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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
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
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‘Due Process’ Democrats Have Their Heads
Buried in the California Sand
California Progress Report.com
By Bill Cavala
April 20, 2008
My first boss in the Legislature was Budget Chair under Speaker
Unruh, and his particular interest was in the State’s program for
crippled children.
When Ronald Reagan ended 8 years of Pat Brown in 1966, that program
was gutted to save money. Dozens of kids died for lack of care.
Thousands more were beset with the emotional problems that occur
when teased by their peers for the inability to speak with a cleft
palate. I learned of their situations individually, by answering
letters from anguished parents for my boss.
It showed me that there *was* a difference between Democrats and
Republicans. A difference worth fighting for.
And, it demonstrated to my satisfaction that, when you lost, a lot
of people paid the consequences.
So when I read the tepid arguments of due process Democrats who
would sacrifice the election advantages provided by partisan
redistricting in the name of “fairness” or “due process”, I
feel disgust. Such people view politics as a game where the outcomes
matter less than ‘how the game is played’. Matter less to
themselves, I’m sure. But not to those whose lives – or quality
of life – is directly dependent on political outcomes.
When Democrats win a majority of the seats in the State Assembly,
they win the right to elect a Speaker. The Speaker, in turn, has the
right to appoint all Committee Chairs and Committee Members,
essentially controlling all policy outcomes in the House.
Is that “fair”? Why should the Democrats have the ability to
direct public policy just because they won more Legislative seats?
Wouldn’t it be fairer to give Republicans an equal say?
That’s essentially the argument for redistricting ‘reform’.
Make it fair by taking away from the Democrats the authority they
currently enjoy by virtue of their winning a majority in our
elections. (Speaker Unruh used to characterize this as a demand to
“turn in loser’s tickets at the winner’s window”).
Changing the rules, changes the game. Redistricting ‘reform’
that produces Republican victories in the name of fairness should be
recognized for what it is.
The good government groups that embrace “fairness” without
tracking where that “fairness” leads have their heads in the
sand.
/Bill Cavala was Deputy Director of the Assembly Speaker’s
Office of Member Services where he worked for over 30 years./
/He attended undergraduate and graduate school in the 1960’s and
received a doctorate in political science at UC Berkeley. He taught
political science at UC Berkeley during the 1970's while he worked
part-time for the State Assembly./
/Cavala left teaching at UC Berkeley and went to work for Assembly
Speaker Willie Brown in 1981 until his tenure as Speaker ended in
1995, and he has worked for his five successors as Speaker up to and
including Speaker Fabian Nunez./
/Mr. Cavala manages election campaigns for Democratic candidates./
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