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  •  Good point... (none / 0)

    ...why is the EC limited to 535 votes anyway?  But instead of just giving random electoral votes, we should amend the federal law that limits the house of representatives to 435 members.  House members should represent no more than, say, 200,000 people in their state (pick a number).

    This gives a bit more weight to more populous states, but doesn't take away the advantage that small states have by getting 2 EV's (and two senators) no matter what their population.

    Plus it has the added benefit of possibly lessening the effect of gerrymandering, and actually makes the Reps. accountable to their districts again.

    I've read this somewhere before, but can't remember where, so I can't give a link.

    Standing cool and composed before a million universes

    by pauldean on Thu Mar 04, 2004 at 01:38:30 PM PDT

    [ Parent ]

    •  Isn't Congress large enough (none / 0)

      On the other hand: Isn't the House large enough as it is? Your model would make a the House much larger, wouldn't it?

      That would be very expensive, and I don't think the benefit would justify the cost.

      That's just my (foreign) opinion.

      It is time to bring back this time-honoured tradition: We never go to war because we want to, we only go to war because we have to.

      by PoliticGeek Pro on Thu Mar 04, 2004 at 01:51:29 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  A Monumental Possibility (none / 1)

      House members should represent no more than, say, 200,000 people in their state (pick a number).

      A similar proposal was part of the original Bill Of Rights.  Originally, the Bill Of Rights consisted of 12 Amendments offered to the States.  10 of these Amendments were ratified as a block and became known as the Bill Of Rights.  Another was finally ratified in 1992.  That other one has never been ratified (but it's still pending - I don't know how many states have ratified it).  It mandates, ultimately, one Representative per 50,000 citizens.  Were this in effect today, we'd have nearly 6,000 members of the House.  

      And then the dKos breakdowns of Congressional races would be only for the very, very, very hardcore ...

      by Collideascope on Thu Mar 04, 2004 at 03:50:17 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

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