‘Due Process’ Democrats Have Their Heads Buried in the California Sand

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

towashington 089.gif By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

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”).