Forecasted Affects of the 2010 Census

       As mentioned in an abc news article this week, New York is expected to lose Congressional Representation along with up to nine other states.  States such as Texas, South Carolina, Florida, and a handful more are looking forward to gaining representation after the apportionment process.  The lines will be drawn in December when population counts from the U.S. Census Bureau are due, determining the number of House members allocated to states.

       Chris Jankowski, a redistricting leader for the GOP, predicts that Republicans could add as many as 25 seats in Congress as long as the boundary lines are drawn in their favor.  The Republican State Leadership Committee has budgeted to spend near $20 million to elect Republican state lawmakers who could affect the redistricting process.  "We see a tremendous opportunity to impact control of Congress in 2012 through the state elections that are about to take place," Jankowski said.

       The Census does not only affect redistricting and Congressional Representation (including the Electoral College), it also determines how 400 billion dollars in federal money is distributed among the states and regions.  While some states have neither grow nor shrank in population size, states like Texas as well as California are continuing their past trends of population growth and taking advantage of billions (dollars) in federal assistance as well as a hefty addition to their state's representation. 

       The topic of redistricting/gerrymandering is an already interesting topic to me, but it becomes even more interesting knowing that many large Democratic states are losing representation while many Republican states are gaining.  By looking at the projected figures, it seems that after redistricting, the Republican Party won't be trailing the Democrats in representation by such a large margin.  Also, this worries me because if it comes down to the power being split in Congress, I feel that nothing positive will be done for the American people for at least two more years.  I feel that our economy and country in general has a better chance at recovery and health if both houses are run by one party, and in this case the Democrats.  Lastly, it is disappointing to hear and expect that New York will be losing representation and federal money.