(Source: Teamster Nation, January 17, 2013)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — You don’t think our government is actually representative, do you?
The American electorate didn’t vote for divided government. But that’s what they got. A majority of Americans voted for President Obama, Senate Democrats and House Democrats. But the new House has a Republican majority of 33 though a million more people voted for Democratic House members.
And does it strike you as odd that President Obama comfortably won Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Florida and Wisconsin, but those state Legislatures are dominated by big Republican majorities?
The reason: gerrymandering. These days, voting maps are manipulated to stuff as many Republican voters into safe districts as possible. Legislative majorities use their power to cherry-pick the voters who are most likely to vote for Republicans. That electoral advantage is magnified by voter suppression laws.
Full story: Teamster Nation