This gerrymandering is a huge deal yes, but I'd also point out that the people of Ohio voted on a Constitutional Amendment that would have prevented this, and the GOP just ignored it.
Ignored the will of the people. If that's not already authoritarian I don't know what is. 1/
Same thing happened in Wisconsin. The people of that state voted to participate in the Affordable Care Act and their government just ignored that too, as they AGAIN are gerrymandering themselves into a very lopsided and undeserved majority.
2/
Look at Texas, now an arguably purple state. The policies coming out of that legislative body and executive office are authoritarian to the core. Telling businesses what to do, private citizens what to do.
From the "smaller, less intrusive government" people no less.
3/
So if states are the breeding grounds for federal office holders I ask you this: what do you think will happen when these people gain a federal majority?
Bye bye democracy.
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Let's talk about passing the two infrastructure bills and the #VotingRightsAct for a bit okay? I know the process isn't exactly what you'd like and I know you've got donors who aren't too keen on some of the proposals, like prescription drug prices for instance.
2/
You should know that your recalcitrance is making a lot of folks nervous, and for a myriad of reasons. But polls are showing there's one thing most Americans DON'T care about: the price.
The only people out here that care about the price aren't your voters.
3/
I'm seeing over and over the pandemic has (re)taught us something VERY important: work to live, don't live to work.
I thought maybe I'd thread my thoughts on that, so here we go. #HowToHuman
1/
Y'all, the work habits of Americans have driven me crazy for years now. I've lost count of how many 60-80 hour a week workers I've talked into toning it down.
"If you're always working how can you enjoy the fruits of your labor?" 2/
And the worst part about it is we've been brainwashed into overworking. Corps have told us since the invention of TV that we're less than if we don't have an extra car, or a too big house. All this enriches THEM, not us.
The Virginia GOP just nominated for governor the hedge fund billionaire ex CEO of The Carlyle Group, who personally hosted Osama Bin Laden's brother at a gala dinner on September 11, 2001.
Because they're the party of "patriots" & the "working class."
The best part about it? They had a train wreck of a primary designed to weed out the trumpies so this guy could win. He played on about "election integrity," but that's the old white supremacist dog whistle party line anyway.
2/
They had a "drive through" primary and required all sorts of numbers and signatures from their primary voters, information which the actual base refused to give, basically en masse.
So redistricting season is almost upon us and in light of the #WeThePeopleAct I thought maybe a primer on gerrymandering might be in order.
Unusually for me we're not gonna do a ton of history here, I just think it's important for folks to know some of the process.
🧵 1/
In a nutshell the Constitutionally mandated census is how we figure out how many seats each party gets in Congress, & the state houses.
This process used to be pretty anodyne until MA passed a law in 1812 that entrenched the Democratic-Republican party's power in the state.
2/
The governor of MA at the time, Elbridge Gerry, signed this bill into law against his wishes, yet he has been attached to this highly undemocratic process ever since. There was blame cast upon him in every East Coast paper at the time.