http://cantwinforlosing.com/2010/01/25/this-is-kinda-cool/ sometimes life ain't fair Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:07:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://cantwinforlosing.com/2010/01/25/this-is-kinda-cool/#comment-33 David Bishop Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:39:00 +0000 http://cantwinforlosing.com/?p=124#comment-33 Right, I knew all that but it seems to me that we are the only developed country that has both a bicameral legislature and one that essentially requires a supermajority in the upper house. This combined with the tradition of slack party discipline on the left in our country makes getting anything progressive done nigh unto impossible. Which is a shame because we're facing real problems (Health care costs, social security, climate change, nuclear disarmament, finance reform etc.) as a country, and as a world at large. Problems which one party refuses to acknowledge as even existing and the other can't summon the will to deal with those issues. Which means if we as the world's current greatest power can't pull it together somehow we're going to be in great trouble and I think the current incarnation of the Senate is one of the largest impediments to addressing those things. Right, I knew all that but it seems to me that we are the only developed country that has both a bicameral legislature and one that essentially requires a supermajority in the upper house. This combined with the tradition of slack party discipline on the left in our country makes getting anything progressive done nigh unto impossible. Which is a shame because we’re facing real problems (Health care costs, social security, climate change, nuclear disarmament, finance reform etc.) as a country, and as a world at large. Problems which one party refuses to acknowledge as even existing and the other can’t summon the will to deal with those issues. Which means if we as the world’s current greatest power can’t pull it together somehow we’re going to be in great trouble and I think the current incarnation of the Senate is one of the largest impediments to addressing those things.

]]> http://cantwinforlosing.com/2010/01/25/this-is-kinda-cool/#comment-32 Jim Reeves Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:20:12 +0000 http://cantwinforlosing.com/?p=124#comment-32 While an interesting concept, the House of Representatives is where population based representation is preserved. Each state has two Senators so that sparsely populated areas would not be ignored by states with high populations. Also, when the Constitution was written, states were seen as the primary government level, not the Federal government. The Senate preserves the idea of a community of equals, where each state is an equal partner in the Federal government. Until the Civil War, the United States was more of an association of loosely bound regions, and our current system of strong Federal control didn't really start until after the war, and really took off during Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression. While an interesting concept, the House of Representatives is where population based representation is preserved. Each state has two Senators so that sparsely populated areas would not be ignored by states with high populations. Also, when the Constitution was written, states were seen as the primary government level, not the Federal government. The Senate preserves the idea of a community of equals, where each state is an equal partner in the Federal government. Until the Civil War, the United States was more of an association of loosely bound regions, and our current system of strong Federal control didn’t really start until after the war, and really took off during Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Great Depression.

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