Political Earthquake Threatening California’s Dysfunctional Status Quo
Posted in Politics & Government on July 10th, 2008 by MorningStar

California’s dysfunctional state legislature is feeling threatened by the latest attempt at redistricting reform which is scheduled to appear on the November ballot as
Proposition 11, and the line is being drawn in the sand as its proponents and opponents square off for what is undoubtedly going to be one hell of a good fight.

Proposition 11 would create a 14-member citizen commission to establish state Senate and Assembly districts based on the federal Voting Rights Act and non-partisan rules. The currently convoluted legislative district boundaries in California were purposely designed to eliminate partisan competition and establish a status quo in terms of the state’s balance of power. In simpler terms the districts were gerrymandered by the politicians themselves to maximize their potential for re-election and eliminate the threat of opposition candidates. The establishment of California’s gerrymandered legislative districts has proven to be very beneficial to the state’s political incumbents because it virtually guarantee’s their re-election regardless of how poor their performance might be. As far as state government is concerned, the gerrymandered legislative districts in California are nothing less than a ridiculous self-replicating joke purposely intended to ensure that nothing ever changes in Sacramento, and that the perpetual gridlock and partisan sniping so common in this state’s political environment continues to thrive forever and ever.

During the 2004 election less than 4% of the state’s 80 Assembly districts were won by less than 55% of the vote while .4% of the state’s 20 Senate district seats were carried by same percentage of votes. California’s 53 Congressional districts are even less competitive than the state districts and the overly convoluted, gerrymandered districts resulted in less than 1.59% of the state’s congressional seats being won with less than 60% of the vote during the 2004 election. By assuring their perpetual re-election to office, California’s elected representatives have eliminated the need to prove their effectiveness in office and any expectations the citizens of the state might have for political accountability evaporated long ago. Being elected to the California state Assembly, the Senate or as the representative of one of it’s 53 Congressional districts is like being granted the position of liege lord over a feudal fiefdom and the attitude of “nobilityâ€