Recently the North County Times has come out in favor of redistricting reform in California via proposition 11. The paper suggests partisan redistricting is responsible for the budget mess that California has every year. In California, that power now rests with the Legislature, which has used it as a tool to ensure its members’ own… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Rose Institute
Professor Ralph Rossum on the Supreme Court
Professor Ralph Rossum has an editorial in the Investor’s Business Daily on the Supreme Court’s recent decision against imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child. Professor Rossum argues that it is Congress that should make decisions on issues of morality like this. First, who better can identify and express a contemporary national… Continue Reading
Pennsylvnia Legislators Create Watered Down Redistricting Plan
According to the Allentown Morning Call, some Pennsylvania state legislators are supporting a compromise plan on redistricting now that the deadline has passed for constitutional reform in the state. The plan’s creators include Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, who has previously been the main obstacle to redistricting reform in the state. The plan would essentially create… Continue Reading
How Redistricting Can Create a Springboard for Presidential Candidates
A little noticed aspect of the controversial article and cover on Obama in the New Yorker, is that Obama benefited from having his Illinois Senate districts tailor-made for him. The article describes in detail the process by which Obama was able to choose his district. One day in the spring of 2001, about a year… Continue Reading
Field Poll Shows Support for Proposition 11
The recently released California Field Poll shows that Proposition 11 has a majority of support among voters who have made up their mind on the issue, and a plurality overall. The Field Poll Data says that 42% of the voters are in support, 30% against, 28% undecided. What is of concern, however, is that only… Continue Reading
California House Democrats Against Prop 11
According to the Venture County Star and the California Majority Report, the Nancy Pelosi, as well as the Chairs of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus have written a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger expressing their opposition to Proposition 11. The delegation criticizes… Continue Reading
President of AARP California Supports of Prop 11
In an opinion piece in the San Jose Mercury News, Jeannine English, president of the AARP of California, argues for the adoption of Proposition 11 in California. The AARP is one of the founding backers of the initiative and the Voters First campaign, of which Jeannine English is a campaign co-chair, so her writing this… Continue Reading
Pitney on the Difficulty of Passing Energy Legislation
Professor Pitney is quoted in an article in the Denver Post about Congress attempting to find solutions to current high energy and gas prices. Pitney remarks on the difficulty of passing legislation as opposed to just talking about potential solutions: “There are more obstacles than opportunities,” said John J. Pitney Jr., a government professor at… Continue Reading
Pitney on Republicans Using Gas Prices Against Democrats
Professor Pitney was recently quoted in an article in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette of Central Ohio. The subject of the article was whether Republicans can use high gas prices as an attack on Democrats during Congressional campaigns this year. Pitney doubts they will have much affect on Congressional Democrats: “There are limits on the strategy,… Continue Reading
SEIU May Come Out in Favor of Voters First
According to Capital Weekly, the Service Employees International Union may consider backing Proposition 11, despite the decision California Democratic Party to oppose the initiative. The SEIU is one of the most powerful organizations in California politics, and their support or opposition could play a significant role in whether the initiative passes. The fact that SEIU… Continue Reading