Home of Today's Common Sense

Published Brownsville Herald September  29, 2008

Four years ago one of the big issues was gerrymandering – the alignment of the election districts to give one political party an advantage. I wonder whether we will see such a benefit as a reality. I suspect that the effort and resources used to accomplish the gerrymandering were misspent and would have been better spent on other things like education; I seriously doubt that it will cause political mayhem as was pronounced. I cannot accept that anarchy or chaos will result.
As a one time employee of the brilliant pollster Dan Rivera, I became interested in the demographics of the Valley and continued that interest to my later benefit as a business consultant. The Congressional Districts are determined based on a census of “all persons” in the United States. Courts have decided that this does not mean just citizens who can vote but everyone; permanent residents and undocumented residents as well. As the demographic makeup of the Rio Grande Valley is a predominately ethnic (Hispanic), with close family ties outside the U.S., there are higher percentages of non-citizens than there are in some other regions of the state. That translates into fewer folks that can vote having a greater influence on the outcome of an election than in other districts.
The situation is further aggravated by the fact that a very low percent of the eligible voters in the Valley vote at all. So those that do vote in the whole Congressional District have an enormous impact on the outcome of an election. If you assume that 37% (modest) of the population are non-citizen residents that means that only 63% of the Valley residents are picking who will make our laws for us. Then if only 15% of those actually vote, as was the case in recent elections, then only 9 out of every 100 people in the Valley are picking who will make the laws and programs that could benefit us. I guarantee that the legislators who were setting the district lines were well aware of this and placed, areas where there are histories of higher voter turn out into districts including Valley areas. Lastly, the cold fact of life is that political leaders are most interested in the interests of people who vote and participate.
In order to change the planned outcome and achieve some respect for the needs of the Valley, more folks need to vote and the extraordinary interest in the candidates and the historical significance of the first black President or the first female Vice-President  may well invigorate the election. In considering your vote an important thing to remember is that when any one gives you things or money there is usually a condition attached; for what and how you must use the resources and how you must convince the giver that the resources were used as intended. Each of these conditions takes a little more freedom away from each of us. The result has been that more and more power over how we live is gone; what is taught in our schools and how; what names we give our schools and sports teams; how we display the artifacts of our culture and even recently what religion you must not be, to be appointed a federal judge.
Who we entrust with this power is the real reason we vote.
As I have often railed so often Congress must bear the majority of the responsibility for what situation our government is in and the only ones that can effectively change things. Just consider the financial market bail out. Will we see a socialist style interference with them? The administration did not give the leaders at Fannie Mae and Freddie Max so much freedom; Congress pushed it as a way of giving some disadvantaged folks real homes; that we have now found could not meet the responsibilities for.

I suggest that each of us find out what our Congressman has been doing and support him or examine the alternative. Then – get out and vote.
The same thought process applies in considering all the issues on the ballot. We are now involved in a civil revolution that will determine the course of government for generations. At stake are issues such as how much can the government intrude  on our lives(Socialism) ; should federal government have the power to tell us what our children must learn and think; Should government be able to confiscate property merely because it will serve some positive community interest?
Crucial to all of these issue is, where do we get the money to pay for all the programs that the government gives us, that also serve to put more power over our lives in the hands of these “servants of the people”. Often the “powers that be” determine that they know what everyone needs and how it will be provided and that the government will pay for it. Any thing that comes from the government really comes from our own pockets; the only difference is who says how the money will be spent. I much prefer the person making that decision nearby and not in Washington. I want to know where that person lives! The source of all government funds, our pockets and the pockets of the 10% of the population, thought of as rich, is reaching the bottom.

The appearances of impropriety if not actual malfeasance abound and need to be excised. Who is at fault? We are! As we either went to the polls and elected the folks that manage government or we did not go to the polls and voted for the status-quo with our absence.
Vote your conscience – but vote.