Comments on: A vision of a redistricted Minnesota — without Bachmann

By: Michelle Bachman: Census = WWII Japanese Internment? | Human Trend

Michelle Bachman: Census = WWII Japanese Internment? | Human Trend — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:04:30 +0000

[...] Michele Bachmann, who may be redistricted out of a job based on next year’s Census findings, has already stated she won’t respond to certain [...]

By: Replace Michele Bachmann Blog Carnival #8 | Quiche Moraine

Replace Michele Bachmann Blog Carnival #8 | Quiche Moraine — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:01:09 +0000

[...] with Bachmann. The Minnesota Independent showed us some redistricting maps that look all the better without Bachmann on them and reported about DFL plans for 2010. A newspaper in the largest city in her district [...]

By: Minnesota Central

Minnesota Central — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:58:04 +0000

It’s a little bit dated since I wrote a blog commentary about The Redistricting Game in January of 2008, however the game is still applicable.

Regarding the Bachmann effect, since the election would be held in 2012, wouldn’t she be a prime candidate versus Klobuchar ?

And as Redistricting is being considered, it is not only the Governor and the Legislature that have influence. Historically, Minnesota has resorted to using the Minnesota Supreme Court Special Redistricting Panel to create the districts. Considering the “political” affliations of the MN-Supreme Court with many owing their seats to Republican Governor Pawlenty, I would not be surprised if Bachmann is protected and Kline is left to battle Walz.

FYI : The Redistricting Game was developed by the University of Southern California and is designed to educate, engage, and empower citizens around the issue of political redistricting. The game will show a wide range of abuses and manipulations that encourage incumbents to draw districts which protect their seats rather than risk an open contest. The game allows players to explore the ways in which abuses can undermine the system, and provides info about reform initiatives.

By: Brion Emde

Brion Emde — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:01:05 +0000

Instead of this jockeying for the ever-shrinking representation pie, we really should start to consider increasing the size of the House of Representatives, whose size was frozen nearly a hundred years ago.

Since then, the number of people per representative has doubled.

Doubling or tripling (or more!) the size of the House would have so many benefits to us all (except for the existing Representatives, who would lose power) that it’s a true shame that the subject never comes up.

Briefly: better representation; lower cost to run for Congress, harder to bribe and less need to bribe more Representatives (because if one could run for $10s or $100s of thousands, they could compete with the bribed ones); make the Electoral College more representative of the populations of the states; provide better “equal protection” of those represented (right now the “districts” vary wildly in population per Representative); de-power individual Representatives, who have become like Princes under the current system, and make them into the “Peoples’ House” again.

There are more benefits. And it would only take Congress deciding to do it: no amendments or changes to the Constitution are required (we just saw that in the compromise recently with D.C. representation and Utah).

You can read about this idea more at: http://www.thirty-thousand.org/

By: Clara Gertrudis Pantanaggio

Clara Gertrudis Pantanaggio — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:43:38 +0000

Well, good. Fine. Then she can focus solely on a run for the White House. We want a Bachman/Palin ticket in 2012!!!! Yeah!!