 In an article for The Daily Poster, journalist Walker Bragman sounds the alarm about an issue that I don't think enough people are taking seriously, gerrymandering. And the Democratic Party dropped the ball and they missed a crucial deadline that would have stopped Republicans from redrawing districts in a way that would allow them to seize power not just in 2022, but for the next decade. So if this actually happens, if Democrats fail to act when they come back after their recess, even though they missed a crucial deadline, nothing that anyone wants that isn't a far-right Republican will get accomplished. This means no meaningful action when it comes to climate change. Nothing will be done to, you know, ameliorate the housing crisis or healthcare crisis in the United States if we allow them to seize power in this undemocratic manner. So Walker Bragman breaks it down. He says Democrats just missed a crucial deadline in the fight against gerrymandering and experts say very soon we will be witnessing the consequences. On Wednesday, just before the Senate adjourned for its August recess, Republicans blocked an effort by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to get the chamber to consider paredown versions of the party's voting rights and democracy reform legislation. Schumer's ploy was largely symbolic. It was doomed to failure, given the lack of any GOP support, because Senate Democrats have so far refused to eliminate the filibuster and therefore need 10 Republican votes to pass most legislation. Schumer remained positive as he prepared to leave for vacation, declaring that Democrats were making great progress on a voting rights bill and promising that it will be the first matter of legislative business when the Senate returns on September 13th. In truth though, Schumer and his caucus were knowingly giving up on their best chance to block state-level Republicans from gaming the redistricting process and relegating Democrats to the minority in the U.S. House of Representatives. That's because on Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau released its 2020 census data, labeling states to begin the once-in-a-decade process of redrawing their state houses and congressional districts. Advocates have long warned of the need to pass electoral reforms before map drawing begins. Since that has now failed to happen, experts say there will be dire consequences, including an effective end to majority rule in the United States and a failure to address climate change in a meaningful way. So to break it down why this is so bad is because for the next decade, starting in 2022, Republicans overall across the country, they can not even win a majority and still retain control of at least one chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, and therefore block anything that Democrats want. Even the most moderate and conservative Democrats, their milk-toed incrementalist reforms are off the table if Republicans are able to perpetually hold onto power until 2031. That is catastrophic if we wanted to do anything about climate change, which we all should because we have a limited window to act. But look, I feel like people aren't taking this issue seriously. And Walker Bragman is one of the only journalists who's sounding the alarm. And I just want to remind you this is what happened the last time Republicans were able to redraw districts to their favor in 2010 after that census was released. Every 10 years after the census, states redraw their state house and congressional districts. In 37 states elected officials are in charge of that process. 20 of those 37 legislatures are completely controlled by Republicans, while 8 are controlled by Democrats. In 2011, thanks to a dark money-funded GOP campaign to capture hundreds of legislative seats during the 2010 midterms, Republicans dominated the redistricting process, designing the maps for more than 200 of the 340 congressional districts that were redrawn by state legislatures. The GOP-drawn district maps heavily favored Republican majorities at the state level and in the House, a 2017 study from the Brennan Center for Justice found in the 26 states that account for 85 percent of congressional districts. Republicans derive a net benefit of at least 16 to 17 congressional seats in the current Congress from partisan bias. The GOP's control of Congress knee-capped the Obama presidency and was only overcome by Democrats after a court struck down gerrymandered congressional maps in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Since the last redistricting, the Supreme Court has cleared the path for even more extreme gerrymandering thanks to two rulings. One from 2013 was struck down the formula for requiring jurisdictions to seek federal pre-clearance under the Voting Rights Act for changes to their election laws, and the other from 2019, which held that partisan gerrymandering is a political issue left up to the legislature to resolve. Republicans are already planning on pressing their advantage. Recently, Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas told a conference of religious conservatives that redistricting alone should get us the majority back in the house. Yeah, so the situation is very grim, but there is good news. There is still time to act. The window has closed. Time is limited, but they still can act. They missed a crucial deadline. So in the event they pass the For the People Act and they actually institute nationwide redistricting reform, then Republicans who already re-drew their district lines to benefit them, they're probably going to sue. So this is going to be a long, legal battle. And in the courts, the Republican Party has stacked the judiciary federally. So they have the advantage there, too. So it's really sad that Democrats missed this deadline. Having said that, though, if they don't take action, I mean, the GOP will be able to easily seize control of the House of Representatives until 2030. 2030, I just, I don't think people understand how bad the situation is. We can talk about the policies that we need, a Green New Deal, Medicare for all. There's a lot of policies that we need to institute. But the issue is that if we don't have power to institute said policies, then they're off the table entirely. So we have to focus on voting rights. We have to focus on electoral reform, because so long as the GOP is able to seize power easily like this, we're all fucked. And anyone who is center right to the far left, anything that they want will be obstructed by this minority party who can easily override the will of the majority by, you know, gerrymandering. It's truly morally reprehensible. It's undemocratic, but we still have time. And I wish people would take this serious and put pressure on the Democratic Party to act, because at this point in time, I mean, with them being in power for eight months, they haven't used this time effectively. It's time to get rid of the filibuster. It's time to pass before the people act. Otherwise, we're fucked. Republicans will take power for a decade and the climate apocalypse is essentially more inevitable than it already is at that point. So, yeah.