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Twitter reacts to court ruling upholding Arizona redistricting

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that citizens have the right to oversee the boundaries of their congressional districts to prevent redistricting that would favor one party over the other, commonly known as “gerrymandering.” The case concerned the creation of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, a nongovernmental, bipartisan body that conservatives argued favored Democrats. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Ginsburg writes SCOTUS majority opinion upholding Arizona's anti-gerrymandering law. http://t.co/lXzto2ereO pic.twitter.com/BXhsV20v66

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin)

June 29, 2015

Twitter reacted to the ruling directly following the court’s announcement.

In upholding independent redistricting in AZ, #SCOTUS places fair Congressional representation above gerrymandering. http://t.co/i4URxLI1vo

— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg)

June 29, 2015

Supreme Court's #Arizona #Redistricting Ruling a Major Victory for Voters: http://t.co/JL1DzgwP5p #SCOTUS

— Brennan Center (@BrennanCenter)

June 29, 2015

If you want to stop gerrymandering and help Dems retake the House, need AZ/CA style redistricting commissions in all 50 states.

— Robert Cruickshank (@cruickshank)

June 29, 2015

Despite the widespread praise for the ruling, journalist Hunter Schwartz of the Washington Post struck a cautionary tone.

Why ending gerrymandering won’t solve Congress’s problems https://t.co/sNNksJB8ju

— Hunter Schwarz (@hunterschwarz)

June 29, 2015

[medilldc]

Planning like it's 2050: Recap of 94th Annual Transportation Professionals Meeting

Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx proved himself a trendspotter in his speech at the 94th Annual Transportation Professionals Meeting. Foxx, who expressed his frustration with focusing on finding solutions to current problems rather than looking ahead, identified several key trends in future transportation—but don’t get too excited, he’s not talking about a Jetsons-style space highways just yet.

#1: Technological innovation

Cars that drive themselves, drones, more sophisticated rail systems and—who knows?—maybe even hovercrafts. The only thing we know for sure about what transportation will look like in 2050 is that we don’t really know what it will look like at all. How do we create legislation for technology we haven’t invented yet, and how do we encourage that kind of innovation?

#2: Population growth

The US population will increase by 42 percent from 2010 to 2050, when it will reach 438 million, according to the Pew Research Center. How are we going to move an additional almost 130 million people and all the things they need?

#3: Population shift to denser metropolitan areas

Already overfull buses, trains and highways are only going to get worse as more and more people move in. How can infrastructure keep up?

#4 Integrating and streamlining different systems

States are responsible for maintaining and creating many new infrastructure projects within their borders, but the people and vehicles that use them don’t always stay inside those borders. How do we strike a balance between letting states take initiative and serving a national user base?

--Madeline Fox | Medill News Service

[medilldc]

Top 20 wealthiest members of Congress

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Darrell Issa, both of California, are the richest woman and man in Congress. 

Have you ever wondered who richest members of Congress are? Here is your answer. Reporter Russ Choma at Opensecret.org published an article on Monday naming the 20 richest members of Congress. 

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., came in first place on the list with an average net worth of $448.4 million. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who is the wealthiest member of the Senate, came in second on the list at $254.1 million.

The richest woman? House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California increased her net worth from $87.9 million in 2012 to $100.8 million in 2013, which seems to result from the increased value of several pieces of property she owns.

The Center for Responsive Politics' latest analysis of congressional wealth finds that the value of a single federal lawmaker's household equals the combined wealth of more than 18 American households. 

--Nancy Wang | Medill News Service

[adamjabari]

I discussed veteran employment and reintegration today with Alison Burdo for the Medill Daily Digest.

(via The Daily Debrief- Helping vets gain employment | Medill | Washington)

[medilldc]

[medilldc]

Looks like FishbowlDC did not appreciate the recent "10 Commandments of Capitol Hill for new reports" by Medill reporter Jacqueline Klimas. FishbowlDC's Betsy Rothstein says to "Beware of the 10 Commandments" in a post this morning. Which writer is, well, right? (Or is it a combo of both?)