To Be Announced...

There's some discussion over at the Des Moines Register regarding the status of Iowa's latest US Census figures. So far, the only person hitting an original point is me after I left another comment on the story over the weekend.

Most people are far off track when they degenerate into discussion about why Iowa is losing numbers and population and how we keep young people in the state. It ain't the weather...it isn't so much economics-related...it isn't even all those fun things to do.

We're not losing population. We're just not growing as fast as others...

Norman: Iowa expected to lose House seat after census

The announcement by the census last week that Maricopa County, Arizona, gained an astonishing 696,000 residents in just six years was a wake-up call that congressional redistricting will bring some big changes for Iowa just a few years from now.

The new county-by-county census numbers that were released Thursday show states in the South and the West continuing to grow rapidly. Given this increase in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, it's not hard to see why Arizona became the nation's fastest-growing state between 2005 and 2006.

Census officials said that among the 20 fastest-growing counties from 2000 to 2006, 13 were in the South, four in the West and three in the Midwest. Among the 20 counties with the largest numeric gains in the past six years, 19 were in the South or West.

When I hear that, I think a little outside the box. Granted, people may be moving for the weather and general economic conditions - but those states have something else in common. Most of them are nearer to the border than we are. And if you keep track of such things, they also are more lenient (if that's possible) toward illegal immigrants than we are.

This is why Iowa is still expected to lose a congressional seat after the 2010 census, even though Iowa's population grew by 1.9 percent between 2000 and 2006 and the state added 55,000 people. When one county explodes by 696,000 people in the same period, there's just no way Iowa can keep up.

The loss of a seat would mean that Iowa would go from five House members to four.

Yep. I've mentioned this so many times and no matter how hard I try, most people either just consider it briefly and/or ignore it.

Beginning in the 2000 Census, we counted (for the first time) ILLEGAL ALIENS and included them in census figures!!

The US Census counts "residents" of the nation, not citizens. That number includes many people who aren't citizens, including those with a work visa or a "green card," and also those who entered the United States illegally.

By excluding those from the count, some estimate there would be a 16-seat change among the states' 2000 apportionment. California alone would lose 5 members of Congress. Big deal, right?

The loss of a seat also means that Iowa loses a vote in the electoral college that determines presidential results. Will the downsizing to four seats make Iowa become more blue or more red?

So, where is Iowa's lost congressional seat going?

The University of Virginia Center for Politics recently predicted that Florida will gain nine new House seats by 2030, while Texas will get eight and Arizona, five. Other gainers were predicted to be California, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Now you know why both Dems and Reps want to make a deal on illegal immigration and some states don't want to get too tough on border enforcement.

The more "population" you have, the more federal money gets funneled to your state and the more power you have in determining the electoral college.

Get it?

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