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2008
Prop. 11 Will Take Politics Out Of
Redistricting
Marin Independent Journal
August 17, 2008
Reforming Redistricting: Let Independent
Citizens Draw The Lines
Capitol Weekly
August 14, 2008
Democrats Need Not Fear Prop. 11 On
Redistricting
California Progress Report.com
August 14, 2008
Democrats Break Ranks On Prop. 11
San Francisco Chronicle
August 13, 2008
Proposition 11: Fake Redistricting Reform
California Progress Report.com
August 12, 2008
Dan Walters:
California's House Delegation Could Shrink
Sacramento Bee
August 11, 2008
Proposition 11 Has 2 Giant Loop-Holes In
It---And More!
Fox & Hounds Daily.com
August 11th, 2008
Opinion: Would Prop. 11 help minorities?
Los Angeles Times
July 27, 2008
Editorial: Redistricting Threatens
Incumbents
North County Times, Escondido
July 24, 2008
Cavala: California Voters’ Initial
‘Take’ On Redistricting Scheme Presages Its Defeat
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
July 22, 2008
Pelosi Reveals Herself And Makes Case For
Redistricting, Unintentionally
NewAmerica.net
July 18, 2008
Opinion: Proposition 11 Levels The
Redistricting Playing Field
San Jose Mercury
July 16, 2008
House Dems Oppose Calif. Redistricting
Measure
San Francisco Chronicle
July 16, 2008
Cavala: Could Redistricting ‘Reform’
Make California Competitive For John McCain? (No)
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
July 16, 2008
SEIU May Come Out In Favor of Voters’
First
RoseReport.org
July 11, 2008
Nunez Gets $600,000 From Dems’
Redistricting Fund
CapitolWeekly.net
July 10, 2008
Big Money Needed To Redraw Districts
The Sun, San Bernadino and the Inland Empire
July 9, 2008
Commentary: The Initiative Road To Terminal
Government Gridlock
Sacramento Bee
July 8, 2008
Remap Proposal Worries Civil Rights Groups
Contra Costa Times, Sacramento Bureau
July 8, 2008
Our View: Perata Won't Fool Us Again
Merced Sun-Star
July 7, 2008
Daniel Weintraub: Voters Beware -
Politicians Will Lie To Kill Proposition 11
Sacramento Bee
July 2, 2008
Gerrymandering The Vote: How A “Dirty
Dozen” States Suppress As Many As 9 Million Voters
Democratic Leadership Council
June 2008
Editorial: Perata's Power Play
San Francisco Chronicle
June 30, 2008
Democrats Fear Redistricting Measure Would
Curb Their Power In State
San Francisco Chronicle
June 27, 2008
Election-Map Initiative Helps Voters, State
Progress
Sacramento Bee
June 27, 2008
Politics And California Redistricting
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 27, 2008
Millions On Line In Ballot Drives
Sacramento Bee
June 24, 2008
Democratic Leaders Accused Of Pressuring
Supporters Of Redistricting Measure
Contra Costa Times Sacramento Bureau
June 21, 2008
California Is Branded Among A 'Dirty
Dozen' On Gerrymandering
Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2008
Redistricting In California: Control or
Democracy?
CaliorniaProgressReport.com
June 19, 2008
Changing Method Of Redistricting Makes
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
June 18, 2008
Government Reformer Down On Redistricting
Initiative
PolitickerCA.com
June 18, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Makes California
Ballot
San Jose Mercury News
June 17, 2008
Democratic Party Takes Stands On Ballot
Measures
CaliforninaMajorityReport.com
June 17, 2008
Cavala: Republicans Kill Reform Bill That
Hurts GOP Chances While Democrats Support 'Reform' That Hurts Their Chances
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 9, 2008
Speaking With The New Speaker
Los Angeles Times
June 2, 2008
Two Plans Created To Reform Districts
Modesto Bee
May 19, 2008
New Speaker Should Focus On Public
Interest
Los Angeles Daily News
May 13, 2008
Why Schwarzenegger's Redistricting Plan
Won't Work
California Majority Report.com
May 13, 2008
Tony Quinn: Redistricting Reform OK, But
It's Only A Start
Sacramento Bee
May 11, 2008
Governor May Face Donor Fatigue
Contra Costa Times
May 11, 2008
California Redistricting Plan Faces Hurdles
Capitol Weekly
May 7, 2008
Dan Walters: Competing Proposals For Remap
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
Initiative On Redistricting Closer To
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nunez Pushes Ethics Plan As Rival Petitions
Are Filed
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
To Get Leadership Reform, We First Need
Redistricting
Los Angeles Daily News
May 1, 2008
Good Intentions Could Harm Redistricting
Ballot Measure
Los Angeles Times
April 28, 2008
Redistricting On Track To Qualify,
Consultant Says
New America Foundation.com
April 23, 2008
Why Are GOP Contributors Putting Big Money
Into Redistricting Reform?
California Progress Report.com
April 19, 2008
Gov's
Giving To Remap Measure Tops $1 million
Sacramento Bee Capital Alert
April 21, 2008
‘Due
Process’ Democrats Have Their Heads Buried in the California Sand
California Progress Report.com
April 20, 2008
Opinion: Seeing The Light
Los Angeles Daily News
April 19, 2008
California
Voters FIRST Presents A Balanced And Bipartisan Effort For Redistricting
Reform
California Progress Report.com
April 17, 2008
Schwarzenegger's
Redistricting Plan Comes Under Fire
Contra Costa Times
April 17, 2008
Group Says Plan Will Put A Stop To
Gerrymandering
The Simi Valley Acron
April 4, 2008
The Need For Redistricting Reform From
This California Democrat’s Perspective
California Progress Report.com
April 4, 2008
Labor Says No To
Schwarzenegger/Republican/Common Cause Redistricting Measure
The California Majority Report.com
April 02, 2008
Revenge In Attack On Legislative
Redistricting?
California Progress Report.com
March 31, 2008
Weintraub: Governor Gets Another Shot At
Redistricting Reform
Sacramento Bee
March 30, 2008
Editorial: Can't Legislature Do Better Than
Bills On Dogs, Donkeys?
The Fresno Bee
March 30, 2008
Walters: Voters Irate At Budget Posturing
Sacramento Bee
March 28, 2008
New Foundation To Campaign For More Efficient
California Government
Sacramento Bee
March 27, 2008
Editorial: California Voters Should Support
Redistricting Ballot Measure
Fresno Bee
March 24, 2008
Editorial: Redraw the Map
Los Angeles Daily News
March 22, 2008
Walters: Court Ruling Offers Hope to
Dysfunctional California Politics
Sacramento Bee
March 19, 2008
Supreme Court to Hear Major Redistricting
Case
The Thicket at State Legislatures (ncsl.com)
March 18, 2008
Editorial: Let Citizens Redraw the Map
The Torrance Daily Breeze
March 17, 2008
Walters: Redistrict Reformers Miss Mark
Sacramento Bee
March 10, 2008
Let Citizens
Redraw Map
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 9, 2008
Governor Proposes Redistricting Ballot
Measure
North County Times
March 8, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Has Strong
Republican Backing
San Jose Mercury News
March 6, 2008
Governor Gathers Signatures to Qualify
Redistricting Measure
San Jose Mercury News
March 4, 2008
Manipulative Lawmakers Playing To The Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 14, 2008
State Voters Need To Do What Lawmakers
Won't
Los Angeles Daily News
February 14, 2008
Editorial: What We Need In Sacramento,
Redistricting, Not Retaliation
San Jose Mercury News
February 14, 2008
Redistricting Reform, Not Longer Terms, Is
The Answer
California Republic.org
February 12, 2008
The Buzz: A Hardball Tactic Could Ricochet
Sacramento Bee
February 11, 2008
Wake Up, Sacramento Media! Wake Up! Wake
Up! Wake Up!
San Diego Union Tribune
February 8, 2008
Editorial: Passive Aggressive Lawmakers
Just Play to the Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 8, 2008
Nunez Takes Blame For Prop. 93 Loss
Los Angeles Daily News
February 7, 2008
Weingand: Voters Got A Whiff and Said 'No'
Sacramento Bee
February 7, 2008
Lawmakers Believe In Term Limits But
Oppose The Measure
North County Times
February 4, 2008
Good For Us
Los Angeles Times
February 4, 2008
Commentary: A Conversation with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
Sacramento Bee
January 20, 2008
Walters: Two Party Structure Under Fire
Sacramento Bee
January 18, 2008
Walters: Governor's Brownian Flip-Flops
Sacramento Bee
January 16, 2008
Editorial: Corruption of a Good Idea
San Francisco Chronicle
January 15, 2008
Governor Supports Term Limit Measure
Sacramento Bee
January 15, 2008
A Deceptive Prop. 93
San Francisco Chronicle
January 10, 2008
Use Prop. 93 To Say 'No"
dailybreeze.com
January 3, 2008
more
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Commentary: Dysfunctional government? Maybe
voters prefer it
By Peter Schrag, Bee Columnist
Sacramento Bee
December 12, 2007
PPIC, the staid San Francisco-based Public Policy Institute of
California, has been trying to make more of a mark in Sacramento,
and last week it succeeded, not with its customary research reports
but by putting on the best entertainment of the season.
The stars, at an event called "Restoring Confidence in the
Legislative Process" that packed a large hotel ballroom, were
four former high-profile politicians with almost as many exes
attached to their names as all three Gabor sisters combined.
Among them: ex-Gov., ex-U.S. Sen. ex-San Diego Mayor and
ex-Assemblyman Pete Wilson; ex-Republican state Senate leader and
ex-Assembly Republican leader Jim Brulte; ex-Assembly Speaker and
ex-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown; and ex-Assemblyman, ex-U.S.
Rep. and ex-Senate President Pro Tem John Burton.
Collectively they didn't cast much light on how to restore
confidence in the legislative process or whether such a restoration
was even needed, but they certainly reminded the 400-plus people
jammed into in the room how much fun politics can be – or at least
used to be.
Wilson, Brown and Burton, the grizzled veterans in the group,
also shared more than a little nostalgia about the good/bad old
days, before political reform got in the way of the bipartisan
boozing and carousing that fostered collegiality and prevented the
ugly partisanship of latter-day politics. Brown added fond memories
of the back-room dealing, now also mostly gone, that got budgets
passed in time. Transparency, he said, impedes judgment.
The implicit message here: Beware of excessive enthusiasm for
political reform. It was a useful message for goo-goos to hear.
Fabian Núñez, the current Assembly speaker, was the fifth wheel
on the platform. As he himself noted, he wasn't born when some of
the others were first elected to state office. Núñez, whose recent
spending sprees got him in political doo-doo, was mightily aggrieved
by what he regarded as the unfairness of the press and the lack of
appreciation he was getting for his efforts.
The basic assumption of the session, expressed by PPIC President
Mark Baldassare and PPIC Research Fellow Eric McGee is that the
system is dysfunctional, that voters don't like or trust the
conventional political process, and that there's a long menu of
possible fixes.
Most are hardy perennials. One, Proposition 93, easing the
state's stupid term limits, which all agreed were too tight, is
already on the February ballot. Another, shifting the power to
apportion legislative and congressional districts from the
Legislature to an independent commission, has started its move
toward the November ballot.
A third, streamlining the budget process by reducing or
eliminating the supermajority requirement and thus making the
majority accountable, was generally regarded as a nonstarter for
both political and policy reasons. Making spending easier without
reducing the state's two-thirds requirement for raising taxes – a
near impossibility in the present climate – was an invitation to
still greater deficits.
Maybe the most telling point came in a question from the floor
before the stars had even arrived: Wasn't it possible that, given
the voters' rejection of prior re-reforms – easing term limits and
eliminating autopilot spending, for example, or lowering the budget
threshold – they really liked a little dysfunction and gridlock?
Baldassare, who also directs PPIC's voter surveys, summarily
rejected the suggestion: That wasn't what the voters were saying.
But maybe, while voters complain about special interests and
about politicians not getting things done, they find the
alternatives even less palatable.
Make it easier to raise taxes or spend money? Not a prayer. Make
term limits more flexible so legislators would have more experience
and could take a long-term view of public issues? No way unless
proponents can make voters believe, as Proposition 93 tries to do,
that they're tightening term limits.
As to reforming the redistricting process, to quote Burton,
ordinary people don't "give a s---." As Brown said, every
legislator does what his or her constituents want – not surprising
since the current redistricting system allows members to, in effect,
pick their constituents. But the constituents like that. And given
the state's political geography, the possibilities of creating many
competitive districts are limited.
Because the Legislature is apportioned according to population,
not by voters, it's more representative of that population than the
statewide electorate. It has proportionately more Latinos and more
urban liberals. It's thus not surprising that California voters, who
are still overwhelmingly non-Hispanic white, and are older and more
affluent than the population, don't fully trust the politicians that
other people elect.
There's research showing that the more diverse a society gets,
the more reluctant voters will be to support generous public
programs. If the beneficiaries (of schools or social services) might
be members of your family or people you know, you're more likely to
support them.
For more than 30 years, Californians' search for perfection led
them through a string of big fixes – some useful, many
misconceived – that fog up representative democracy, depoliticize
the governmental process and confound public accountability. Any
"restoration" should be exactly that, not more of the
same.
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