In addition to states mentioned in the article Missouri is doing a new gerrymander due to the Republican fear of losing Congressional seats in 2026
In addition to states mentioned in the article Missouri is doing a new gerrymander due to the Republican fear of losing Congressional seats in 2026
I expect the DNC to refuse to respond in kind, which is categorically insane under these circumstances.
There is a strong argument to be made that if Dems successfully restructure CA districts to make up for the TX seats, then it will start setting a slippery precedent for how states are to respond to federal government organization, basically throwing the three branches of government out the window. When states just start setting their own number of seats it removes the will of the people and now we’re just playing congressional flash-mob and federal legislation and budgeting dies, to be replaced by who-knows-what, and it’s very likely there are GOP strategists who are counting on this because they already have an alternative planned. (“Congress is over, we now are going to use Grokgress! Powered by X, the Everything App!”)
That is why this entire standoff is very, very worrying. When this kind of fighting starts, we are truly seeing an end to democratic process and the “united” part of the United States.
On the other hand, there is an even stronger argument to be made that the game is already over, that we lost democracy already and there are mountains of evidence to back it up, well beyond the stupid Trump spectacle that is distracting everyone. The Republican party has been working tirelessly to strip states of their rights and have successfully sabotaged the judicial branch of government as well as the executive. They are actively working on ways to dismantle the legislative branch but it’s harder. Dems are in the position to either let them do this, or pull the plug on their own terms.
I have no idea which way it will go or what the after-effects will be, but it’s starting to look like it’s over. The system is running on inertia but in a decade or less we may see a proper dissolution of the states and the implementation of some kind of corporate feudalism kleptocracy and various blocs of states like Cascadia forming their own micro-unions.
Blue States have the advantage of having an economy
Corporations aren’t centralized, they just need de-regulated property to set up operations on. There’s a reason Muskrat moved to Texas, and it’s nothing to do with “wokeness.” They don’t care if the landscape around them is shanty-towns and hovels of desperate peasants, and that’s also exactly what they want. They have enough money to keep their organizations flourishing and their shareholders wealthy enough to own bunkers and mansions on every continent. Blue states will still buy Amazon orders, blue states will still ask Grok if “this is true.”
And more population in aggregate, so the House isn’t so intractable a problem as the DNC would have you believe. All they need to do is pull their heads out of their asses and reach into their purses to find the balls to meaningfully stand up to the fascistic encroachment we are living through.
The senate is where the real problem lies, as it was expressly designed from the get-go to favor landowners and is fundamentally (small d) anti-democratic.
Good. People fear this outcome, but I would welcome it. It would allow for greater representation and actually allow the West Coast to join the 21st century. We could keep more of our money, complete interstate high-speed rail, set energy policy, etc.
Right now we’re a married couple living in one house, and one partner is abusive, controlling, and insane. The right answer is not “figure out how to make it work.” And yes, I know factions don’t live cleanly according to state lines, but it’s close enough now and only getting more voluntarily segregated as time moves on.
I agree, if we built a new coalition of allied, prosperous states with their own constitution towards fairness and equality without fear of federal interference it would be a huge benefit to the people who live there.
The part that makes this outcome less than ideal is that the former US federal system will still have control of the world’s most powerful military, and I don’t really expect that particular faction to want peaceful and amicable relationships with their neighbors. We’re going to just see a replay of the Russia/Ukraine situation where unhinged tyrants prosper on starting endless wars with former members of their union.
The actual power to respond is in state government. It’s looking like California is likely to, and perhaps other states too.
I hope CA does it, and I hope Newsom’s dipshit centrist strategy doesn’t get him to ultimately veto it