Vos-Republicans ignore public and Gerrymander Gerrymandered maps. Vos jokes Democrats "out of step with the majority of Wisconsin!"

Authoritarian much?

Gerrymandering: It hasn't mattered what Wisconsinites wanted or thought, since the huge protests against Act 10: The shocking reaction to the Republican's new gerrymandered-gerrymandered maps didn't appear to make a damn bit of difference:

One week after Don Leake, a retired UW-River Falls math professor, and more than 150 people testified for almost 10 hours before a joint committee hearing over the proposed maps, a state Senate committee approved the maps, sending them to the Senate floor for a vote. Other than Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Sen. Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), none of the commenters spoke in favor of the Legislature’s proposed maps.

Stroebel's Gaslighting Fail: Despite not having any support for the GOP maps...not one person, Sen. Duey Stroebel simply stepped up and lied. Like no one would notice?

The committee's chairman, Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, pushed back. He said that just because dozens of people registered against the bill last week, that’s not “indicative” of what voters across the state feel.

Portal Closes on the Truth: If you believe Robin Vos, after hundreds of "Draw your district" maps were submitted, Republicans already knew what the results would be:

The Legislature submitted its maps hours after closing the portal on the Draw Your District website, casting doubt on Vos’ claim that Republicans actually took public input into consideration because of the considerable time it takes to draw an electoral map.

...but if that's too hard to believe...

Vos instead characterized the discussion as nothing more than whining from the opposite party: “Democrats have a problem with winning in Wisconsin because your agenda is out of step with the majority of Wisconsin.”

Vos Lied Again: Democrats are "out of step with the majority of Wisconsin?" Discarding that laughable excuse to do nothing because Republicans "won't govern by polls," reality tells a different story:

Whose agenda is out of step? On the biggest issues...

Welcome to The State Republican Supreme Court!

The news headlines should really read, "This is getting ridiculous!!!"

I keep thinking back on a time when Republicans always accused Democrats of using the courts to pass their left-wing agenda. Well, as it turns out, it was another serious case of "projection." 

It's all here; "Conservative Activist Justices" "Legislating from the Bench": Another Walker legacy, the gerrymandered Republicans legislature and their legal attack dogs at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) are now openly admitting the State Supreme Court is conservative and theirs to command. Seriously, they couldn't wait a few days?:

WILL’s lawsuit was filed on the last day that former Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson served on the court. When Hagedorn takes Abrahamson’s place on Thursday, the Court will have a 5-2 conservative majority.

...and...

Republicans filed their lawsuit directly with the state Supreme Court just hours after conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn was sworn into office.

...and who could forget how it all started...

On limiting Gov. Evers veto power, it will be interesting to see how the State Republican Supreme Court will sell their eventual limit on vetos and over 80 years of precedent because you know they will:

Esenberg said he may also pursue having the court reverse a 1935 Supreme Court decision to further curtail the veto powers of the governor. Those who have challenged past vetoes have typically lost. In 1988, for instance, the high court ruled the governor held a "quasi-legislative" role and was allowed to strike out words, digits and even individual letters from budgets to string together new sentences.

Republican Voters love it: Even when it's obvious, GOP voters will never want to give up power. Like the originalist's con "interpreting" the legal text which could mean anything; or the lame-duck session stripping the governor and attorney generals of their power...: 

Justice Rebecca Dallet contended ... no state law gave them that power ... the state constitution says lawmakers can meet only when called into a special session by the governor or as provided by law. Lawmakers wrote a work schedule (not law) ... that was enough to comply with the constitutional provisions the majority concluded.

Ultra-Gerrymandering up Next: Would Republicans really try to bypass the governor when it's time to redraw districts? Seriously?

“I’ve heard about it,” Rick Esenberg, executive director of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), said of the plan. “Whether we would have anything to do with it, I can’t say.”

But, he added, “I understand the argument. The argument is the constitution reserves [redistricting] to the state legislature, and it should be taken literally; the state legislature should do it. It would require that precedent be overruled,” Esenberg acknowledged. But, he added, “I don’t think it’s a frivolous argument.”

The last word on Gerrymandering...or it should have been.

It would seem that even the video clip and quoted comments below still wouldn't be enough to convince judges and justices the fatal flaw of gerrymandering. Sadly, the "debate" and "conversation" will continue:

A major Republican redistricting strategist, Thomas Hofeller, played a role in the Trump administration's push to get a citizenship question on forms for the 2020 census ...(he) concluded in a 2015 report that adding the question would produce the data needed to redraw political maps that would be "advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites," according to a court filing released Thursday. He saw holes in the democratic system that could be exploited by technology and guile. Hofeller, who died in August 2018, saw a way to turn small vote margins into supermajorities for GOP legislators.

"Redistricting is like an election in reverse! It's a great event," he said with a smile at a National Conference of State Legislatures event in 2000. "Usually the voters get to pick the politicians. In redistricting, the politicians get to pick the voters!"

He spent 10 PowerPoint slides in a presentation he gave about redistricting in 2011 just on legal issues and privacy.

It's also important to remember:

Wisconsin Watch: Cal Potter, a former Democratic state lawmaker who now serves on the board of Common Cause in Wisconsin, a nonpartisan watchdog group, noted that the redistricting after the 1990 and 2000 Census was done by the courts, because the Legislature and governor were split and could not agree on a plan. This time around, he said, the GOP ran the show and was able to maximize its electoral advantages.

So the recent decision that simply discounted the basic fundamentals of a representative democracy as "not large enough"...

thepoliticalenvironment: “A panel of three federal judges unanimously ruled: "As for the other claims, we find that although the drafting of Act 43 was needlessly secret, regrettably excluding input from the overwhelming majority of Wisconsin citizens, and although the final product needlessly moved more than a million Wisconsinites and disrupted their long-standing political relationships, the resulting population deviations are not large enough to permit judicial intervention under the Supreme Court’s precedents." 

It's Official...again: Republican Terrorists running not just Wisconsin, but Country!!! Oh, and Kasich betrays Party in opposing Gerrymandering.

Who can forget this morsel of truth spewed by Wisconsin's cranky imp, Robin Vos: 

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has apologized for using the term “terrorists” to describe three Republican senators ... In a WISN-TV interview on Upfront with Mike Gousha, Vos blasted Chris Kapenga,Steve Nass, and Duey Stroebel, for making what Vos called a “backroom deal.”

Vos: "Frankly I wish Gov. Walker had not negotiated with terrorists, I think that's a bad way to operate the legislature..."

Mike Gousha: "Terrorists, you called them rogue Senators and terrorist..."

Vos: "That's what they are."

Boehner calls House Republican Terrorist: What didn't get a lot of press, was a similar comparison made by former House Speaker John Boehner:

Boehner was ruthlessly frank with his Tim Alberta interviewer, in offering assessments of himself and his former colleagues...:

“(Rep. Jim) Jordan was a terrorist as a legislator going back to his days in the Ohio House and Senate. A terrorist. A legislative terrorist.”

Vos Swears at John Kasich for his Opposition to a Gerrymandered Wisconsin, and "betraying his Party:" This is just more fun stuff that I wish had made it into the Supreme Court arguments over Wisconsin's partisan gerrymandered districts, because this is Vos' open admission that yes, it was a political power grab, not actual constituent representation. WHA:

Kasich was preparing to deliver a speech to statehouse speakers from across the country when Vos "amicably approached the governor and then swore at him for adding his name to a Supreme Court brief opposing Republican gerrymandering in Wisconsin."

"Vos accused Kasich of betraying his party," the magazine reported.Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos confirmed Thursday he confronted Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich over Kasich's support for a lawsuit that could overturn Wisconsin's Republican-drawn legislative map.

It's a profile of Kasich by New York Magazine, that reflects badly, again, on how radical right-wing politics has gotten in Wisconsin.

In Wisconsin, Democratic Voters Don't Count anymore....

I heard this incredible report on NPR's All Things Considered about Wisconsin's gerrymandering case in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday. I didn't want it to just fade away without highlighting it here. 

The piece starts with the reelection of the not so popular Van Wanggaard, who's district suddenly...again, liked him:

Journal Times: Van Wanggaard, 62, was elected to the 21st Senate District seat in 2010 but held the position for less than two years; he was recalled in 2012. The recall was largely driven by Wanggaard’s vote for Act 10, the controversial legislation that effectively ended collective bargaining for public employees.

Wanggaard was defeated in the 2012 recall by John Lehman, D-Racine, who opted not to seek re-election and instead ran for lieutenant governor.

Walker Redistricting Maps Unconstitutional...until Trump's Activist Supreme Court is in place.

Better hope the Supreme Court stays 4-4 for this one...JS-Jason Stein and Patrick Marley:

Two weeks after a stunning election defeat a federal court struck down legislative maps drawn by Republicans in 2011 ... judges ruled 2-1 that the redistricting maps were "intended to burden the representational rights of Democratic voters throughout the (10-year) period by impeding their ability to translate their votes into legislative seats." Depending on the outcome of a likely appeal, the case could have national implications since it includes a new method of determining whether legislative maps amount to discrimination against voters of a particular party.

"We find that the discriminatory effect is not explained by the political geography of Wisconsin nor is it justified by a legitimate state interest. Consequently, Act 43 constitutes an unconstitutional political gerrymander," the decision reads.

The ruling found the maps drawn for state Assembly districts are unconstitutional, but the decision would alter state Senate maps as well ... The ruling does not affect congressional maps, which were also redrawn in 2011. The decision also did not include immediate remedies

"We find that the discriminatory effect is not explained by the political geography of Wisconsin nor is it justified by a legitimate state interest. Consequently, Act 43 constitutes an unconstitutional political gerrymander," the decision reads.

The ruling found the maps drawn for state Assembly districts are unconstitutional, but the decision would alter state Senate maps as well ... The ruling does not affect congressional maps, which were also redrawn in 2011. The decision also did not include immediate remedies

Finding the maps unconstitutional were Kenneth Ripple, a senior judge with the Chicago-based 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (Reagan), and U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb of Wisconsin's Western District (Carter). U.S. District Judge William Griesbach of the state's Eastern District dissented (W. Bush). Appeals go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, without making a stop at an appeals court.

The lawsuit represents the last, best chance of Democrats to regain hope of capturing a majority in the statehouse in the coming years. The maps drawn by Republicans have made it difficult to do so, particularly in the state Senate.

Note;

The 2012 and 2014 elections showed that the maps for the Wisconsin Assembly are some of the most heavily skewed maps in the country going back more than 40 years, the plaintiffs showed. State attorneys acknowledged that point in court filings.

Gerrymandering Myth that "Both Sides Do It" Busted in Wisconsin.

GOP myth busting continues. It nice to see the lie about Democratic gerrymandering in Wisconsin finally come to an end.

Urban Milwaukee's Bruce Murphy brought all the pieces together. Remember one detail not mentioned; when Republicans gerrymandered in 2012, they had to take an oath of secrecy to keep their scheme from getting out into the public. Who does that? In summary...

MURPHY’S LAW: The Myth of Democratic Gerrymandering: When the Republicans need someone to spin the electorate, there is never anyone better for the job than Christian Schneider ... an August 2013 column peddling the theory that this was no different or more partisan than past efforts when Democrats held power. To buttress his claim, he pointed to the an action taken by Democratic Gov. Tony Earl, elected in 1982 ... “As was the case just last year, one party got to set legislative boundaries to their political advantage, to ensure partisan majorities,” Schnieder wrote.

This defense — the Nixonian “they all do it” — has now become Republican dogma … The Public Policy Institute of Chicago devised an “efficiency gap,” which measures the ratio of each party’s wasted votes to all votes cast. Prof. Simon Jackman of Stanford University then did a historic analysis which measured the efficiency gap for each party in 786 state legislative elections in 41 states from 1972-2014.

Here's the amazing truth:

And looking at Wisconsin’s Republican efficiency gap advantage of 13 percent in 2012 and 10 percent in 2014, he concluded that in “the entire set of 786 state legislative elections” no other two-election sequence after redistricting achieved this big an advantage for either party. The gerrymandering in Wisconsin is “virtually without historical precedent,” he concluded.

As for the idea that Wisconsin’s Republicans are only doing what Democrats before them did, that couldn’t be more untrue. The state’s highest Democratic efficiency gap since 1972 was just 2 percent in 1994, Jackman found. The current Republican advantage is at least five times larger. 

But what about that egregious redistricting by Gov. Earl? Stephanopolous reviewed the data for me and found that ... after the relatively minor changes made by Earl and the Democrats, that changed to a 2.4 percent GOP advantage in 1984. Throughout the 1980s, the Democrats never had an efficiency gap advantage.

But Schneider’s claim becomes all the more hollow when you consider a initial ruling by a three-judge federal court, of which two judges were appointed by Republican presidents, in response to a suit against the Republicans’ redistricting in Wisconsin. The ruling noted that historical data suggests “there is close to a zero percent chance that the current (Wisconsin) plan’s efficiency gap will ever favor the Democrats during the remainder of the decade.” That stands in start contrast to advantages realized in the past

Expert Partisan Republican Help:

The ruling noted that Republicans hired Ronald Keith Gaddie, a political science professor at the University of Oklahoma, to help with the redistricting: “Gaddie’s model forecast that the Assembly plan would have a pro-Republican ‘efficiency gap’ of 12 percent.” Gaddie, it appears, used the efficiency gap analysis ... to instead assure a massive partisan advantage. All of which may be taken into account in the federal court’s ultimate ruling ... Republican insiders had to know about Gaddie’s role; he has done work for the conservative American Enterprise Institute and his involvement here was reported by Wispolitics.com. 

Political Trends Favor Democrats, but Gerrymandering Delays Change.

Locking in a party majority through district gerrymandering is a problem. But depending on whether you're a Republican or Democrat, you like or hated the current process of redistricting.

If nothing changes, we're stuck with one party, whether they fail or not, because most voters would never think of voting for the opposition. In the Journal Sentinel's Dividing Lines/Special Report, you can see just how we've been divided up. The interactive map here is a great tool to see how your county is trending. The following are screen shots that tell the story. Click pic to enlarge:

Any Honest Republican Legislators in Florida?

This odd little story may tell us a whole lot about how honest Republicans want to be about choosing their voters and gerrymandering their districts in court. Of course they're protecting their seats, but the excuses for doing so under the guise of "shifting population growth" should be a real side show in court:

9:56 AM PT: FL Redistricting: In a major procedural victory for opponents of Florida's new congressional map, the state Supreme Court ruled that legislators and their staffers can be required to testify about whether they drew the new lines with improper partisan intent. Amendments to the state constitution passed in 2010 now forbid the legislature from creating maps "with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent," but plaintiffs charge that lawmakers did exactly that.

Chilling effect...on What? Isn't it funny how open government always seems to have a chilling effect on speech? It's always been an absurd notion:

In response, elected officials invoked the notion of "legislative privilege," saying that they could not be forced to give testimony about their activities as legislators because it would have a "chilling effect" on how they carry out their jobs. 

The state Supreme Court just laughed:

Ordinarily that argument might work, but the court said that this "chilling effect" with regard to redistricting was, in fact, "the precise purpose" of the new amendments. (You can read the full opinion here.) So barring a settlement of some kind, it seems likely that Republican legislators will soon have to give depositions about how this particular piece of cartographic sausage was made.

You gotta love it.

GOP Hypocrisy: Spending on Political Power Grab Worth Wasting Taxpayer Money.

Even the conservative editorial board of the Wisconsin State Journal can't stomach the blatant in-your-face acts of partisanship by the Republican state legislature. And this wasn't the first time the editorial board has disagreed with these tea party pirates. What's encouraging is the WSJ's outright call to reform redistricting:

In Wisconsin, Democrats got more Votes, while Republicans won more seats. Can you say Gerrymandering?

While Republicans won the talking point that they won the election in the 2012, they actually lost the vote. In fact, you'd never know there was a strong Democratic constituency in Wisconsin, by what we've seen in the Republican legislature. It's an illusion pushed by the Walker Authority.

Redistricting totally gamed the system, and gave Paul Ryan ability to falsely claim Americans wanted Republicans to control the House. Without redistricting, they would have lost dramatically. 

Bill Lueders, who is the Money and Politics Project director at the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (www.WisconsinWatch.org), wrote this about gerrymandering:

Brookfield Patch: Democrats received more votes statewide in the November elections, but Republicans won more seats. What does that say about redistricting? Republicans were able to keep a 5-3 lead in the U.S. House of Representatives, reclaim control of the state Senate by a margin of 18 to 15 seats, and secure a commanding 60-39 advantage in the state Assembly, despite getting fewer votes overall.

The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, using the newly released official results, has produced maps showing the Nov. 6 vote counts for each congressional and state legislative district.

These are posted with this column at WisconsinWatch.org. They depict a mostly red (Republican) state, even though Democrats got the most overall votes in every category.

In the races for Congress, Democrats snared 50.4 percent of the nearly 2.9 million votes cast. In the 16 races for state Senate, Democrats came away with 53 percent of the vote but lost two key seats. In the state’s 99 Assembly districts, Democrats got more than 52 percent of the vote, but won just 39 percent of the seats.

Wisconsin’s congressional and legislative voting districts were redrawn in secret by Republican lawmakers last year.  

Hey, if Democrats had the chance, they would have done the same thing, right? Keep this fact in mind:

Wisconsin Watch: Cal Potter, a former Democratic state lawmaker who now serves on the board of Common Cause in Wisconsin, a nonpartisan watchdog group, noted that the redistricting after the 1990 and 2000 Census was done by the courts, because the Legislature and governor were split and could not agree on a plan. This time around, he said, the GOP ran the show and was able to maximize its electoral advantages.

Redistricting for GOP advantage only. What else is new?

Assuming not all the documentation has been reviewed yet, it's beginning to look like the state Republicans were lying when they said redistricting had nothing to do with politics. Hell, they've been upfront with everything else, why not admit openly they did it all for politics:

WSJ: Wisconsin's Republican legislative leaders have said the voting district maps they drew last year were not aimed at political advantage, but new documents made public Tuesday show they discussed ways to increase the number of "safe" and "leaning" GOP districts and to protect conservative incumbents.

State Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa: "Western Wauwatosa — yes (more GOP)," "West Milwaukee — No (forgot to mention this part of current district — VERY Dem" and "Milwaukee — cop wards if needed."

Besides the outrageous way they gerrymandered in secrecy, having Republicans sign actual secrecy agreements, now we're told it's really what they "didn't say."

Sen. Scott Fitzgerald said political advantage was not the goal of the redistricting process. "My criteria was creating maps that met all of the federal requirements and I could get the votes for," he said. "I have never said there was not a consideration given for incumbents."

Oh, he never said that. Nothing to see here. For Rep. Robin Vos, it wasn't the "main criteria:"

And state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said potential benefit to the GOP was not the main criteria.

But Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca said the documents show Republicans were lying to the public. "To me, it's sort-of the smoking gun that shows that all of their efforts were political, partisan and about protecting their power. It shows their deceitfulness.

Fitzmandering everything they say it's not.

It’s an outrage passing the new redistricting maps without one Democratic vote. Ramming this down our throats without a lengthy debate, public input and local government redistricting is not what the voters want. Americans want a bipartisan solution…blah, blah, blah.


Well, that’s what Republicans would have said isn’t it? WMTV 15:

AP: The Wisconsin state Senate has passed a bill that redraws the boundaries of the state's eight congressional districts.No Democrats voted to pass the bill, which is slated to be taken up by the Republican-controlled Assembly on Wednesday. The party line vote came after the Senate passed a bill redrawing all 132 legislative districts.