The previous blog that describes how the Republican legislators of
California can sit back and let the Democrats crash their car into a
concrete wall is an unforeseen consequence of extreme gerrymandering.
The state legislative districts have been so severely gerrymandered that every elected Republican is in a 'safe' Republican district that can only elect Republicans. The consequence is that the elected Republicans are ideologically pure and can remain that way. They are free men and women, free to vote any way they want. And they refuse to raise taxes. Possibly a model for the rest of the Republican Party.
The election that just happened last month replaced Republican legislators forced to retire with new Republican legislators who are equally ideological. As a consequence the Democrats get to swim in their own doodoo, the impossible budget mess that the Democrats made for themselves.
For the good of the society, of course, the electorate has just corrected this serious gerrymandering error by passing the Phillips' Initiative which comes into effect in 2012.
(The image in the upper right is a manure pile.)