Re: Congress Guarantees its own re-elections in 2010-12
by
lilmacg
11/14/2009, 10:02 AM #
Gerrymandering, Pure and Corrupt
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Of all the tricks that New York’s legislators use to hang on to office, the one that works best — for the politicians, that is — is redistricting. Mapmaking in Albany is a dark art form designed to make absolutely certain that incumbents in the majority party are safe from electoral competition (a k a democracy).
In the years the Republicans controlled the Senate, former Senator Guy Velella, a Bronx Republican, had his own war room to choose voters block by block. The result is an inkblot that would confuse even Hermann Rorschach. In the last redistricting in 2002, Mr. Velella even managed to excise the house of a former challenger, Lorraine Coyle Koppell, from the district. Mr. Velella lost his seat after 18 years only when he was convicted of bribery in 2004 and was forced to resign.
This process has worked so well for so many politicians that the New York Public Interest Research Group reports that in 2008 more than half of the state’s 212 legislators were re-elected with more than 80 percent of their districts’ votes. In 57 districts, the incumbents ran unopposed. New faces appear rarely, usually when a lawmaker retires, dies or, increasingly, gets convicted of abusing the public trust.
New York’s voters should not elect a legislator next year unless he or she promises to set up an Iowa-style commission. And they should not elect a governor, unless he or she backs that commission — or pledges to veto the next gerrymandered maps. Unless New York’s legislative districts are drawn fairly, Albany’s status quo of corruption and incompetence will be cemented in place for another 10 years.
ACORN International Is Now COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS INTERNATIONAL
http://msplaceddemocrat.com ^ | Wednesday, 17 June 2009, 18:37
Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 6:45:06 AM by Yosemitest
ACORN International Is Now Community Organizations International,
Will ACORN Follow Suit?
Wednesday, 17 June 2009, 18:37
1. The Census Project
Nov 8, 2009 ... The Census Bureau strives to hire employees who live in the ... and Budget (OMB) will oversee the 2010 Decennial Census LUCA Appeals Staff, .... 2010 Census Public Education Campaign, in partnership with the NAACP, ...
www.thecensusproject.org/newsbriefs/cnb81-8nov2009.html -
2. `African American' designation seen causing census woe | Article ...
Jesse Jackson endorsed its use; so did the NAACP and the Rev. ... Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau. ... WASHINGTON The Census Bureau on Thursday began an effort to hire half a million part-time . ...
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