dcraelin
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- Sep 4, 2013
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- #81
Its amazing how people just reflexively reject any change.
What is the rational behind the Senate?.....is is representation based on population?.....no
is it representation based on land area?.....no
is it representation based on economic potential.....partially....especially in the west...Texas and California being big exceptions
But the small eastern states have way to much power in the Senate based on that.
Why should RI have the same power in the Senate as California?.....it makes no sense no matter how you look at it.
Yes I realize the history of it...the "great" compromise....a compromise based on the petty parochial concerns. But hopefully we can change to a less irrational system.
It is based on the sovereignty of each state. The House is based on population,
sovereignty is an empty concept if it isnt based on some sort of logical rational. Why should RI have the same power in the Senate as California?...on the basis of population?..no, on the basis of land value?...no...on the basis of economic potential/ resource base?...no....
Like I said above...both Madison the father of the Constitution and Wilson one of the wisest of the founders, both had a problem with the inane makeup of the Senate.
State sovereignty was no empty concept in 1786. Nor is it today. Without equality in one of the houses of Congress, smaller states would never have joined the union.
both Madison and Wilson argued against that even at the convention. RI didnt want to join even with that provision but was forced to.... But times change....I doubt if things were made more equitable today whether they would leave. And sovereignty of a state is a different thing than individual sovereignty.
My proposal acknowledges that there is some legitimacy to the concept of basing part of the government on the economic base of a state. But there is no legitimacy to giving RI, Del NH VT etc. that same power as California, just because politics at the time was separated that way. ...Which as I show above wasnt really necessarily the case anyway as some of these were governed together for a time.