While Congressional Districts are evenly propositioned within their states, the formula that allocates the number of districts to states makes some under and over populated.
In addition, over the past year, people have moved since the 2020 Census was completed, which has further distorted the population in each Congressional District.
Maybe it’s the field I work in — political communication — but the impression I get of most government workers is they are in for the money primarily, and that most government jobs are about patronage and unwarranted attention seeking. Maybe government workers fill a needed jobs, and some are competent at what they do, but they hardly are the noble public servants, helping those in need, that they use the mass media to portray themselves as. Maybe a necessary evil, but not as noble as they like to portray themselves.
But my views have softened a bit since the fire recovery efforts at John Wolcott’s house. With some careful negotiations with the fire inspector, and some help from current and former local elected officials, we were able to recover a lot of his files. The fire department was very sympathetic and helpful with the recovery effort, working to haul heavy, stinky, soggy wet boxes of files out of the house and ultimately allowed us to secure even more things from inside. They seemed genuinely caring and helpful, willing to go above the bare minimum of their jobs to help out the community. They took time they could have spent doing other activities, they spent actively assisting in the recovery efforts.
So maybe government workers do care about the communities they serve. There are good people in government, even if the incentive structures of government workers sometimes mislead them — be it campaign contributions, promotions, or other benefits from serving the politicians over the people. It’s good to know people in government sometimes actually serve the people, are willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. Not all government workers are just political hacks out for themselves.
People often argue that a high carbon tax — combined with the repealing of the income and investing taxes would be bad for the poor because it would raises prices on people who are already struggling to get by. That of course ignores the fact that they would be able to keep more of their paycheck, and if they invested rather spent their money, they would pay no taxes at all under such a system. Make it expensive to buy things, and people will buy less and invest more. There are essentials people need to have, but as prices go up, things move from essential to luxury, and people prioritize things that need in their budget.
I often hear that people complain that it’s anti-poor people to raise the prices at fast restaurants and other forms of unhealthy food, because then the poor people would have to pay more for McDonald hamburgers and Fried Chicken. But that kind of food is terribly unhealthy, and higher prices would motivate people to cook more at home and pack their lunch. Likewise, if a higher minimum wage means higher prices at fast food restaurants, and people avoid them, then it’s good for all. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich made at home might not be a healthiest option but it sure is cheaper and healthier then what you would get at a fat fryer pit. Plus then you can include carrots or celery with your lunch.
While I am not against helping the poor — good public parks, libraries and affordable or free public transit can be beneficial to the whole community — holding the line on prices of consumer goods shouldn’t come at the cost of a dirtier environment, lower wages, unsafe working environments, or reduced public health. While we all like cheap things, if we could stimulate the economy to preserve jobs by reducing taxes on economic growth, and focus more on taxes on bad things in society, we could have healthier and prosperous communities, even if folks grumbled more at gas pump or grocery store.
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects people from random and arbitrary stops and searches. Although the federal government claims the power to conduct certain kinds of warrantless stops within 100 miles of the U.S. border, important Fourth Amendment protections still apply. This helps you understand your rights within the 100-mile border zone.