Some Thoughts on Dirty Politics

Recently a Facebook friend posted a link to a Rolling Stone (How the GOP Rigs Elections) article about the dirty politics being played by the Republican party in Wisconsin (his beloved home state) with respect to district gerrymandering, so-called dark money, and voter ID laws.

We exchanged a couple of views of opinion on the matter. But the Facebook platform isn't the best in which to respond fully. So I decided to make a more detailed response on my blog. I put the link in the comment so my friend could come a read it, and so can you, my loyal nine followers.

My original response is as follows:
--Gerrymandering is not the sole providence of Republicans. You should see how the districts are drawn in Oregon and Washington, democrat strongholds. There are a couple of districts in the suburbs of Portland that actually jump neighborhoods only to start up again a few blocks later.

And here is his response after he asked if I had read the article:

"I agree gerrymandering happens on both ends of the spectrum, GOP has been downright unlawful in their drawing. “During the 2012 elections, Democratic House candidates won 1.4 million more votes nationally than Republicans, but the GOP won 33 more seats.” And, if it were going the other way— I’d be just as up in arms. This is an argument of democracy not of partisan values. Votes should count and if you dig deep into that 538 stuff they’ll talk about packing and stacking votes.

I know it can never be perfect, even with algorithms it doesn’t evenly split. But, the majority of districts can get back to competitive elections and that my friend, along with the reduction of campaign finance and the increase ability to vote will increase the amounts of OUR freedoms."
(I highlighted one point he made as I will get back to a little further down the blog post)

He also included a link to a very interesting site (The Gerrymander Project) that discusses gerrymandering in a very balanced way. I did have a little issue viewing each video. My solution was to refresh the page prior to watching the next video.

So without further ado, here is my post:

Homeless Shelter Wants Gates to Give More Money

With the recent steep cuts in our state’s budget, one of the services impacted is homeless shelters. As the weather begins to turn colder, more folks are requiring the services of homeless shelter. But there is a problem. Due to budget cuts, the shelters have had to reduce the number of beds available which is forcing people to sleep outside.

If you happened to walk by the Bill & Belinda Gates Foundation Monday night, you would have noticed a whole lot of people sleeping on the sidewalks.

The reason: Seattle homeless shelter Share/Wheel wants to know why the Gates Foundation is focused on helping communities thousands of miles away when there are people in need literally on its doorstep.

“When one is denied a fair chance at the basics of life – food, shelter and clothing – in a land of plenty such as ours, it is only fair and just to stand up peacefully and ask for better,” the shelter said in an online statement. (Source: Seattle PI)

Basically, they are asking for the Gate Foundation to pony up some more money.

Here is the kicker:

…the Gates Foundation responded, saying $100 million has been donated to Puget-Sound homeless programs. (Source: Seattle PI and KIRO News)

$100 million dollars to homeless programs in the local area? How much more do these people want? While I certainly am not advocating that we just dump these people on the street, how can $100 million go to such a waste? I have no idea whether or not the Gates Foundation is mulling over donating more money to these shelters, but after giving that much money I can certainly see why there might be some hesitation on the Foundation’s part.

I happen to think the Gates Foundation is one of the great philanthropic organizations around. They have donated billions to causes around the world, with education and health being a focal point. I tip my hat to Bill and Belinda for this effort.

Weekend Links

My new job requires me to work weekends now so getting these done on the weeked is tough.

LOCAL:

1. Still more bad news for local Real Estate. When the real estate market collapsed back in 2008, it looked like the state of Washington was going to miss out on the worst of it. Our unemployment didn’t rise like many other large cities. We weren’t without some issues but our major employers, Microsoft, Boeing, the US Military and state and local governments didn’t experience the same downturn like so many other regions did. Well, that is no longer the case. As far as real estate goes, we are still seeing bad numbers and we are catching up with the rest of the nation and it doesn’t seem to want to slow down.

Most recently the three biggest counties, population-wise, saw nearly one-third of home sellers lose money on selling their homes.  The national rate is 37% but we really aren’t that far behind any longer.