Prop 20 and Prop 27

These two props are connected, so I am going to address them together. In my opinion, vote YES on 20, and NO on 27. Oddly, it turns out that a yes vote on 27 does nothing but cancels out a yes vote on 20 and keeps things the way that they are, so really, you need to look at prop 20 and decide if you want it. If you do, automatically vote no on 27.

Wow, I think I just confused myself.

Prop 20 effectively takes away the power from the legislature to draw congressional districts, and gives it to a panel of 14 republicans, democrats and non-party members to draw lines with less bias. The panel was already created by prop 11. The idea behind the proposition is to stop gerrymandering, which is the practice of drawing congressional districts that resemble my three year-old coloring on a map to make sure that no matter who runs, the democrat or republican will ALWAYS win.

For example, take a look at the 53rd congressional district by clicking here. By drawing those lines in even moderately conservative San Diego, you get a congresswoman who doesn't really need to care about her Republican constituents, and just won't go away. Also due to gerrymandering, Nancy Pelosi could probably go so far as to stop using Botox and her seat would still be secure. This gerrymandering also happens with Republican seats, of course, but to a lesser degree due to a democrat controlled state congress.

The arguments against 20 are pretty stupid. They scapegoat an evil rich guy that hatched the plan, and then claim that the cost of paying to have the districts drawn with less bias is too expensive. It is really a drop in the bucket.

There was one thought that crossed my mind in deciding if prop 20 was really all that good. Do we want politicians to have to constantly be pandering to their constituents? Is this not just going to mean more pork barrel spending to please single-minded voters? Quickly, however, I realized the fallacy of my argument. The fact is, that we have a democracy, and elected officials are accountable to the people. If the people are stupid and vote for their own monetary gain, then we have the wrong form of government altogether, and there is no hope. We have to trust that the people will maintain integrity in the government, and give the people any means possible to do that, and I think prop 20 provides just one more avenue to reduce corruption and bring the power closer to the people.