The Journal of Unpopular Opinions (Chapter 4)

When a president, congressman, senator, governor, state legislator, or anyone else tells you that the only way they can ‘protect you from the other side’ or ‘continue serving you to the best of their abilities’ is to treat you as if you haven’t got an independent thought in your head, run screaming from the room.

*****     *****     *****     *****     

Off-cycle Congressional redistricting by Republicans, like that done (so far) in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and soon Indiana, which will tackle it starting Monday, has nothing to do with what voters want and everything to do with what the politicians want: to protect their longevity by caving to a president who clearly knows he is as unpopular as we the people believe he is.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for similar redistricting efforts by the Democrats, such as those under consideration in Maryland, Illinois, and New York (so far). Some consider these noble efforts, from a 'we can't let them rig the election' or whatever the logic is, but I disagree. It's a shameless attempt to grab power, to protect their longevity, and to cheat the system, which is exactly what the Ds claim the Rs are doing.  

California's goal is the same, but the process is different, so I dislike it slightly less than I do the blatant stuff being done elsewhere. The Golden State has an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, so the legislature needs voter approval to bypass that group and institute its own maps - and I hope voters reject the Prop 50 ballot initiative. 

Why?  Because we should be demanding the right to choose our politicians, rather than letting them choose us. We should never give a politician our vote simply because we share a party affiliation. We should be making them work for every vote they want and earn every vote they get. 

And we should never stand for them giving in to the narcissistic, panicked demands and threats of the person at the top of their party, no matter how high the throne upon which that person sits.

For too long, we have acted as if the term ‘voting rights’ only applies to ensuring access to voting.  For years, we have sat by, watching the people who have been trusted to represent us:

• make it harder for us to vote by taking away options like early voting, mail-in ballots, and other changes, and by implementing ridiculous rules that directly and negatively impact women, the elderly, and economically disadvantaged voters, because 'those people' are more likely to vote against a certain party;

• constantly bang the drum about all kinds of voter fraud, ignoring years of evidence that there is negligible impact from the extremely limited fraud that occurs, and complaining that elections they don't are rigged, and threatening states, which have constitutional control over their voting rules, with all kinds of retribution if they don't change their ways to diminish or exclude certain voters;

• allow our voices to be overshadowed and overwhelmed by the tens of millions of dollars politicians of both parties receive from corporations, political parties, unions, lobbyists, PACs, and super-rich donors, in return for who knows what legislative promises; and

• blatantly look away from - heck, they run away from - our legitimate concerns about the direction of our country, their policies, and their ineffectiveness.

And here we are today, 

• letting them disrespect us even more by rearranging us into districts they assume will give them an advantage; 

• letting them assume we’re nothing but sheep that will vote for a party rather than for our issues and interests; and 

• letting them assume they no longer have to work for our votes.  

You know what they say about people who assume, right? That old line about 'making an ass...'?

Don’t let them get away with it.

• If your state asks you to vote for off-cycle redistricting, vote no.

• If your state just goes ahead and redistricts off-cycle, let the folks who represent you know that you’re unhappy about it, and that you’ll vote against them at the earliest opportunity. And then, do exactly that.

• And if they’re not talking about it, or have decided not to play the game, thank them – and remind them that they still have to work for – and earn – your vote, every single election.

It's time we fully use our voting rights - and there's no better time to start than this Tuesday, Election Day. 

Sunday School 5/24/2020

What a bright and cheerful Sunday this was, at least in my neck of the woods.  I hope it was the same where you are, and that you're ready now to knuckle down and get some schoolwork done.

I visited the CNN State of the Union classroom today, to hear from two Floridians. Alas, I've only got one of them: Republican Senator Rick Scott, who was quite chatty today. Bash started by asking Scott what his message was for Floridians about masks.

... - well, look, if you're walking by yourself on the beach somewhere, probably, you don't have to. But if you're - if you're close to anybody, you ought to be - you ought to wear a mask. If you go into a grocery store, you ought to wear a mask. So, yes, I - I mean, you ought to - look, we have to social distance. We have to wear a mask. We have to open our economy. We have to do it safely. So, absolutely, should you be wearing a mask? Is it fun? No, they're hot. But yet we have to do it.

Bash compared that statement to one Scott made on an appearance on Fox during the week, where he said "We all understand social distancing. Quit telling us how to lead our lives." And she asked him, "So, now you're saying that people should wear masks?"

Oh, I - no, well, I think they should, but it's a choice you get to make. I mean, I grew up - I grew up in a family. My mom had a 11th-grade education. My adopted dad had a sixth-grade education. They were still smart. And we don't need people telling us how to lead our lives every day.

He said he believes people ought to wear masks, they ought to social distance, but we don't need the president, governor, and local officials telling us how to live our lives. And, he said, "I trust the American public, I think they're going to make good decisions."  Bash was curious, noting that his first answer "suggested that you also understand, as a leader, it is important to lead by example...correct?"

But I think - I think you're right, lead by example. I had four hurricanes. So I went out and I talked people into the problem. I said, here's - here's what's happening. We're going to have nine foot of storm surge. We're going to have this much rain. We're going to have this much wind, so you need to prepare yourself. And so - and they did, because people are smart. They want to - they want to stay alive. They want to take care of their families. I trust the American public to make good decisions.

I guess he must not have heard about all of the people making bad decisions...

Bash shifted to the president's statement that houses of worship are 'essential' and that he'd override governors who didn't allow them to open today. Her first question was whether Scott would be comfortable going to church himself.

Absolutely. First off, it doesn't matter what a governor says or the president or any local leaders. We have the Bill of Rights. We have a right to worship. We have a right to get together and respect -- and we need to respect people's religion. And so, if you want to go to your church, I believe people are going to do it safely. I believe they're going to social distance. I believe they're going to wear masks if they're close. But we should allow people to do what they want to do. They have a right to their religion...

She asked if he was saying if churches and other institutions feel that it's "their right to do something" they can choose to not follow guidelines, or not follow laws. 

No. I mean, first off, the church I go to, they're - they're social distancing. People are wearing masks. And I think it's the right thing to do. But do I believe that the government - that the government should be telling us what to do? Do I believe the government -- government can tell us we don't have a right to worship? I don't believe they can. I believe I have - I have - I have - all Floridians, all Americans have a Bill of Rights.

He said if people weren't comfortable going to church, they'll still have the option of the internet, or watching on TV. But in the end,

This is America. We have rights in this country. We have the Bill of Rights. Follow it.

Next topic? Voting by mail, which the president has said will lead to "total election fraud. Bash wondered if Scorr agrees with Trump.  Scott said he's always wanted people to vote, "100% participation, 0% fraud," he said. And Florida has "figured out how to do it in a safe manner."

Now, I think what a lot of the Democrats want to do is do only mail-in ballots. And I don't think that's right. I think -- I think you -- if -- as long as you can do it safely, as long as you can make sure there's no fraud, we ought to be able to do absentee ballots like we do it in Florida.

He says it can be done - following and enforcing the laws, setting them up right in the first place - and you can have absentee or mail-in voting without fraud. And he again said the Dems want only mail-in ballots, vs. Florida where you can vote absentee, vote early, or vote on election day, the latter being "clearly the safest."

Scott had a lot to say about blue state governors, saying that a lot of them never did the hard work, never cut spending, never balanced their budgets, they borrowed money, and so on. He attacked my Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo, saying NY's budget is almost double Florida's, because "he doesn't want to cut anything. He - he's involved in every liberal thing there is. And then he wants Florida taxpayers to bail him out."

So -- and, by the way, what have we already done for them? We have given them $50 billion for their Medicaid program. We don't know yet if their Medicaid program costs went up. We gave them $30 billion for their higher education and K-12. We don't know if their costs went up. We gave them money through FEMA. We have given them other direct grants through other federal agencies, a total of $270 billion. And we have lent them - we have - we're - we have a plan to lend them $500 billion. That's over - that's over a trillion dollars. I mean, give me a break.

Bash referenced a Rockefeller Institute study which found that Florida receives $25B more in programs than it pays in taxes, while New York pays $22B more in taxes than it receives in programs. 

Well, first off, the -- the government of New York has never sent a dime while I have been up there in D.C. to the federal government. They don't do it. What happens is, their citizens, while they're working in New York, pay into Social Security and Medicare. And they get sick and tired of all the taxes up there and move to Florida and receive those benefits. That's not the government of New York sending a dime to the federal government. So, that's exactly what's happened. That is -- that has nothing to do reality.

Um, really, Senator? Do you even know where the government's money comes from? Bash had to tell him that all of the money they're talking about is taxpayer money, not government money. Good lord, talk about having "nothing to do with reality" - does Scott even have a clue?

Well, that's exactly right. What -- what Andrew Cuomo and other governors want to do is, they want the federal government to tax citizens in other states, because they probably can't tax -- raise the taxes anymore because they have seen -- they're seeing what's happening. All this money is moving out of their states to places like Florida, because their people are sick and tired of their taxes, their regulation, their unfunded pensions.

It would seem that Florida's pension plan is underfunded by around $22B, and hasn't been fully funded since 2008. Scott was governor from 2011 - 2019; I wonder why he didn't mention that?

And it's not just New York. Scott attacked New Jersey, too. And California. And Illinois.

They won't watch their budget every year. I did that. It's a pain in the rear to watch what you have to do. But you know what? Every family does it. Every business does it. They have to live within their means. But these -- these governors, they don't. They just borrow more money every year...

Next, they moved to China, the new restrictions on Hong Kong, and of course the whole coronavirus thing. Scott said that the most effective thing we can do is buy American, and "never buy another thing made in communist China" - it would be bigger than all of our sanctions or anything else we try to do, although he says we should add sanctions, block their students from coming here to go to school, and more. And, he said, "they steal our jobs, our technology." 

And he said "this election, a lot is going to be about, one, who's going to be tougher on China." Biden, he said, hasn't been tough on China, and Trump has.

I think it's also going to be about capitalism and socialism. And, clearly, Donald Trump clearly believes in capitalism more than Joe Biden ever has.

Which is funny, because you know how the Chinese got to 'steal' our jobs and start making all of those products for American companies? It happened because our great American companies with their capitalist executives and capitalist boards and capitalist investors sold out American workers and American families and American towns and cities, that's how. It's because we - US and us - gave them our jobs, not because China stole them.

And, of course, Scott's comment was also funny since Biden, the last man standing, is the least progressive and least 'socialist' of any of the Dem contenders.

"Bye-bye. Have a good day," said Scott as he signed off.  And somewhere, I swear, a "bye, Felicia" rang out.

 See you around the virtual campus. Keep washing your hands, covering your face, and keeping your distance.

We'll catch up with Rep. Demings in tomorrow's Extra Credit.