August, 12 2021, 09:12am EDT
U.S. Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Demographic Data to Kick Off Redistricting 2021
Today, the U.S. Census Bureau will release demographic data from the 2020 Census that will paint a detailed picture of America's diverse communities. The local level data will be shared with all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and will kickstart the 2021 redistricting cycle.
WASHINGTON
Today, the U.S. Census Bureau will release demographic data from the 2020 Census that will paint a detailed picture of America's diverse communities. The local level data will be shared with all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and will kickstart the 2021 redistricting cycle.
States and localities use the data to redraw federal, state, and local legislative district boundaries that will shape each state's elections for the next decade. The process is meant to ensure that as populations grow and change, every American continues to have equal representation and equal voice in government.
The data release provides the first detailed look in ten years at the demographic characteristics of communities. The data includes the breakdown of race and ethnicity, voting-age population, occupied and vacant housing units, and people living in group quarters, such as nursing homes, prisons, military barracks, and college dorms, of the nation's communities by state, city, and county.
The U.S. Census Bureau delivered the data in a technical format, known as "legacy data," which was used in the 2010 and 2000 Census. By September 30, the Census Bureau will make the data available online, in a more user-friendly format.
While the data release is the beginning of the 2021 redistricting process, it is also the culmination of the 2020 Census count, the national effort to count every single person living in the United States, which takes place once every ten years. From April 1 to October 15, 2020, states and localities encouraged all residents to be counted to secure a complete and accurate count of the American people.
Statement from Kathay Feng, National Common Cause Redistricting Director
The Census data release is one of the most important days for American democracy. With this information, states and localities can begin the redistricting process that will shape our elections for the next ten years.
The Census data will provide the information our communities need to draw fair maps and ensure everyone is represented in our government.
Each year following the decennial census, people from all backgrounds come together to build a government of the people, by the people, and for the people Together, communities participate in redistricting to ensure we have a government that works for all of us and represents all of us--not just the special interests, wealthy, and well-connected.
When redistricting is fair, transparent, and includes everyone, we can draw fair maps to secure free, fair, and responsive elections for the next ten years. Fair maps mean the politicians must work to earn every vote in every corner of the district because we the people get to choose our elected representatives, not the other way around.
Fair maps will ensure that elected representatives are responsive to communities - securing the resources our communities need for stronger schools, better roads and transportation, and affordable healthcare. Over the next several weeks and months, people from across the country will participate in redistricting to ensure we have free and fair elections for the next ten years.
We encourage everyone to make their voice heard for fair maps this year. Our democracy belongs to all of us and we must ensure everyone has representation and a voice in our government.
Yet, we still do not have national redistricting reform. That's why we will continue to advocate for Congress to pass the For The People Act, legislation that will end partisan and racial gerrymandering that restricts our communities' power and voice.
In the weeks and months ahead, Common Cause will continue working in partnership with state and local leaders to ensure we have a democracy where everyone participates, every vote is counted, and everyone's voice is heard for the next decade.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
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"My friends, you don’t have to be a PhD in political science to understand that this is not democracy. This is not one person, one vote. This is not all of us coming together to decide our future. This is oligarchy."
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Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is escalating his fight against the U.S. oligarchy with a new campaign directed at the nation's wealthiest individuals—including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg—who he says are key culprits in a global race to the bottom that is stripping people worldwide of political agency while impoverishing billions so that the rich can amass increasingly obscene levels of wealth.
Announcing a new series that will detail how "billionaire oligarchs" in the U.S. "manipulate the global economy, purchase our elections, avoid paying taxes, and increasingly control our government," Sanders said in a Friday night video address that it makes him laugh when mainstream pundits talk openly about the nefarious oligarchic structures in other places, but refuse to acknowledge the issue in domestic terms.
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While rarely discussed in the corporate press or by most elected officials, argues Sanders, the reality is that a "small number of incredibly wealthy billionaires own and control much of the global economy. Period. End of discussion. And increasingly they own and control our government through a corrupt campaign finance system."
Since the the victory of President-elect Donald Trump in November, Sanders has been increasingly outspoken about his frustrations over the failure of the Democratic Party to adequately confront the contradictions presented by a party that purports to represent the interests of the working class yet remains so beholden to corporate interests and the wealthy that lavish it with campaign contributions.
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According to the newspaper:
Mr. Siri is also representing ICAN in petitioning the FDA to "pause distribution" of 13 other vaccines, including combination products that cover tetanus, diphtheria, polio, and hepatitis A, until their makers disclose details about aluminum, an ingredient researchers have associated with a small increase in asthma cases.
Mr. Siri declined to be interviewed, but said all of his petitions were filed on behalf of clients. Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy, said Mr. Siri has been advising Mr. Kennedy but has not discussed his petitions with any of the health nominees. She added, "Mr. Kennedy has long said that he wants transparency in vaccines and to give people choice."
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The Times pointed out that experts consider placebo-controlled trials that would deny some children polio shots unethical, because "you're substituting a theoretical risk for a real risk," as Dr. Paul A. Offit, a vaccine expert at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, explained. "The real risks are the diseases."
Ayman Chit, head of vaccines for North America at Sanofi, told the newspaper that development of the vaccine began in 1977, over 280 million people worldwide have received it, and there have been more than 300 studies, some with up to six months of follow-up.
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Trump toldNBC News last weekend: "Hey, look, I'm not against vaccines. The polio vaccine is the greatest thing. If somebody told me to get rid of the polio vaccine, they're going to have to work real hard to convince me. I think vaccines are—certain vaccines—are incredible. But maybe some aren't. And if they aren't, we have to find out."
Both comments generated concern—like the Friday reporting in the Times, which University of Alabama law professor and MSNBC columnist Joyce White Vance called "absolutely terrifying."
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Ryan Cooper, managing editor at The American Prospect, warned that "they want your kids dead."
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Multiple critics altered Trump's campaign slogan to "Make Polio Great Again."
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded with a video on social media:
Without naming anyone, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, put out a lengthy statement on Friday.
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Sandy Fonzo, whose son killed himself after being sentenced to juvenile detention, said in a statement: "I am shocked and I am hurt. Conahan's actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son's death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power."
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