Why Americans Actually Voted For a Democratic House

[octoberlib]

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), however, cannot simply thank Republican state lawmakers for enabling him to keep his job. He can also thank the conservatives on the Supreme Court. Partisan gerrymandering exists for one purpose: to cut off the ability of people who disagree with a state’s ruling party to influence future elections. It is a a clear violation of the First Amendment, which absolutely prohibits viewpoint discrimination. Yet the Supreme Court abdicated its responsibility to end this discrimination in its 5-4 decision in Vieth v. Jubelirer, where the conservative justices tossed out a lawsuit alleging that Pennsylvania’s congressional districts were unconstitutionally drawn to maximize Republican representation in Congress.
Americans voted for a Democratic president, a Democratic Senate, and, barring significant shifts in the vote tally, a Democratic House. Instead, they will get a House majority similar to the one that held the entire nation hostage during last year’s debt ceiling hostage crisis. If the American people wanted this to happen, they would have said so at the polls on Tuesday. Instead, Republican state lawmakers took away their right to democratically legitimate leadership — with a big assist from the conservatives on the Supreme Court.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/11/07/1159631/americans-voted-for-a-democratic-house-gerrymandering-the-supreme-court-gave-them-speaker-boehner/ One more reason why Supreme Court appointments are so important.

[cally]

1. This is important. Thanks

[Blaukraut]

2. Question is, what can we do about this?

Is there a way to stop gerrymandering? And if not, do we have to wait for redistricting done by Democratic state legislatures to get a majority in the House again? This is a huge problem, because we're not going to win back any seats if they aren't competitive.

[hedgehog]

3. You think this is bad - add up the number of people who voted for a Democratic Senator

and compare it to the number that voted for a Republican. Then, consider that Senate rules allow a single Senator to block an appointment by refusing to let it out of committee!

[InsultComicDog]

4. which is why I'm in this district