Iveson's Issues: Effective Governance
Electoral College Reform
The winner-take-all model of allocating electoral votes (in most states), adds to the public sense that all votes are not created equal. Intended to protect small state interests, the Electoral College, ironically, makes larger states with more electoral votes, far more important in the election process. Candidates now concentrate their campaign efforts in states like California, Texas, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Other states become insignificant, either because they are small or because they are considered non-competitive. In 2004, no TV ads ran in 23 states during the peak campaign season. And, to be meaningful, electoral college reform must happen nationwide. If parties seek changes only in states that would benefit that party, they will prove that the game is rigged.
Government Employee Salaries
The average government employee salary in Missouri is one of the lowest in the country. Full time government workers should not qualify for government assistance. That's just wrong.
Hancock Amendment
The Hancock Amendment is a fact of life in Missouri; it's not going away any time soon. The budget constraints imposed by the amendment don't prevent us providing adequate funding to education and healthcare: (The Missouri Budget Project says we are $1.7 billion below the revenue cap imposed by Hancock.) The misplaced priorities of the Blunt administration and the Republican legislature do. That's why my experience in the budget trenches is so important to achieving our goals.
Non-Partisan Court Plan
You've got to hand it to the ideologues in the Governor's mansion — they won't quit until they've messed everything up. Our method for selecting judges is the model for the nation. The Missouri Plan is rightly held in high regard throughout the land. But Blunt and his cronies want to make it more partisan. They must not be allowed to succeed.
Redistricting Reform
We need to consider changing the way we handle redistricting in the state of Missouri. This is particularly important as we will be re-drawing district boundaries after the 2010 census. Like our non-partisan court plan, Missouri needs to implement a non-partisan process for redistricting. Iowa currently has a model and other states, including Ohio, Florida and California, have proposed changes from which we could learn. If we are to make certain that all Missourians have a voice in their state government, we need to take the politics out of redistricting.
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