Partisan politics

[smoothmoniker]

Originally Posted by flaja

What happens if partisanship leads to things like gerrymandering and you end up living in a district where people with your political views are in the minority?

Well, I live in California. My vote has never counted for anything, ever. I'm always in the political minority.

What happens if partisanship prevents the government from dealing with problems that individuals and private enterprise cannot or will not deal with?

If the majority agrees on the nature of the problem and the solution, then government will move forward. If a majority does not agree, then partisan politics should prevent government action. Like "partisan politics", I reject the notion that government inaction is always a bad thing. Sometimes the best thing a representative can do is allow their contentiousness to prevent the government from "getting things done."

[flaja]

Originally Posted by smoothmoniker

Well, I live in California. My vote has never counted for anything, ever. I'm always in the political minority.

I turned 18 and registered to vote in 1986. I have always lived in a gerrymandered CD and there have only been only 2 elections in which my district was gerrymandered to support the party that I was a member of.

My mother moved here in the early 1960s. From that time until 1992 her CD was represented by the same man.

If the majority agrees on the nature of the problem and the solution, then government will move forward. If a majority does not agree, then partisan politics should prevent government action.

And in the meantime the problem is allowed to fester and get worse. If your town needs a flood levee and partisan politics prevents that levee from ever being built, what do you when the flood comes?