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Health & Fitness

When Politicians Pick Their Voters

Did you notice that you may have been moved into a new legislative or Congressional district over the weekend? You might think that voters elect their politicians. In Illinois, it's vice versa.

Did you notice that you may have been moved into a new legislative or Congressional district over the weekend?  You can find the new and prior maps for comparison via the Illinois Senate Redistricting Committee website and the Illinois House Redistricting website set up by Speaker Madigan.

You might think that voters elect their politicians.  Not really.  In Illinois, legislators get to pick their voters to rig the elections in their own favor to perpetuate their own political careers and power.  In the best tradition of third world dictators who maintain the illusion of popular elections as a mandate for them to do as they please, Illinois is an authoritarian state.

Although few voters noticed, there was an effort in 2010 to get a "Fair Map" referendum onto the ballot in Illinois to change how legislative and Congressional districts are redrawn through the "gerrymandering" process after every Census.  There was also a "Putback Amendment" petition drive to address related legislative problems in a different way. 

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Both initiatives failed to achieve the deliberately difficult requirements to qualify for the ballot.  In short, any efforts to reform Illinois politics must overcome many obstacles which are carefully designed to defend those who run the system today. Neither change nor transparency are real priorities for the rulers of our state.  They just need to maintain the illusion of accountability to voters in order to maintain a fig leaf cover of decency while they rule over us like dictators.

Both political parties showed little interest in changing the existing system.  Instead, both hoped to use it to their own advantage, as in the past, according to the 2010 election results.  The Republican Party leaders placed false hope in the candidacy of Bill Brady for Governor to be able to veto any map which didn't take their own manipulative interests into consideration, such as to defend the seats of those Republicans who readily negotiate backroom deals with Democrats.

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When Brady lost, and the Democrats also maintained complete control of both the House and Senate in Springfield, that left the Democratic Party leaders free to impose whatever map they pleased on Illinois voters.  Regardless of Republican whining, they could rig every district boundary in the state to perpetuate their own political careers and power.

Unfortnately, we now see the results.  If you thought that the arrogant political process by which Obamacare was rammed through Congress in 2009 was an atrocity, you need to wake up to what just happened in Springfield over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.  Like the tax increases which they rammed through the lame duck session over the Christmas holidays, they have once again shown their scorn for Illinois voters.  The leaders of both political parties in Illinois are to blame for this - and both need to be replaced by voters despite their clever efforts to legally usurp our rights.

The General Assembly just introduced new maps for the districts of state Representatives, Senators, and members of Congress.  Given complete control of the process, the Democrats were free to redraw all of the district boundaries in the state in their own favor, and ram this through with virtually no debate or chance of revision.

The dramatic changes in the Congressional district boundaries should outrage every voter in Illinois.  In effect, they are trying to reverse the outcome of the 2010 election, in which five new Republican members of Congress were elected by the people of Illinois in districts which were already drawn up by Democrats to favor themselves after the 2000 Census.

Since Illinois voters didn't vote for them in 2010, they're trying to better rig the elections in their own favor for 2012.  If at first you don't succeed ... try, try again.

There were some perfunctory "public hearings" about the redistricting plans in recent months, but there were no drafts of the new district maps at that time, nor is there any evidence that public input was ever going to have a meaningful impact on the process.  Instead, in the best tradition of secret backroom deals and political corruption in Illinois, the only real transparency in the process is that it was intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that the whole process was a rigged game from the start.  "We the People" are just pawns to be manipulated as they perpetuate their own power.

The news media paid very little attention to the process, even though the new maps should outrage any voters who pay attention to this important matter.  The effect of your vote is being manipulated to ensure, as best they can, that they will remain in power for many years even if you are unhappy with their performance.  In this state, the politicians get to pick their voters, rather than vice versa. 

Other states use different redistricting processes to limit such abusive political "gerrymandering".  We had a chance in 2010 to change the process, but failed to get enough voters to wake up to the threat while both parties let it remain.

As a result, the next time that you vote, you may find that you are in a different Congressional district and a different district for your elected state Representative or Senator.  Even if your own elected official hasn't changed, the mix of voters in the district has been carefully manipulated to maximize the potential for the Democrats to win the election.

That may please you if you are a Democratic voter at first, but it really should offend all voters.  A tyrant is still a tyrant, even if he is doing something which you personally like at the time.  Abuse of power by politicians is not in our interest as voters, regardless of political party preference.  The perpetuation of the political careers of incumbents though such manipulation has the effect of minimizing the influence of all voters over the actions of their government.  When we allow them to act with impunity this way, we embolden them to commit future atrocities against our other interests.  Over time, this increases their arrogance and lack of accountability to voters, leaving them free to do as they please to us.

The new districts have been meticulously designed to maximize Democratic political control in Illinois as one of the last one-party authoritarian states in the western world.  That also perpetuates Illinois as one of the worst economic environments for business in the United States.

This is how tyrants manipulate elections to stay in power.  Both political parties have been guilty of it, which doesn't excuse either one of culpability.  As voters, we need to replace the leaders of both parties in Illinois.  While they drive up state spending, debt, and taxes, they are driving businesses and residents away from Illinois.  That's why we have one less Congressional district now, because other states are growing while Illinois declines.

We won't get another chance to fix the problems with the new maps until after the 2020 Census.  For now, we need to put pressure on every Republican candidate in 2012 to implement changes to the redistricting process if elected to the majority in the General Assembly.  We have to rid ourselves of the unprincipled legislators who simply hope to be the incumbent politicians in 2021 who will get to benefit from the same manipulative redistricting process.  To restore respect for Illinois voters, we need to replace every legislator who has perpetrated this insulting assault on our rights as voters.

The Democratic Party leaders in Springfield have repeatedly proven themselves to be unworthy of our trust and support.  They pose a clear and present danger to our economic futures as individuals, businesses, and communities.  The only question now is whether Republican legislators will show any greater respect for Illinois voters.

Districts should not be drawn to favor specific politicians, political parties, or interest groups.  Elections are about choosing our representatives - not defending the political careers, wealth, or power of an arrogant group of rulers.

The legislators have now done their best to rig the election of 2012 and future years in their favor.  Now it is our turn to remind them who is really in charge in Illinois by defeating them despite their best efforts.

They have made our task as difficult as possible, but as Americans, we rise to the challenge of defending our rights as free voters, regardless of party preference.  We aren't mindless pawns for them to manipulate as they please.

We will just have to get more organized in the new districts so that their statistical assumptions about their ability to manipulate us with impunity are proven to be false.  We have to flip control in Springfield in 2012 to send a clear message to the legislators in both parties that we will be "silent no more" about such atrocities.  We have to elect legislators who will actually listen and respect us as voters, rather than try to rule over us as they please for their own benefit.

We flipped Congress decisively in 2010 when all the experts doubted that it could be done.  Springfield is next, and they know it, so they have tried their best to make it harder.

No matter which political party you generally favor, this abuse of your rights as a voter should infuriate you.

The new district maps are their opening shot in the war of 2012.  They have declared open war on the rights of Illinois voters to control the future direction of this state.  It is our turn now to take the fight to them, and replace as many of these legislators as possible to stop further atrocities in Springfield and put Illinois back on track to a better future.  Then, we will need to finish the job in 2014 and rid ourselves of Gov. Quinn, whose complicity cannot be ignored or excused.

The General Assembly has just declared war on Illinois voters.  We didn't pick this fight, but now we have to win it.

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