Gerrymandering

[grizzaholic]

This thread took a disturbing turn.

Shut your cock holster, shit splitter.

[Ibanez]

Shut your cock holster, shit splitter.

[bluehenbillk]

I don't know if it can be dictated by a federal level but gerrymandering has helped to kill this country. It's eliminated inter-party races in a cancerous fashion all across the country. Worse, the two-party system isn't encouraging any competition for these long-term bumbling career politicos in DC.

2 solutions, if our government even has the balls to improve itself:

1- Eliminate gerrymadering - all state political districts must be rationally divided - by county, by population, or some reasonable, consistent, non-party affiliated way.

And/Or:

2- Congressional Term Limits - 8-12 years & then you go find another job.

[GannonFan]

I don't know if it can be dictated by a federal level but gerrymandering has helped to kill this country. It's eliminated inter-party races in a cancerous fashion all across the country. Worse, the two-party system isn't encouraging any competition for these long-term bumbling career politicos in DC.

2 solutions, if our government even has the balls to improve itself:

1- Eliminate gerrymadering - all state political districts must be rationally divided - by county, by population, or some reasonable, consistent, non-party affiliated way.

And/Or:

2- Congressional Term Limits - 8-12 years & then you go find another job.

I agree with both points. Of all places, we should use Iowa as the template of how to objectively determine and draw congressional lines. Of course, it helps that there are no minorities in Iowa, so that may be why it can be done there and not many other places. And as for the term limits, I'm fine with them in principle, but I do think they need to be longer than most would like. Something like 10-20 years would be fine with me. The shorter we make them, the more power we start giving to the political parties to just keep churning party loyalists in to fill the ranks. There is some advantage to a job where the person in it can exercise political independence from their own party, but if you can't even get into the business without selling your soul to the party then you're not going to get independent people. But 10-12 years for a Congressman and 18 years for a Senator should be enough.

[UNI88]

I don't know if it can be dictated by a federal level but gerrymandering has helped to kill this country. It's eliminated inter-party races in a cancerous fashion all across the country. Worse, the two-party system isn't encouraging any competition for these long-term bumbling career politicos in DC.

2 solutions, if our government even has the balls to improve itself:

1- Eliminate gerrymadering - all state political districts must be rationally divided - by county, by population, or some reasonable, consistent, non-party affiliated way.

And/Or:

2- Congressional Term Limits - 8-12 years & then you go find another job.

I agree with both points. Of all places, we should use Iowa as the template of how to objectively determine and draw congressional lines. Of course, it helps that there are no minorities in Iowa, so that may be why it can be done there and not many other places. And as for the term limits, I'm fine with them in principle, but I do think they need to be longer than most would like. Something like 10-20 years would be fine with me. The shorter we make them, the more power we start giving to the political parties to just keep churning party loyalists in to fill the ranks. There is some advantage to a job where the person in it can exercise political independence from their own party, but if you can't even get into the business without selling your soul to the party then you're not going to get independent people. But 10-12 years for a Congressman and 18 years for a Senator should be enough.

It would not be difficult to create districts using weighted demographic information so that various groups (minorities, rich, poor, urban, rural, etc.) would have a voice in government. The problem is that that would take the power out of the political leaders hands and they're more than reluctant to let that power go.

I also agree with term limits in principle but they don't just give the parties more power they also give the entrenched bureaucrats more power. The less time someone spends in DC, the less time they have to understand how things work and the more dependent they are on staffers who have an definite interest in protecting their own jobs & turf.