Saturday, April 23, 2005
Real Minority
The Latest buzz in DC is all about the Republicans trying to kill the fillibuster in the Senate- Essentially, the fillibuster has been used by the minority power in the Senate in order to block very unfavorable actions from the majority power- In the Clinton Administration, the Republican controlled Congress used this power in order to block legislation/ appointments. The GWB's administration, 40 of the 50 appellate court judges have been approved, a high ratio of judges in comparison to previous hearings.
There is a way to overcome the fillibuster, where there must be a 60 majority vote to continue debate over the nominees; Republicans want to lower that majority to a 50 person vote, and Cheney will cast his vote towards banning the fillibuster thus winning a "majority." Democrats in the Senate are threatening to use other means to shut down the Senate completely, if the Republicans choose to use their "nuclear option."
Thenarrator (http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=thenarrator&tab=weblogs&uid=247954738) from xanga.com made an interesting post on his blog, which I will elaborate on: The Senate was designed to protect minorities in this country, due to the Great Compromise~ a two house legislature, one based on the population of the state, the other with an equal amount of votes from every state. This two house legislature was to ensure that the smaller populated states would get an equal say in the government. Thenarrator suggested that if the Senate is no longer there to protect minorities, then we ought to change the Senate to a population based representative- votes. "States can have one Senator for every five Congressmembers (Less than five in Congress? Sorry Wyoming, No Senate Vote) - If the Constitutional protections of the minority don't matter, hey, they don't matter."
The population of Wyoming in 2000 was 493,792 people; In the same year, 2000, the population of L.A. county was 9,519,338. For every 1 person in Wyoming there is 20 people in L.A. County- L.A. is 20 times larger than a state and CA doesn't get any more votes than Wyoming.
Beyond that, Democrats hold 44 seats in the Senate; Republicans hold 56 seats. Is there really an overwhelming majority/minority? Those words hold the idea that a very small group of people is holding up what the rest of the country wants... but is it really true?
There is a way to overcome the fillibuster, where there must be a 60 majority vote to continue debate over the nominees; Republicans want to lower that majority to a 50 person vote, and Cheney will cast his vote towards banning the fillibuster thus winning a "majority." Democrats in the Senate are threatening to use other means to shut down the Senate completely, if the Republicans choose to use their "nuclear option."
Thenarrator (http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=thenarrator&tab=weblogs&uid=247954738) from xanga.com made an interesting post on his blog, which I will elaborate on: The Senate was designed to protect minorities in this country, due to the Great Compromise~ a two house legislature, one based on the population of the state, the other with an equal amount of votes from every state. This two house legislature was to ensure that the smaller populated states would get an equal say in the government. Thenarrator suggested that if the Senate is no longer there to protect minorities, then we ought to change the Senate to a population based representative- votes. "States can have one Senator for every five Congressmembers (Less than five in Congress? Sorry Wyoming, No Senate Vote) - If the Constitutional protections of the minority don't matter, hey, they don't matter."
The population of Wyoming in 2000 was 493,792 people; In the same year, 2000, the population of L.A. county was 9,519,338. For every 1 person in Wyoming there is 20 people in L.A. County- L.A. is 20 times larger than a state and CA doesn't get any more votes than Wyoming.
Beyond that, Democrats hold 44 seats in the Senate; Republicans hold 56 seats. Is there really an overwhelming majority/minority? Those words hold the idea that a very small group of people is holding up what the rest of the country wants... but is it really true?
