were dying out. This country is becoming more non-white, and less religious. Clearly, the repubs cannot fathom this trend, and have no appeal to the changing of America. While they may win a few more battles, the war is already lost.
48
Russian tactics being employed by rural Republicans.
42
It appears there are no boundaries on Republican and conservative efforts to retain power … whether it undermines democracy or not.
23
The South used to be able to count 3/5ths of its slave population for purposes of representation. This was one of the "gerrymandered" advantages these states, most of which supported the Democratic Party, continued to enjoy up to the Civil War. No party deserves special privileges. The districts should be drawn by an impartial commission. I'm sure Google or some other IT company could come up with a fair map. Congress and state legislatures should represent people, not trees and cows.
39
@Mike The analytic and statistical foundations have already been laid for fair redistricting:
http://election.princeton.edu/
In the absence of SCOTUS responsibility, this must now be done state-by-state, until SCOTUS is forced to catch up to reality.
2
No one hates democracy more than the GOP.
180
@Demosthenes. Their puppet master Putin does.
1
In Texas, it all started in 2003 with that paragon of respectability -- Tom DeLay.
He came down from the mountain top, Capitol Hill, and cajoled, bribed and arm-twisted the state house members to redraw Congressional districts in an “off” year; before census numbers were updated. A feat not seen before even in the days of yellow dog democrats ruling the state.
The courts upheld all the lines except for one district.
Perhaps the moral outrage will swing the pendulum of democracy back toward the center. I suppose that we needed to see exactly how partisan our elected officials can be before we said 'enough'.
No matter because their ruse has been exposed. I never believed that our country could have ever been so divided by the special interests of corporations and monied scoundrels. This is the way forward, no matter how rocky and narrow the path may be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Texas_redistricting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_DeLay
18
Michigan & Wisconsin voters-the outrage of your republican legislators must be defeated if the US is going to continue as a democracy. Ignoring the will of its people is the first step to a dictatorship/Putinship/Unship! Protest! Take to the streets in huge numbers & demand the will of the people be respected. Use social media to schedule protests in other states that will support you. Democracy requires
active participation.
31
Utah has a gerrymandering problem too. The state is 40% Democrat or independent. We control 20% of the state legislature. A difference conveniently aligned with Republican control of a veto-proof House super majority. The Republican speaker defended this imbalance by accusing minority voters of "sour-grapes." Never mind the 20 point gap in voter representation.
Fortunately, Utah is one of those states who moved this year to curb gerrymandering. Let me tell you, that was a lot of work. The measure squeaked through though so the effort was worth it. Republicans have not yet moved against the independent commission. Our moderate Republican Governor has signaled to lawmakers aggressive action would not be well received. That's good.
This brings us back to Wisconsin. What political strategist suggested a lame duck attack on Evers was a good idea? Honestly, whoever planted that idea in Vos' head should be keel hauled if you're a Republican. Democrats owe the responsible party a drink and a thank you.
I seriously can't imagine Republicans doing anything to hurt their 2020 election chances worse than lame duck power grabs. I guess they figure if they just keep digging down long enough, they'll find up. That or a sewer main. Either way, I'm happy to leave them right in hole they dug for themselves. They can drown in it for all I care.
If you only represent minority interests, I don't much care about your well being.
75
@Andy. You also have the problem in Utah of separation of church and State: the intervention of the LDS church in legislative matters. I refer to 2018 Ballot Measure 2, the legalization of medical marijuana. The voters passed it by 60%, the LDS church opposed it. An emergency session by the Legislature (influenced and mediated in great part by the LDS church) gutted the original bill. If the LDS church is going to be a lobby, they need to be taxed at the State and Federal level!
6
The GOP corruption knows no bounds. Their power grab highlights their lack of concern not only their constituents, but more importantly American democracy.
14
Around the world, America proclaims the greatness of its democracy yet its particular brand permits gerrymandering of the highest order, can determine who can and can not vote, and permits outgoing legislatures passing laws curtaining the powers of newly elected ones.
Heal thy self first before you criticize other country's form of government.
30
Moderate image says it all.....pathetic. Dishonest politicking allowed in the name of tribalism.
20
This clinical policy analysis is all well and good, but the Times buried the lede: The Republicans are shredding the very fabric of our democracy. They're manipulating undemocratic mechanisms to perpetuate undemocratic rule.
255
Republicans are counting on the disenfranchised to become disheartened, disinterested, defeated and give up
51
How is this NOT going to backfire on Republicans?
23
Easy. The Republicans block all Democratic efforts to help the working class, then at election time they say that the Democrats did nothing for the working class.
6
Republicans: "If we can't undermine and/or steal elections, we'll just invalidate them!"
115
It's time to accept global warming (or cooling) as something that happens naturally in the world and comes in ebbs and flows.
And even if it is sometimes caused by human activity, there is nothing that can be done to stop it.
Best to wait for a new period of global cooling instead.
Instead of putting all of their thumbs on the scale, the R's in these states should try leading with policies and actions that the people really want.
People will pay a bit more for taxes if it means good schools, access to medical care, safe infrastructure. Those are not bad things. But, it costs money to pay for them. Why is the answer to everything tax cuts?
Republicans can't win on substance, so they cheat, that's what it really comes down to.
145
@J
The answer to everything is a tax cut because it disproportionately benefits the wealthy. They don't want good public schools because they send their kids to private schools and want taxes to pay for it. Plus they want to privatize everything so they can make money off of it. They are the ones trying to get rid of public libraries. One could also make the argument that they want everyone but themselves dumb and uneducated so they are more easily brainwashed and led. You have to admit, it's working for them so far.
13
One universal principle of fairness is that you don't change the rules of the game in the middle to your advantage. Republicans who have lost key races in Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, etc. are trying to do precisely that. The voters will get their revenge sooner or later.
104
@Grandpa Bob
Gee, you mean they are "sore losers" as they said of Gore?
6
I hope the voters of these states, regardless of party affiliation, remember this assault on our republic, and vote Robin, and his merry band of republican thieves out of office. It should also be warning to all voters, that when one party decides not to play by the rules of how our democracy works, and take constitutional authority to those duly elected, they move us closer to a authoritarian country, run by a backward thinking body politic.
62
The GOP has abandoned any remaining pretense of adhering to political norms and is now in full smash-and-grab mode to hold on to as much power as they can.
The only thing that matters is delivering results to their oligarch patrons and reaping the personal rewards that follow, both during and after their terms in office. They all want to ensure that if they lose their seat they'll have a cushy landing spot as a lobbyist, Fox pundit, at a think tank, etc.
84
Can there be any debate or "equivalence" on this issue? Do politicians stand by the results of elections, or not?
At least in modern times (i.e. the last 150 years), I'm not familiar with any attempts by Democrats to annul election results that went against them. These are the kinds of nefarious activities that are commonplace in nascent or struggling democracies or the classic "banana republic."
Never, until now, in the United States of America. These crass attempts to overturn the democratic process simply cannot stand!
82
@PaulB67
Evil people always have an advantage because there is always a limit to what lengths basically decent people will go to but the evil will go as low as they have to and to any lengths they want to. That's what Republicans are doing now.
3
Rigged Russian-Republicans rationalizing their Kremlin-style fake elections.
Move to Russia, Republicans.... the oligarchy is waiting for you and your corruption.
Despicable, unAmerican Republicans.
171
Imagine what their hero Regan would think of today's GOP.
36
@northeastsoccermum. ...or President General D. Eisenhower for that matter.....a real All American Republican who served his country well, not just his party and certainly not his BIG Dark $ donors.
3
Sounds like the GOP wants to make sure the Blue Wave was not a one-and-done in Michigan and Wisconsin. The optics of a naked lame duck power grab are even worse than the damage they hope to inflict on state workers, universities and others.
Now that Rick Snyder of Michigan and Scott Walker are both out of the picture, the GOP gerrymandered state legislatures are left hanging on through their own anti-democratic machinations, plotting against governors elected by a majority of voters.
Short term thinking at its worst.
149
Apparently the GOP only believe in democracy when it works in their favor. The longer Republicans stay in power, the more we resemble a fascist state "characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy..."
297
@Taliessen. The GOP clearly does not believe in democracy, they are controlled and funded by BIG dark $ from who knows where & what sources and their true bosses like The Koch Brothers, Mercers etc are power crazed and are actually not only un-American in their views and actions but actually anti-American...they are actual threats to our democracy and the American Dream is a joke to them. Libertarians? I find them very scary, one step from pure Anarchists. Not All American that is for sure.
4
What we need is a for a big blue state to call WI out on this, as in "you want to see NY be permanently Democratic? Because either you stop what you're doing in WI or else we'll do what you're doing in NY"
4
Why do you hate democracy? NY reflects the will of the voters, WI doesn’t.
17
@Matthew We should do all they're doing everywhere we can. Never forget and get revenge.
1
Heavily gerrymandered states are no longer functioning democracies. In the Wisconsin assembly, Democrats won 53% of the vote--but only 36% of the seats.
362
I get the outrage from the NYT but I hope you all can see the irony: providing more power to the legislature, rather than governor, is actually the more democratic result. Individual voters have FAR more impact on their state reps (a pool of tens of thousands of voters) vs. Governor (several million votes).
What about gerrymandering you ask? I honestly would love to see a mainstream politician deploy the answer that city and suburban voters already have a disproportionate impact on the nation's life by nature of their powerful jobs in media, civil service and high professional jobs (finance, tech, consulting).
The reason DC does not have Senators is because the founders knew by nature of living in the capital, these citizens would have disproportionate impacts on the main organ of government.
...I think the same logic can be deployed to defend gerrymandering.
2
@Arturo One person, one vote, regardless of address.
Democrats won 53% of the vote--but only 36% of the seats.
Rural areas cost far more money per person than cities. The amount of funds that need to be spent to transport children to school, provide hospitals, provide police and fire services, maintain roads.
We in the cities subsidize people in the rural areas the same way that the people in the blue states subsidize the red states. People in cities make more money and pay more taxes. They should at least have an equal say in how their government is run.
278
So the less educated, less successful are the “real Americans “, entitled to gerrymandered disproportionate representation, sponsored in Wisconsin by Walgreens? And that, nascent fascism, is acceptable ?
109
@Arturo As if Republicans are doing this out of some sort of civic concern - give to a rest. No one buys this malarkey,
61