With the current situation within Texas, the sudden “need” to redraw voting lines, in 2025 instead of 2030, concerns me greatly. It seems that the only realistic and “good faith” reasoning to redraw the district maps now, is because of the threat of the 2026 midterm elections, which tells me one thing: “If you can’t beat the system, change the rules” is the motto of the GOP. This is akin to a kid playing monopoly, realizing they’re about to go bankrupt, lands on “free parking” and proclaims “now when I land on free parking, I get $2k from the bank.” Well, now suddenly the player that had a very good chance of losing, suddenly has a good chance of winning.
Considering the very unpopular Big Beautiful Bill was just recently passed, and many Americans are asking themselves, “How does this benefit myself, how does it affect my livelihood, and why is it skewed towards the rich?” I’m betting a majority of Chattanoogans, save for certain zip codes, will not benefit from the Big Beautiful Bill. Hence, when the midterm elections come around, people will remember the passing of this bill that, for the majority of Americans, would financially, as well as medically, harm them for the most part. Also, the benefits that the majority of the wealthy would actually receive, would not change their daily lives or their finances significantly. Hence, a cost/benefit analysis of the bill would come out to be a large detrimental cost to most Americans, and a very small benefit to a very small portion of Americans.
This would be akin to letting most of Chattanooga go without public transportation, healthcare services, and better education, at the benefit of everyone at the top of Signal Mountain and Black Creek getting a tax refund of $15,000 when their average yearly income may be $600,000. Would someone truly see much of a change in finances if they had a tax refund that small? I highly doubt it. Why am I mentioning this? Because when enough people wake up to this fact, they will voice their opinion through the only current meaningful way- the ballot box. Republicans know the BBB was an unpopular bill, even as they modified it. They know the economy is going south, even when the person tasked with providing that information is being fired. From what I have seen, much of what the Republican led Congress is doing, and is allowing to happen, is very unpopular. The only way the public can express their feelings and their opinions that would matter to this current Congress, is through their votes. Therefore, they feel the need to change the rules in order to keep a majority in the Senate and the House.
It has become apparent that much of Congress as a whole has turned their backs on the American people, actually for many years. Only now, they have shown disdain and a sense of uncaring of what we truly want, as well as a bold stance on voting outcomes. If the American people don’t have a voice in the ballot box, they will express their voices in other ways. If you need an example of this, look only to the French. When the French Monarchy ignored the public’s outcries and their attempts at being heard fairly, they pushed back hard. They didn’t want to simply “eat cake” they wanted to be treated fairly and to be seen as more than just pawns in a chess game. It would have been easier and less violent had the French Monarchy truly sat down with the peasant’s leaders and hammered out a deal that was fair to all, but they did not. In fact, they actively did not. They paid a much higher price for ignoring the public.
John Spencer