NY Times to Jack: “Let’s not get too crazy here.”

Tom Friedman thinks “the oligopoly of our two-party system” is keeping sensible policies like fiscal responsibility, education reform, and incentives for invention off the Congressional agenda. His remedy? Adopt independent redistricting to bust gerrymandering and instant runoff voting¹ to empower independents.

My response, posted at 12:39 AM last night:

You could even combine “alternative voting” and independent redistricting into one easy-to-swallow reform. By adopting a modest form of proportional representation (PR), we could obviate gerrymandering and open politics to independent voices. A candidate-based PR system in three-to-five-seat districts would also preserve voters’ ease of use, individual legislators’ accountability, and a largely two-party system.

The moderators have not approved my comment for public view. The moderators approved my comment at 9:40 AM. Maybe Tom will use it in his next column.

1. Which he calls “alternative voting,” likely having read about goings-on in the UK

Gerrymandering the presidency

CA Congressman Darrell Issa (R-49) will help bankroll the effort to split California’s Electoral College votes by congressional district (CD allocation). And he’s defending it as a move to “proportional representation.”
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