Another smack-down between President Barack Obama and the weakened GOP is brewing. A GOP delegation from Utah is calling on the president’s decisions to move the U.S. census into the White House as a purely partisan move and potentially dangerous to congressional redistricting around the country. Funny, the GOP is still living in la-la land. They have forgotten that they are not the majority and that there is a new president in town. Gone are the days when they influenced every aspect of redistricting to their benefit.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told FOX News on Monday that he finds it hard to believe the Obama administration felt the need to place re-evaluation of the inner workings of the census so high on his to-do list, just three weeks into his presidency. “This is nothing more than a political land grab,” Chaffetz said. Really Rep. Chaffetz? President Obama is looking out for the working class, something President Bush and the GOP still has no concept of.
The U.S. census is conducted every 10 years by the Commerce Department. Its results determine the decennial redrawing of congressional districts. As a matter of impact, the census has tremendous political significance. Political parties are always eager to have a hand in redrawing districts so that they can maximize their own party’s clout while minimizing the opposition, often through gerrymandering. The census also determines the composition of the Electoral College, which chooses the president. If one party were to control the census, it could arguably try to perpetuate its hold on political power.
“I’ve always remembered what Joseph Stalin said: ‘Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.’ The same principle applies to the census. Since one or the other party will always be in power at the time of the census, it is vital that the out-of-power party at least be able to observe the process to make sure it isn’t being stacked in favor of the party in power. This will be difficult for the GOP since I suspect Democrats will control both houses of Congress for the entire Obama first term,” Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia said. Source: Fox News
So, we have the framework of another catfight with the vastly diminished Republican Party. Excuse me, but since the economy is in the tank, I scarcely think the Americans are worried about the U.S. census moving to the White House.
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Filed under: Census Bureau, Commerce Department, Larry Sabato, Partisan, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Republican Party, U.S. Census
Black Political Thought 