Corrine Brown's Political Fiefdom

[Cheshire Cat]

 

fiefdom -
1. The estate or domain of a feudal lord.
2. An organization or department over which one dominant person or group exercises control.

We are facing another season of elections in March 2015 and while Democrat Congresswoman for Florida District 5 (originally District 3) Corrine Brown is not on the ballot it is important for people to finally understand just how she influences the politics of this state but most importantly for Jacksonville right now, an understanding of how she and her gerrymandered districts, made manifest with the help of political operatives in both major parties, is hurting rather than helping some of the most in need communities in our city. For decades now voters in and out of the impacted Jacksonville districts often thought Corrine was the best thing to come along since buttered bread.  What they fail to realize is that they are most likely not the bread or the butter in Corrines world.  The bread is her personal political agenda and the butter comes from those of power and influence. The people and communities who need her most are often just the crumbs left on the plate after the powerful and wealthy have dined. It is time people understood more about this woman and the fiefdom she has created with the help of both Democrat and Republican power players.

Corrine has a long history in politics and I will go into that further a little later.  Right now I think it is important for people to understand how she has gained the power and control in politics that she has.  To understand that we have to start with her recently changed yet still "gerrymandered" congressional district.  I am going to provide links for you that will give you even more information than what I am sharing here. 

Florida's 5th congressional district
Florida's fifth congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Florida's fifth congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative      Corrine Brown (D–Jacksonville)

Florida's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It stretches from Jacksonvile to Orlando. It is one of the most-gerrymandered congressional districts in the country.[1]

From 2002 to 2013 the district comprised all of Citrus, Hernando, and Sumter counties and most of Lake, Levy, and Pasco counties and portions of Marion and Polk counties. The district included northern exurbs of Tampa and western exurbs of Orlando within the high-growth Interstate 4 Corridor.

The district is currently represented by Democrat Corrine Brown.

Florida's 3rd Congressional District was renumbered to 5th Congressional District but was little changed in the redistricting process in 2012, still winding from Orlando in the south to central Jacksonville in the north.For more :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida%27s_5th_congressional_district[2]

From 1973 to 1993 the erstwhile 3rd district was based in Orange County, including Walt Disney World and most of Orlando. The peculiar shape of the 3rd (now 5th) Congressional District dates from reapportionment done by the Florida Legislature after the 1990 U.S. Census. The 1993–2012 3rd Congressional District was geographically distinctive. Starting from the southern part of the district, it included the Pine Hills area of the Orlando-Kissimmee Metropolitan Area with small pockets of African-American neighborhoods in the cities of Sanford, Gainesville, Palatka, and finally the larger African American communities of Jacksonville.[3] Connecting these areas were regions which are sparsely populated—either expansive rural areas or narrow strips which are only a few miles wide.[4][5] Barack Obama received 73% of the vote in this district in the 2008 Presidential election.

But then on July 11,2014

By Christopher Ingraham July 11, 2014 
Last night a circuit court judge in Florida voided the state's congressional map, citing a "secret, organized campaign" by Republican operatives that "made a mockery of the Legislature's transparent and open process of redistricting." The ruling concluded that District 5, held by Democrat Corrine Brown, and District 10, held by Republican Dan Webster, will need to be redrawn. From a purely practical standpoint, this means redrawing any surrounding districts as well, and possibly many of the state's 27 districts overall. "If one or more districts do not meet constitutional muster, then the entire act is unconstitutional," Judge Terry Lewis wrote. Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/07/11/a-florida-judge-just-voided-the-states-congressional-districts-heres-what-you-need-to-know

If Republicans had unfairly drawn this district one would have thought Corrine Brown would have been thrilled at the judges decision to void the newly drawn districts, but oh no, that was not the case, Corrine was furious!

On July 11, 2014, Florida Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled that this district, along with the neighboring District 10, had been drawn to favor Republicans.[3][6] On August 1, Judge Lewis gave Florida's state legislature an Aug. 15 deadline to submit new congressional maps for those two districts.[7]

5th District Representative Corrine Brown issued a statement blasting Lewis's decision on the district map as "seriously flawed,"[5] and Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Marcia Fudge sent a sharply worded letter to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel complaining about the party's support for the lawsuit challenging Florida's district maps.[8]

Brown said that "we will go all the way to the United States Supreme Court, dealing with making sure that African Americans are not disenfranchised."[9] Florida House Redistricting Chairman Richard Corcoran, a Republican, said that "consideration of political data is legally required" to ensure that district boundaries would not be so shifted as to not allow African-Americans a chance to elect representatives of their choice.[10]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida%27s_5th_congressional_district

But Why?  Why would Corrine vow to fight this ruling all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court? The answer is yes the districts were flawed.  They were flawed just the way Corrine Brown and her like minded Republicans wanted them to be.

Democrat Corinne Brown, who's held the 5th District for more than 20 years, last night issued a blistering statement opposing the judge's ruling. As the Tampa Bay Times' Alex Leary describes in great detail, Brown partnered with Republicans to create that district in the 1990s. She's siding with them again in Florida's redistricting case, and it's easy to see the mutual benefit there: Brown gets a safe majority-minority district, while Republicans benefit from diluted minority representation in all the districts surrounding Brown's.

In effect, she's choosing political self-interest over the interest of her party.[b/] Forty-seven percent of votes in Florida's House elections in 2012 went to Democratic candidates, but Democrats won only 39 percent of the state's House seats. This is partly because Democratic-leaning minority voters were concentrated heavily in District 5, and by extension underrepresented everywhere else.

Again, the judge said IN EFFECT SHE'S CHOOSING POLITICAL SELF-INTEREST OVER THE INTEREST OF HER PARTY Doesn't get much clearer than that!

Democrat Corrine Brown wants a choke hold over the votes of the Black Democrat Community and in exchange she is perfectly willing to drain the African American voting base out of Republican districts which meets both her and their agenda.  I hope everyone is following along and that some eyes once closed are open.  Much more to come and next up Corrines Quick Picks.  In the meantime I encourage all to read the full Washington Post Article about the Judges ruling and thoughts on Gerrymandering. 

Now I leave you to ponder and digest these powerful words of the judge regarding gerrymandered districts.

this tendency toward secrecy and dealmaking appears to be business as usual in redistricting nationwide, and it is precisely the reason any attempts to fix the problem of gerrymandering that leave the process in politicians' hands are destined for failure. In the zero-sum game of politics, the stakes are too high for lawmakers to resist the temptation of manipulating district boundaries for partisan gains. "In short," Lewis writes, "winning is everything."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/07/11/a-florida-judge-just-voided-the-states-congressional-districts-heres-what-you-need-to-know

[spuwho]

On the flip side, she continues to get reelected often. Dont you think her constituency would not do that if needs werent being met?

I dont like gerrymandering anymore than anyone else, but the people of her district hold a very important tool, their vote.

She may have a political fiefdom as you call it, but it runs at the will of the electorate, not her.

She is one election away from losing it all and its very hard to get back. Just ask Carol Moseley-Braun.

[Cheshire Cat]

On the flip side, she continues to get reelected often. Dont you think her constituency would not do that if needs werent being met?

I dont like gerrymandering anymore than anyone else, but the people of her district hold a very important tool, their vote.

She may have a political fiefdom as you call it, but it runs at the will of the electorate, not her.

She is one election away from losing it all and its very hard to get back. Just ask Carol Moseley-Braun.

One would think this is the case spuwho but it is not.  Keep following along, there are more pieces to this puzzle and manipulations to what happens in that district that many would have no way of knowing.  I have several more posts coming and am glad you made this statement because I do believe your sentiment is shared by many people who still believe who gets into office gets there purely as a mechanism of the will of constituents.  Go back and read the WP piece on gerrymandering and what goes on in back room deals.  Things are never what they appear to be in politics, especially when it comes to Corrine Brown and Jacksonville.  Of course her influence as a result of her gerrymandered district goes way beyond our city.  I have not and do not intend to investigate what goes on in other places.  It is up to the constituents there to decide if they agree with her political habits and activities.  I am simply interested in our city, our local politics and shining a light on why it is still so difficult to secure the desired politically un-encumbered representation that we so desire as voters.

[Cheshire Cat]

Here is another article and opportunity to understand why gerrymandered districts do not reflect the will of the people.  When a district is gerrymandered it is done by elected politicians with agenda's who will bend the rules given half a chance.  Even to the point of breaking the constitution which happened in Corrine's district. It is called "racial gerrymandering".

CREDIT: AP Images

Following orders from a judge to redraw the state's voting district maps, since racial gerrymandering rendered the first draft unconstitutional,[/g] Florida's Republican-controlled legislature unveiled revised maps this week.

But the new maps look quite like the old ones, especially the boundaries of the snakelike District 5, one of the most gerrymandered seats in the country. In his ruling earlier this summer, Federal Judge Terry P. Lewis said District 5 "does not follow traditional political boundaries" and "connects two far flung urban populations" without legal justification. His opinion chided lawmakers, saying districts containing "finger-like extensions, narrow and bizarrely shaped tentacles, and hook like shapes...are constitutionally suspect and often indicative of racial and partisan gerrymandering."

Winding awkwardly around the center of the state to include the urban centers of Gainesville and Orlando made District 5 about 50 percent African American, and the population has been represented in Washington by Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL), a vocal member of Congressional Black Caucus, since 1992. But packing voters of color into Brown's district has drained them out of neighboring districts, making those seats in Congress easier to win for Republicans, who–conveniently–were in charge of drawing the map in the first place. Though Florida is a swing-state in presidential elections, Republicans control 17 out of its 27 congressional districts.

To view full story click link:  http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/08/08/3469129/new-florida-maps-gerrymander/