NationStates

Shrillland wrote:

San Lumen wrote:A runoff is likely in both seats though many Republicans said they wouldnt run in LA-5 if Julia got in therefore she likely wins outright

Scalise already endorsed her too, so that'll keep Harris out. Yeah, she'll win outright. LA-2's a different story. Karen Peterson and Troy Carter both have strong followings in New Orleans, that'll make it a close race.

I assume a Republican has no chance in LA-2. I always assumed that district was all of New Orleans. Looking at a map it seems Scalise's district takes up a good portion of the city.

Kexholm Karelia wrote:

The Marlborough wrote:Legalize marijuana, end private prisons, support some form of a Green New Deal, advocating for greater accessibility for those with disabilities, free tuition for community colleges, UBI for stay at home parents, universal healthcare, yes less foreign adventurism. I don't agree with her on certain issues (nuclear power, GMO's, and some others) but on the whole she has some pretty good ideas and at the very least is someone I could say genuinely gives a shit.

Why do so many leftists hate her then?

Apparently Gabbard is a "transphobe" for saying transgender athletes have unfair physical advantages in women’s sports

Repubblica Fascista Sociale Italiana wrote:

Shrillland wrote:
In a country our size, it's what's needed, and it's better for the environment.

America is absolutely massive, hence why walking to work is rare for anyone not living in the city here. It makes no sense to invest massive amounts of money into building rail infrastructure most people will never use, as people have cars and long distance travel is done by planes

Which is why you base the system on that regional sweet spot that’s too long to drive but too short to fly. The US can have a regional high speed rail system and connect the regions through planes or trains

Kexholm Karelia wrote:

The Marlborough wrote:Legalize marijuana, end private prisons, support some form of a Green New Deal, advocating for greater accessibility for those with disabilities, free tuition for community colleges, UBI for stay at home parents, universal healthcare, yes less foreign adventurism. I don't agree with her on certain issues (nuclear power, GMO's, and some others) but on the whole she has some pretty good ideas and at the very least is someone I could say genuinely gives a shit.

Why do so many leftists hate her then?

She visited Syria and has been against funding the Syrian opposition. She's also supported stronger border security and in general has been a harsh critic of the DNC and a lot of Democrats.

San Lumen wrote:

Shrillland wrote:
Scalise already endorsed her too, so that'll keep Harris out. Yeah, she'll win outright. LA-2's a different story. Karen Peterson and Troy Carter both have strong followings in New Orleans, that'll make it a close race.

I assume a Republican has no chance in LA-2. I always assumed that district was all of New Orleans. Looking at a map it seems Scalise's district takes up a good portion of the city.

Yep, Scalise has the redder areas outside of Downtown and on the Lakefront whilst LA-2 takes up Downtown, the poor and minority-dominated east of the city and most of Baton Rouge aloong with the surrounding Mississippi. Downtown Baton Rouge and LSU are in a separate district.

Repubblica Fascista Sociale Italiana wrote:

Kexholm Karelia wrote:Why do so many leftists hate her then?

Apparently Gabbard is a "transphobe" for saying transgender athletes have unfair physical advantages in women’s sports

apparently, hitler is a "facist" for doing facism

Wink Wonk We Like Stonks wrote:what's that website where you can look up a politician and see their stances on basically everything

Twitter.

Repubblica Fascista Sociale Italiana wrote:

The Marlborough wrote:Tulsi doesn't have it either. Sanders I like personally but I do think he's a tad too idealistic when it comes to what it would take to govern a superpower/empire. He makes a great member of Congress and him pushing certain things forward should go down as an important period in American politics because it's even begun to shift the American right on economics (though not as much).

It’s hard not to shift on economics when we have bread lines in the streets

True but the US in general has been an outlier in the West when it comes for its persistent support for more laissez-faire economics over the past 100+ years even when much of the West has sought to curb it to varying extents.

The New California Republic wrote:

Wink Wonk We Like Stonks wrote:what's that website where you can look up a politician and see their stances on basically everything

Twitter.

not what i was looking for but thanks?

The Marlborough wrote:Tulsi Gabbard should unironically go for the GOP nom for the hilarity it would bring. Double points if she got it. Triple points if she won and became POTUS.

Super based if she does

The Marlborough wrote:

Kexholm Karelia wrote:Why do so many leftists hate her then?

She visited Syria and has been against funding the Syrian opposition. She's also supported stronger border security and in general has been a harsh critic of the DNC and a lot of Democrats.

I feel this sort of criticism comes more from liberals and centrists in the Democratic Party who are pro-Israel. And that is what this really is about it.

Shrillland wrote:

San Lumen wrote:
I assume a Republican has no chance in LA-2. I always assumed that district was all of New Orleans. Looking at a map it seems Scalise's district takes up a good portion of the city.

Yep, Scalise has the redder areas outside of Downtown and on the Lakefront whilst LA-2 takes up Downtown, the poor and minority-dominated east of the city and most of Baton Rouge aloong with the surrounding Mississippi. Downtown Baton Rouge is in a separate district.

I didn't know the city had red areas as Biden got 83 percent in NO.

Wink Wonk We Like Stonks wrote:

Repubblica Fascista Sociale Italiana wrote:Apparently Gabbard is a "transphobe" for saying transgender athletes have unfair physical advantages in women’s sports

apparently, hitler is a "facist" for doing facism

Ah "facism"

Kexholm Karelia wrote:

The Marlborough wrote:Legalize marijuana, end private prisons, support some form of a Green New Deal, advocating for greater accessibility for those with disabilities, free tuition for community colleges, UBI for stay at home parents, universal healthcare, yes less foreign adventurism. I don't agree with her on certain issues (nuclear power, GMO's, and some others) but on the whole she has some pretty good ideas and at the very least is someone I could say genuinely gives a shit.

Why do so many leftists hate her then?

I feel you won't get an proper answer for that.

Nakena wrote:

The Marlborough wrote:She visited Syria and has been against funding the Syrian opposition. She's also supported stronger border security and in general has been a harsh critic of the DNC and a lot of Democrats.

I feel this sort of criticism comes more from liberals and centrists in the Democratic Party who are pro-Israel. And that is what this really is about it.

Not necessarily, she's one of those who thinks it's manifestly impossible for democracy to develop in the Islamic world because everybody will just vote for religious extremists like Daesh, even though Tunisia shoots that argument down quickly.

Nakena wrote:

The Marlborough wrote:She visited Syria and has been against funding the Syrian opposition. She's also supported stronger border security and in general has been a harsh critic of the DNC and a lot of Democrats.

I feel this sort of criticism comes more from liberals and centrists in the Democratic Party who are pro-Israel. And that is what this really is about it.

Mhm largely true though anti-Israel activists have also denounced her because they aren't pro-Assad either and Assad is a dictator and don't like her on those grounds.

San Lumen wrote:
I agree. Maryland has some of the worst gerrymandering in the country. It should be done by independent commission.

There is no reason for Annapolis to be drawn into a district with Baltimore for example.

It's a bit worse than that. Maryland (which I used to live in) seems to use coastal waters to claim that several badly gerrymandered congressional districts are contiguous when it looks like different sections can only be reached by sailing on the Chesapeake or crossing tidal estuaries.

By mentioning Annapolis, you likely have the 3rd District in mind, which offers one of the worst examples of this practice (though it only includes a very small part of Baltimore).

Here's a link to a map.

Leaving aside the classic gerrymandered salamander shape, not only are the Lake Shore and Annapolis sections non-contiguous with the central section, but large sections of the Lake Shore bit and the small bit to the east of Annapolis are underpopulated park land. The bits to the east of Baltimore Harbor and to the north of Baltimore proper are similarly only connected to the rest of the district by one of Baltimore's bridges and a crossing of the Patapsco River, as well as a small section crossing Belair Road that seems to be no wider than the (narrow) Herring Run Park.

Not all of the other districts are quite as bad (though the 2nd is fairly bad), though Maryland is quite overt about drawing its districts so that Republican-leaning rural areas are mashed together with Democratic-leaning DC and Baltimore suburbs. Steny Hoyer's district offers an example, with its northern hook through Prince George's County presumably designed to outweigh incorporating the more Republican St Mary's and Calvert counties. Maryland obviously isn't the only state to do this, and I hope that anyone complaining about Maryland would similarly complain about egregious examples in Republican-controlled states.

I agree that independent electoral commissions, as used in several other states (and most Western European democracies - and Canada) offer a solution; the problem is that so long as the responsibility lies with the states, many states will refuse to take this step if most states controlled by the other party similarly refuse to go this route. It might be necessary to cut that Gordian Knot at federal level, so all states - regardless of population and party lean - have to do something similar so long as they elect more than one representative (it's obviously not relevant to Liz Cheney, for example).

San Lumen wrote:

Shrillland wrote:
Yep, Scalise has the redder areas outside of Downtown and on the Lakefront whilst LA-2 takes up Downtown, the poor and minority-dominated east of the city and most of Baton Rouge aloong with the surrounding Mississippi. Downtown Baton Rouge is in a separate district.

I didn't know the city had red areas as Biden got 83 percent in NO.

Well, slightly redder that can be subsumed into a separate red district that isn't even contiguous....

The Archregimancy wrote:

San Lumen wrote:
I agree. Maryland has some of the worst gerrymandering in the country. It should be done by independent commission.

There is no reason for Annapolis to be drawn into a district with Baltimore for example.

It's a bit worse than that. Maryland (which I used to live in) seems to use coastal waters to claim that several badly gerrymandered congressional districts are contiguous when it looks like different sections can only be reached by sailing on the Chesapeake or crossing tidal estuaries.

By mentioning Annapolis, you likely have the 3rd District in mind, which offers one of the worst examples of this practice (though it only includes a very small part of Baltimore).

Here's a link to a map.

Leaving aside the classic gerrymandered salamander shape, not only are the Lake Shore and Annapolis sections non-contiguous with the central section, but large sections of the Lake Shore bit and the small bit to the east of Annapolis are underpopulated park land. The bits to the east of Baltimore Harbor and to the north of Baltimore proper are similarly only connected to the rest of the district by one of Baltimore's bridges and a crossing of the Patapsco River, as well as a small section crossing Belair Road that seems to be no wider than the (narrow) Herring Run Park.

Not all of the other districts are quite as bad (though the 2nd is fairly bad), though Maryland is quite overt about drawing its districts so that Republican-leaning rural areas are mashed together with Democratic-leaning DC and Baltimore suburbs. Steny Hoyer's district offers an example, with its northern hook through Prince George's County presumably designed to outweigh incorporating the more Republican St Mary's and Calvert counties. Maryland obviously isn't the only state to do this, and I hope that anyone complaining about Maryland would similarly complain about egregious examples in Republican-controlled states.

I agree that independent electoral commissions, as used in several other states (and most Western European democracies - and Canada) offer a solution; the problem is that so long as the responsibility lies with the states, many states will refuse to take this step if most states controlled by the other party similarly refuse to go this route. It might be necessary to cut that Gordian Knot at federal level, so all states - regardless of population and party lean - have to do something similar so long as they elect more than one representative (it's obviously not relevant to Liz Cheney, for example).

Alas, such a solution requires constitutional change, and that's practically impossible in this climate.

Thermodolia wrote:

Repubblica Fascista Sociale Italiana wrote:America is absolutely massive, hence why walking to work is rare for anyone not living in the city here. It makes no sense to invest massive amounts of money into building rail infrastructure most people will never use, as people have cars and long distance travel is done by planes

Which is why you base the system on that regional sweet spot that’s too long to drive but too short to fly. The US can have a regional high speed rail system and connect the regions through planes or trains

Commuter zones? Someone else mentioned that earlier during the whole trains conversation, it could have some unintended consequences but overall you would have to do it on a case by case basis and weigh economic expense to potential gains and efficiency advantages. I gave an example earlier

Repubblica Fascista Sociale Italiana wrote:

No State Here wrote:Wow the US politics thread discussing actual policy issues instead of thinly veiled insults and shouting matches, I like the post Trump era already

The concept of additional public transport infrastructure has always interested me, as someone who’s lived in the city all my life and used the subway to get everywhere. I believe that cities within the same commuter zone (Richmond - Boston, Dallas-Houston-San Antonio, Miami - Atlanta, etc.) should generally have reliable rail lines to get around, but there’s no point in building a national rail infrastructure any more than we already have.

The issue is what exactly defines which commuter zones are where. Atlanta is the best example, it’s pretty much a hub for everyone living South of DC and East of Texas, I often hear people in my area saying they’re "driving up to Atlanta" for whatever reason even though it’s almost 9 hours. I imagine people in Mississippi and all the way up to Virginia may do the same. With this system, Atlanta would pretty much become a mega train hub (although the airport is already basically that for air travel)

The Archregimancy wrote:

San Lumen wrote:
I agree. Maryland has some of the worst gerrymandering in the country. It should be done by independent commission.

There is no reason for Annapolis to be drawn into a district with Baltimore for example.

It's a bit worse than that. Maryland (which I used to live in) seems to use coastal waters to claim that several badly gerrymandered congressional districts are contiguous when it looks like different sections can only be reached by sailing on the Chesapeake or crossing tidal estuaries.

By mentioning Annapolis, you likely have the 3rd District in mind, which offers one of the worst examples of this practice (though it only includes a very small part of Baltimore).

Here's a link to a map.

Leaving aside the classic gerrymandered salamander shape, not only are the Lake Shore and Annapolis sections non-contiguous with the central section, but large sections of the Lake Shore bit and the small bit to the east of Annapolis are underpopulated park land. The bits to the east of Baltimore Harbor and to the north of Baltimore proper are similarly only connected to the rest of the district by one of Baltimore's bridges and a crossing of the Patapsco River, as well as a small section crossing Belair Road that seems to be no wider than the (narrow) Herring Run Park.

Not all of the other districts are quite as bad (though the 2nd is fairly bad), though Maryland is quite overt about drawing its districts so that Republican-leaning rural areas are mashed together with Democratic-leaning DC and Baltimore suburbs. Steny Hoyer's district offers an example, with its northern hook through Prince George's County presumably designed to outweigh incorporating the more Republican St Mary's and Calvert counties. Maryland obviously isn't the only state to do this, and I hope that anyone complaining about Maryland would similarly complain about egregious examples in Republican-controlled states.

I agree that independent electoral commissions, as used in several other states (and most Western European democracies - and Canada) offer a solution; the problem is that so long as the responsibility lies with the states, many states will refuse to take this step if most states controlled by the other party similarly refuse to go this route. It might be necessary to cut that Gordian Knot at federal level, so all states - regardless of population and party lean - have to do something similar so long as they elect more than one representative (it's obviously not relevant to Liz Cheney, for example).

I remember a news report where they talked about gerrymandering and how a highway connected a part of the district. who did it eludes me.

Using a bridge or a road to connect a district is a bit ridiculous. i get that Maryland's geography is little complicated but the map could certainly be drawn to be more compact and still give Democrats a majority of seats.

San Lumen wrote:

The Archregimancy wrote:
It's a bit worse than that. Maryland (which I used to live in) seems to use coastal waters to claim that several badly gerrymandered congressional districts are contiguous when it looks like different sections can only be reached by sailing on the Chesapeake or crossing tidal estuaries.

By mentioning Annapolis, you likely have the 3rd District in mind, which offers one of the worst examples of this practice (though it only includes a very small part of Baltimore).

Here's a link to a map.

Leaving aside the classic gerrymandered salamander shape, not only are the Lake Shore and Annapolis sections non-contiguous with the central section, but large sections of the Lake Shore bit and the small bit to the east of Annapolis are underpopulated park land. The bits to the east of Baltimore Harbor and to the north of Baltimore proper are similarly only connected to the rest of the district by one of Baltimore's bridges and a crossing of the Patapsco River, as well as a small section crossing Belair Road that seems to be no wider than the (narrow) Herring Run Park.

Not all of the other districts are quite as bad (though the 2nd is fairly bad), though Maryland is quite overt about drawing its districts so that Republican-leaning rural areas are mashed together with Democratic-leaning DC and Baltimore suburbs. Steny Hoyer's district offers an example, with its northern hook through Prince George's County presumably designed to outweigh incorporating the more Republican St Mary's and Calvert counties. Maryland obviously isn't the only state to do this, and I hope that anyone complaining about Maryland would similarly complain about egregious examples in Republican-controlled states.

I agree that independent electoral commissions, as used in several other states (and most Western European democracies - and Canada) offer a solution; the problem is that so long as the responsibility lies with the states, many states will refuse to take this step if most states controlled by the other party similarly refuse to go this route. It might be necessary to cut that Gordian Knot at federal level, so all states - regardless of population and party lean - have to do something similar so long as they elect more than one representative (it's obviously not relevant to Liz Cheney, for example).

I remember a news report where they talked about gerrymandering and how a highway connected a part of the district.

Using a bridge or a road to connect a district is a bit ridiculous. i get that Maryland's geography is little complicated but the map could certainly be drawn to be more compact and still give Democrats a majority of seats.

Sure, but it's almost like Dems in Illinois or Republicans in Texas in that the Democrats don't want a majority of seats, they want them all and they don't care how they get them. Actually, I don't know about Illinois at this point.

How did farn pick a fast and the furious theme, and not Impeachment 2: Election Boogaloo

Shrillland wrote:

The Archregimancy wrote:
It's a bit worse than that. Maryland (which I used to live in) seems to use coastal waters to claim that several badly gerrymandered congressional districts are contiguous when it looks like different sections can only be reached by sailing on the Chesapeake or crossing tidal estuaries.

By mentioning Annapolis, you likely have the 3rd District in mind, which offers one of the worst examples of this practice (though it only includes a very small part of Baltimore).

Here's a link to a map.

Leaving aside the classic gerrymandered salamander shape, not only are the Lake Shore and Annapolis sections non-contiguous with the central section, but large sections of the Lake Shore bit and the small bit to the east of Annapolis are underpopulated park land. The bits to the east of Baltimore Harbor and to the north of Baltimore proper are similarly only connected to the rest of the district by one of Baltimore's bridges and a crossing of the Patapsco River, as well as a small section crossing Belair Road that seems to be no wider than the (narrow) Herring Run Park.

Not all of the other districts are quite as bad (though the 2nd is fairly bad), though Maryland is quite overt about drawing its districts so that Republican-leaning rural areas are mashed together with Democratic-leaning DC and Baltimore suburbs. Steny Hoyer's district offers an example, with its northern hook through Prince George's County presumably designed to outweigh incorporating the more Republican St Mary's and Calvert counties. Maryland obviously isn't the only state to do this, and I hope that anyone complaining about Maryland would similarly complain about egregious examples in Republican-controlled states.

I agree that independent electoral commissions, as used in several other states (and most Western European democracies - and Canada) offer a solution; the problem is that so long as the responsibility lies with the states, many states will refuse to take this step if most states controlled by the other party similarly refuse to go this route. It might be necessary to cut that Gordian Knot at federal level, so all states - regardless of population and party lean - have to do something similar so long as they elect more than one representative (it's obviously not relevant to Liz Cheney, for example).

Alas, such a solution requires constitutional change, and that's practically impossible in this climate.

Would it? Could they not do something similar with funding to what they did with the drinking age and Highways funding?

Kexholm Karelia wrote:

The Marlborough wrote:Legalize marijuana, end private prisons, support some form of a Green New Deal, advocating for greater accessibility for those with disabilities, free tuition for community colleges, UBI for stay at home parents, universal healthcare, yes less foreign adventurism. I don't agree with her on certain issues (nuclear power, GMO's, and some others) but on the whole she has some pretty good ideas and at the very least is someone I could say genuinely gives a shit.

Why do so many leftists hate her then?

Dunno about leftists, but party line Democrats don't like her because Hillary accused her of being a Russian agent, or something.