Kevin is pissed at Arnie, who intends to challenge the CA legislature:
The Republican governor may call a special election next year asking voters to, among other things, convert the Legislature to part-time status, strip legislators of their power to draw their own districts and restrict campaign contributions, his spokesman said Tuesday.
Kevin writes:
In substantive terms this is laughable, since as near as I can tell the budget deadlock was almost entirely Schwarzenegger’s fault. He screwed up his negotiations with local governments and had to backpedal, and then went to the mat over two trivial items that no one would even have noticed if he hadn’t suddenly brought them up out of the blue.
Some advice for Arnie:
1.) Advertise the special election as an opportunity for ‘every vote to count.’
2.) Call the conversion of the legislature to part-time status ‘Mandatory annual maternity/paternity leave.’
3.) Turn all re-districting issues over to the courts. All Democrats know that is where decisions are supposed to be made.
4.) Call the restriction of campaign contributions “Campaign Finance Reform.”
I don’t know how Democrats could oppose any of that.
And no, I amnot serious about any of this- thought I would just tease Kevin, who has yet to say one nice thing about arnod, who still smells like a rose compared to the last offering from the Democrats.
*** Update ***
Actually, Kevin being bitter towards Arnie is rather predictable. After all, who is he going to credit with the California recovery- Bush or Arnie? Neither is a decent choice for the Calpundit.
Andrew J. Lazarus
Can we get anti-gerrymandering as a package deal for CA and TX at the same time? Republicans are rather odd worshippers at the Church of Unilateral Disarmament.
Bloggerhead
And, you know, you can’t pick up a economics journal anywhere that doesn’t proclaim the California Miracle under Conan. From what I can glean, he did use the Bush model: just borrow to balance the budget, and put off the difficult choices. Sheer genius, and the kind of courage that one would expect from a fictional hero.
Mason
Hey Andrew, where were you when the Dems were the ones gerrymandering here in TX for years and years?
Andrew J. Lazarus
Where was I? In California, where we’re still doing it, and not in Pennsylvania or Florida where YOU’RE still doing it.
Did you miss the point on purpose? This game has a serious first-mover disadvantage, and if you’re only going to nag only about California, no Democrats are going to be one teensy bit interested.
So, is this a problem you want to solve, or a robosnark talking point?
Ken Hahn
I live in California. Here in Orange County the legislative and Congressional districts resemble worms and spiders so that one Democratic Assembly, State Senate, and Congressional seat can be created. The current joke along the coast is that some district are contiguous only at low tide. Republicans get about 45% of the vote in these contests statewide and get just over 1/3 of the seats.
In Texas, the Democrats who controlled the State Legislature gerrymandered the Congressional districts so that although Republicans fot more votes, the Democrats got 60% of the seats.
Democrats were screaming at the top of their lungs about counting every vote in Florida while sending an army of lawyers to challenge military absentee votes.
I’ll grant Republicans do it too and that they may have done nothing to ease voting for some people if you’ll admit that Democrats are better at it and have gotten a lot of votes that were not legitimate. I suspect that Gore got at least a million votes from felons, illegal aliens, housepets and tombstones.
If the Democrats ever get serious about fair elections in fair districts, we might be able to make some progress. But why change a system which you manipulate so well? Democrats have NO interest in fair elections.
Eric
Yes the Dems totally suck! But hey.., they know how spend your tax-dollars better that the rest of us! After all, were just the “mice” that spins the wheel for their gain. What’s funny is.. put two and two together, and you’ll find out how the Democrats never actually want to solve any real problems or issues, they tend to put bandaids over it, and sweep it under the carpet, when the problem finally leaks out in the open once more.., there they are pointing fingers at the “Right”.., It is much more profitable to lightly treat an illness.., than to cure it, and to keep it from coming back!