This shows the problem with the Senate

[FoxNewsSucks]

Found on AllHatNoCattle:



Democratic Senators represent far more human beings than republicons do. Republicons are manipulative and scheming, that's why they took control of the media. It's the reason they blanket small rural states with Hate Radio. 2 Senators from states with >1m population have the same say as states with 30+ million .

The "big state/small state" thing might have been a valid concern to the 13 original states, but it is completely absurd today. Needs to be changed.

[Elessar Zappa]

1. It won't change in our life times.

We gotta work with what we got.

[MarcA]

7. Unless obstructions like this, the Electoral College, Lifetime Judges

and the Filibuster, where the will of the majority of citizens, the President,
the House and even on occasion the Senate (VP) are denied, we
may very well see the end of the US as we know it in our lifetimes.
Can the US survive until 2050?

[Layzeebeaver]

2. I give that a "hell yea!"

The idea of an upper and lower house may be a good idea, but it needs to flex with the growth of the nation.

[a kennedy]

3. I thought EVERY State had two senators.......

[CurtEastPoint]

5. Yes, and the 7 states in red have 14. LA County, a part of California, has 2.

[calimary]

26. Washington DC would get two Senators.

How ‘bout THAT for the “tiny blue dot” thing?

DC STATEHOOD!!! NOW!!!!

And it’d certainly fix the “we all have to genuflect to ‘King’ Joe Manchin” thing, too.

[PJMcK]

38. That's the solution

Throw in Puerto Rico and any other American territories that want statehood. They'll all send Democratic Senators to D.C.

Problem solved and as an added bonus, it will neuter Manchin.

[magicarpet]

4. Send this to Manchin.

[NullTuples]

16. Why? He'll just side with the other Republicans again...

[roamer65]

6. Secession for blue states draws closer.

[tclambert]

8. Re-Unify the Dakotas!

There is no reason for a North and a South Dakota. The Dakota Territory once contained both states and parts of other states. Let's have peace between the Dakotas and bring them back together.

While we're at it, Puerto Rico deserves to become a state. We've let them languish in territorial limbo for far too long. Puerto Rico has a higher population than Hawaii or Alaska. Hell, it has a higher population than both Dakotas put together.

[mezame]

9. D.C. while we're at it

[tclambert]

12. D.C. does have a higher population than Wyoming.

Within a few thousand of Alaska.

31 American cities have a higher population than the state of Wyoming.

[Fla Dem]

10. The District of Columbia has almost 700,000 residents with NO Senate representation.

[Blue_playwright]

13. Which is such bullshit

[SunnyATT]

15. That and D.C. only has an "at-large" member in the House with very limited voting privileges.

[James48]

11. California needs to be four or five states.

That’s really part of what is needed. No place with more then a 10 to one ratio over the smallest states.

California, 4 or 5 states.
Texas, 3 or 4 states. Florida- at least two different Florida’s exist.

Where else needs to be broken into smaller parts?

[NullTuples]

17. If CA was 5 states, 3 of them would be GOP

Our state is a like a Mandelbrot of the country as a whole. The coastal area around LA and the SF Bay Area (+ the coast up to Eureka) are where nearly all of our people are as well as nearly all of our Democratic voters.

[qazplm135]

14. it was the design of the Founders

it just had a smaller difference but there were still pretty big differences between the states back then in population and land mass.

To change it, would need to change the Constitution, and that's got about as much chance of happening as me winning the lottery.

[BarbD]

18. Back in 2000 at Democratic Committee meetings we talked about changing the Constitution

to eliminate the Electoral College. Everyone kept arguing that it was too hard.

So, now here we are 20 years later. The Electoral College is outdated. Congress is not representative of our population. The time to change is now. The Constitution has been amended 27 times. It can be done.

[mwooldri]

19. Maybe change the Senate to a "revision chamber"?

Bills have to be introduced in the House, cannot be introduced in the Senate. Senate can only work on legislation passed on in the House. House has some powers to veto the Senate and send bills to the President to sign into law without Senate approval. Judicial and executive appointments are approved by a House committee and not the Senate.

Looks like to me the US legislative branch is becoming more like a UK parliamentary system. So copy it. In theory none of the US Senators have to be elected, just chosen by the states. UK House of Lords - no-one is elected there by universal suffrage.

Won't ever happen, would require substantial constitutional reform and that's more likely to pass than me winning the Powerball lottery twice.

[Crunchy Frog]

20. Eventually there will be no other option than for the country to break apart. nt

[Roc2020]

21. Unfortunately it's looking that way

[eppur_se_muova]

22. That tiny blue dot has NO Senators of its own. It SHARES two Senators ...

with every other county in CA. So maybe 1/29th of a Senator for that blue dot, vs 14 red Senators -- a factor of ~400.

(Actually, that should be calculated based on population, not number of counties. But point made.)

[dugog55]

23. The Senate worked as it should for almost two centuries, until the GOP lost its mind

in the '80s under Reagan. He invited the NRA and the Christian Right into their fold and it has been a steady downward spiral. The Christian Conservatives will not stop until we have a Theological based Fascist Government. Period. Other than money, nothing is more important to them than having complete control of the American people. Pompeo was a true believer in End Times. Is that someone you want in a position of power? And almost every Republican politician has to drag religion into every thing they are talking about or working on.

And yes, if you have read any of my previous posts, you will know that I am beating a dead horse with Reagan, but dammit, he is the grandfather of everything wrong in this country, and it makes me sick whenever a Dem mentions him in a favorable light. He set in motion the destruction of the middle class and the creation of our current plutocracy.

[FoxNewsSucks]

28. It started before Saint Ronnie Raygun,

The methods and "machinery" were put in place and assembled, Raygun just hit the start button.

[wryter2000]

33. I'm with you on Reagan

The garbage may have existed before him, but he made it all mainstream.

[Grins]

42. No it didn't. The Senate worked as it should for almost two centuries, until the GOP lost its mind

"The Senate worked as it should for almost two centuries, until the GOP lost its mind."

No it didn't.

It went south (literally) in the early 19th century that led to more slavery, a civil war, and all the hell that has come since. If you haven't read it, get the book, "Master of the Senate" by Robert Caro (it's terrific!) The first 100+ plus pages Caro sets the stage with the history of the Senate. I think I made it halfway when I thought for the first time - "The Senate needs to be abolished."

[FakeNoose]

24. Well actually not

That tiny blue dot has even less representation in the Senate, because the 2 California Senators are representing the entire state.

California has almost 40 million people. Los Angeles County alone has almost 4 million people - 10% of the state. So the residents of Los Angeles County are getting representation of 10% of 2 California senators.

The 7 states shown on this map each get 2 Senators.

[lame54]

25. And the tiny blue dot cares more about actual land

[BobTheSubgenius]

27. It will never been changed as long as it serves certain interests.

And it does.

[aggiesal]

29. There are 50 (R) Senators, 48 (D) Senators and 2 (I) Senators ...

If you add up all the votes received by 50 (R) Senators, they would receive 63,745,827
If you add up all the votes received by 48 (D) Senators, they would receive 83,224,682
If you add up all the votes received by 2 (I) Senators, the would receive 528,224

50 Republicans receive 43.32% of the total vote received
48 Democrats receive 56.64% of the total vote received
2 Independents received 0.35% of the total vote received

If you include Independents with Democrats because that's how they vote, then
50 Republicans receive 43.32% of the total vote received
48 Democrats receive 56.78% of the total vote received

Democrats have a 19,478,855 vote lead on the Republicans with a 13.32% advantage
Including the Independent Senators, the Democrats have a 20,0007,079 vote lead and a 13.46% advantage

Yet Democrats had 2 less Senators than Republicans

**************************************************
To be honest, the founding fathers set the system up this way.
The House was setup to give the power to the big states, while the Senate
was setup to give the power to the little states.

Unfortunately, the "little" states abused the gerrymandering at both the national, state and local level
so that they can have perpetual power. So now the smaller states are gaining control of the house as well.
Look at Pennsylvania for example. If you add up the votes received by (D) .vs. (R), the (D)'s received more
votes, yet (R) have more representatives.

[FoxNewsSucks]

30. THanks to gerrymandering,

the House isn't much better. Democrats get far more total votes than republicon scum, yet often don't control the House and when they do, the margin isn't even close to reflecting the actual vote count.

[aggiesal]

31. Our minds think alike ...

I added exactly that to my post before I saw your response.

[CaptainTruth]

32. Add to that: My Senators & Representative are all Republicans.

There's no one from my state in Congress who represents me.

[lagomorph777]

34. That tiny blue dot has to SHARE those 2 Senators with millions of other Californians.

The legacy of slavery is long and painful. The Senate is purely intended to protect rural racists. We need to find a way to fix it or make it go away.

[Griefbird]

35. The tiny blue dot only has a fraction of two senators.

Two senators represent the whole state, so LA County doesn't have the influence over California's senators that the red states have over their 14 senators, seems to me.

[elleng]

36. That's why there's the House.

[trof]

37. It ain't right.

It just ain't right.

[azureblue]

39. Jeez - please do not display a lack of knowledge

Why do you think the US has a house of representatives and a senate? Duh? Jeez - I learned that in the 7th grade.

[OldBaldy1701E]

40. Shh... grownups are ranting.

All of this talk about restructuring our government is funny given how much screaming I read on here when the rethugs were discussing an attempt to do basically the same thing.

[BSdetect]

41. The C is so outdated now. We are not "represented" by these vast disparities.

How about 2 senators per 10 million of population?