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Oh boy! If this actually succeeds, how can we not get a seat in the House? The New York Times reports today on a lawsuit that just might increase the size of the House of Representatives, and dramatically so. The lawsuit claims that the current system of apportioning seats in the House leaves some voters with more representation than others. For example, while one district in Nevada has 960,000 voters, Wyoming's single district only has 523,000. The solution? Increase the size of the House to as few as 932 or as many as 1,761 seats so that voting districts are smaller and voting power distributed more equitably. Jesus. The prospect of 1,761 members of the House and their respective staffs gives us a headache just thinking about it. On the other hand, we'd have to get at least one of those seats, right? Just out of pity? Please? But seriously, while we feel for the poor residents of Nevada's 3rd District, we'd like to point out that no one is less represented in the U.S. than District residents. Sure, there's almost a million of you out there, but at least you have a representative.
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Any way we can gerrymander DC so that it's part of Manhattan? Maybe then, I can finally get a decent NY slice. I'd even settle for NJ so at least there'd be White Castles nearby. As it is, DC has no vote in Congress, no NY slices, no White Castles, no Krystals, and the closest Waffle House is in f**king DUMFRIES. WTF is up with that? That's no the America I grew up in. That's not even Texas!
No White Castles, but there's still one or two Little Taverns.
The last Little Tavern closed last year.
Dang! I thought there was still one in Laurel or Wheaton.
Hey, you're kinda right! I just wikipedied it. The former Little Tavern in Laurel is now the "Laurel" Tavern, that serves sliders, PLUS THEY SELL DONUTS IN THE MORNING.
Road trip!
You can keep on expanding the size of the House, but we'll never arrive at a perfectly equal proportion of representation. The real problem lies with the Senate, where crap states like Delaware and North Dakota find themselves harnessing the same power as Cali and NY.
I seem to think that was kind of the idea...
I thought that was the whole point of the Senate? To prevent big crap states like Cali from pushing around diarrhea-smelling states like Delaware.
That "crap" is the whole basis of our political structure. The Founders (wisely) set it up that way so all policy would not be decided by two states.
If those states are NY and CA, I don't really see the problem... ;)
Right, Cali, the state that brought us prop-8, the governator and a bankrupt government.
There's enough lobbyist money to spread around 1700 congressfolks. It'd be great if they just gave the constituents the money and we could call our congresspeople for them (well, not us that live in DC).
As long as we could clone Jim Webb to be a Senator for each them, them that would be great.
I hope the lawsuit includes a provision demanding pods for our representatives to float around in during floor debates.
....and i might just move to make the senator from naboo a temporary emperor, to save us from the trade unionists...
Emperor Rhee, and death by tray, it shall be.
This one is wet. And this one is wet! And this one is wet. This one is wet, this one is wet, this one is wet, this one is wet, this one is wet, this one is wet...what did you dry these trays in a rainforest? I do not need a tray to kill you...do you know who I am? I'm Jeff Vader, I run the Death Star.
I have come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty now. I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee. If this body is not capable of action, I suggest new leadership is needed.
I move for a "vote of no confidence" in Rep. Kevin Brady's (R-Tex.) leadership.
The delegation of E.T.s (http://tiny.cc/wjeN8) second that motion!
I guess it takes ten years for people to comfortably make Phantom Menace references without fear of being mocked.
On the bright side, construction jobs in DC will boom. The only question is where to locate the new combined chambers...
I seem to think that was kind of the idea...
Good bye national mall...we're gonna need a bigger boat.
What a stupid suit. Smaller states having proportionately more power--that is by design. It is really a problem with apportionment within the states.
I disagree. Agree or disagree with the point that the suit makes/the method it proscribes; it highlights the importance/necessity of fair and balanced representation that is tantamount to our form of democracy, flawed as it might be.
Yabut.."fair" means that smallest states get a slightly disproportionate amount of power. That was the intent and there is nothing wrong with that.
Hahaha. I commend the following to your attention: http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf
Look on the bright side: these guys might have stubbled onto a new use for RFK.
Hey! I already called dibs on RFK to imprison truants, PINOCHET STYLE!
Why can't we use it for both???
Oh pity too poor state residents who don't get as much representation as they want... boohoo sob story!
*sticks up middle finger*
I'm tired of people telling me to write my congressman on issues... my congress(wo)man can't do diddly squat... which is extremely disenfranchising! People look at you funny when you say that too, even people living in this area (in the burbs of MD and VA) don't seem to understand that DC residents don't have a voting congressional representative... Grrrr, how can you be that uninformed?!
I think making the house too big would be a SERIOUS problem... and you know darn well that people in conservative states would have a fit about "big government" -- it doesn't get any bigger than 1,700 people trying to cram into one room! lol...
Simply not enough interns to make this idea sustainable.
Now, hang on a minute...you may have just stumbled onto the bright side here. More congress members (heh...members) means more interns...more hot, young, idealistic, impressionable, and slightly stupid interns...to invade our city every summer. Yes. Yes, I think I like it.
I think they should srink the number of representatives. I say give total power to the Vice President. Of course this only applies during Republican administrations.
That makes your head hurt? Really?
There's 646 MPs in the British Parliament. 1386 if you count the lords.
There's 802 members of the Indian Parliament.
Greatest democracy in the world? Pft. If we can't handle a body larger than India, we should pack our things and go.
Bigger is better? Is that what we've come to?
Bigger isn't necessarily better. It's not how big you are, but what you can do with what you've got. And the same goes for penises. Aint that right, Lil Fella?
[high pitched squeal]
He ain't lyin!
In that case, we're all f*cked. The prowess of Mini-Monkey notwithstanding. I'm sure he's a veritable force.
Yes, that is what we should do. Model our representative system after the British. Oh, wait....
Everything old is new again! TEA PARTAY!
how about this? instead of more seats in the house, we get rid of some states?
with the depopulation of the great plains, there will be no need for nebraska, kansas, the dakotas, and wyoming to all exist as separate entities.
thus alleviating the need for expensive congressional driven farm subsidies...great idea +10
wow, i don't know what i'm going to do with 10 points! is there a company store or something around here where i can cash in these chits?
my thought exactly! combine all the dinky states out there into one or two states, and then they'll receive more "equitable" representation in the House and Senate as compared to the rest of us.
As NewHCE so wisely put it:
That "crap" is the whole basis of our political structure. The Founders (wisely) set it up that way so all policy would not be decided by two states.
The Founders--in their eternal wisdom--saw fit to give outsized influence to a dozen or so completely depopulated wilderness landmasses so that *voters* wouldn't have all the representation.
Every time you see the famous "Red State/Blue State" map of the US, raise your voice loud and clear: "One Acre One Vote!"
the founders also saw it wise to not extend the voting franchise to women and felt that certain folks we're actually only worth 3/5ths of a person when it came to counting personhood, so i wouldn't consider their position the end-all and be-all of anything (not that i'm accusing you of that, ibc).
It would require some structural changes to how the "Congress" operates, simply put we'd have to operate along the lines of a parliament. Hypothetically this change would also kill the two party system, which could be a very interesting/beneficial shakeup of American politics. That said, self preservation is instinctive for humans and that translates to "bodies" that they form, including the US Congress, so its a moot point. The cynics win and nothing will happen unless some terrorist gets lucky with another plane (think Executive Order(s) by Tom Clancy). And thus the ramble concludes.
I love people who are saying we should model our system on that of other countries. Guess you missed that day in history class.
The author of the NY Times article failed to mention Article the First, which was the first proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. If it would have been ratified (and technically still can be!) we would have 6,000 Representatives.
oh jesus christ, at that point, you might as well move the capital to a greenfield somewhere in north dakota, because you'd need 10 times the space we have here in DC.
either that, or the height restriction is going to have to go the way of the little tavern.