Blog Stage 7: Court shouldn't reject redrawn map

Since, as a class we have completed exam 3 and now have one more exam left, I found this editorial on statesman.com to coincide with what we have recently learned in Texas State and Local Government.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to set aside a congressional map drawn last week by three federal judges, calling the judges' action "judicial activism at its worst."  


According to an editorial on statesman.com titled, Court shouldn't reject redrawn map, The Supreme Court should reject Abbott's request. The map drawn by a three-judge panel in San Antonio was a response to redistricting at its worst and is superior to congressional and state House and state Senate maps drawn this year by the Legislature.


Minority groups challenged the original map passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, arguing that the Republican-drawn map weakened minority representation, particularly Hispanic representation. Because of the history of racial discrimination in Texas, the Voting Rights Act gives the federal government the authority to approve or reject the state's voting maps.


A Washington, D.C. federal court is scheduled to hold a trial on whether the Legislature's map dilutes the power of minority voters. The D.C. court's decision to hold trial on the issue forced the San Antonio court to create interim districts for the 2012 elections because the filing period for the March 6 primary election began Monday and ends December 15.


Since learning about the redistricting process in Texas I know that both the United States and the Texas Constitutions mandate the redrawing of congressional and legislative districts every 10 years based on the data obtained by the U.S. Census.  This periodic readjustment is necessary to give all the districts approximately an equal amount of people.  If redistricting did not occur, some districts would have more people than other districts, resulting in voters in less populated districts having more influence in a particular legislative chamber or board.  Texas added 4.3 million people between 2000 and 2010, according to the census, and Hispanics made up about 65 percent of that increase.

According to the editorial, Republicans in the Legislature drew a congressional map designed to protect Republican incumbents and increase Republican representation in the U.S. House. They split Democratic votes in Travis County, targeting U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin for defeat. They created as few minority districts as possible while still hoping to win approval from the federal government.


Also, Republican lawmakers drew a map favoring Republican candidates in three of the four new districts to increase their representation in the U.S. House from 23 to 26. The court's map makes minorities the majority in 13 of Texas' 36 congressional districts; since minority voters tend to support Democrats, Republicans will struggle to win 26 seats if the court's map is allowed to stand.


The three-judge panel also created interim maps for the Texas House and Senate.  Abbott argued last week that the court's congressional map "ignores the voice of the citizenry."  How is this so when no map ignored the voice of Austin's citizenry more than the Legislature's map, which divided Travis County into four congressional districts leaving all but one of the districts to be won by a Republican.

Although the U.S and Texas Constitutions had place several acts and amendments in place to overcome misrepresentation, or better yet under-representation, such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and then the Legistlative Redistricting Board, it still seems that redistricting is still a major issue.  The whole point of redrawing the map every 10 years is to gain fair representation; however, this is not case as stated in this editorial.  Redistricting is about incumbents protecting themselves and strengthening the party they represent. The focus is not on voters, and districts are not necessarily drawn to follow demographic and political lines.

I agree that in an ideal world redistricting should be in the hands of an independent, bipartisan commission, not state lawmakers especially since the state of Texas is a Republican majority legislature.  If an ideal world were to happen in the state of Texas there would probably be a change in the way the state runs.  Change is good and Texas needs change.

Blog Stage 6: Comment on Colleague's Work

Today, November 11, 2011 is Veterans Day, a time to honor all military veterans who raised their hand and took the oath to protect the rights of American citizens and to protect this country.

Being in the military myself, as well as being raised in a military family where my father was deployed for most of my childhood and adolescent years, I know the sacrifices a military member and their families make for the sake of others.  Long and numerous deployments are not easy on anyone and can take its toll on a family unit.

All the wars and conflicts that America has been in throughout the years has unfortunately led to many casualties.  Many military members, young and old, have paid the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect our freedom.

Reading the article regarding the homestead tax exemption to surviving spouses of military veterans who were 100% disabled on the Eyes of Texas blog written by Josh Coffman really bothered me as it should everyone.  I totally agree with Coffman's statements in that this particular amendment MUST be passed.  It should be common sense to everyone in why this amendment MUST be passed.  The homestead tax exemption should incorporate the surviving spouse because it's not only the military veteran that suffers but also the family he/she leaves behind.  The Department of Veteran Affairs, the state of Texas, as well as the entire nation should recognize the sacrifices military families have to endure.

I remember watching a CNN Special Report regarding the Department of Veteran Affairs and their system on rating a veteran disabled.  The bottom line to that report is that the VA's disability rating system is broken and flawed.  Many mistakes were made when rating a disabled veteran.  In that report, there were veterans who lost limbs and who are suffering from post traumatic head injuries only to receive a 10% disability rating from the VA.

Another report titled Why The VA Frustrates Veterans  also states that the VA disability rating system is slow and flawed to where the veterans moto for how the VA operates is "Delay, Deny and Hope That I Die."

From these two examples, it's very clear that the VA makes it difficult for deserving veterans who should be rated as 100% disabled to actually receive that rating.  This means that only a small amount of veterans, especially those living in Texas, are rated as 100% disabled.  For the veterans who were rated properly and receive that 100% rating, the homestead tax exemption should be given to them and extended to their surviving spouse.

I agree with Coffman when he states "We as a State and Nation owe it to the families of veterans who pay the ultimate sacrifices so we don't have to.  To tax a surviving spouse is a cowardly act...These families are taxed enough."