Our system of government has lots of problems. Be it money in politics, lack of diverse views, the strangle-hold the two parties have on everything, or the power of the incumbency in elections.
Lefties and Righties both have problems with the major parties. Elections are costing more and more money to run, leaving in many cases only the "political established elites" and rich folk able to afford to run.
The cause of all these problems can be traced back to Public Law 62-5, passed by Congress on Aug 8, 1911, in a mighty defeat to people-driven government.
(keep reading...)
What did Public Law 62-5 do? (from
WikiPedia):
Public Law 62-5, passed by the United States Congress on August 8, 1911, set the number of members of the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law did not take effect until 1913. It also included a provision for the addition of one seat each for Arizona and New Mexico when they became states.
That's right, the current size of the House of Representatives is no where in the Constitution. It is just a piece of legislation passed almost 100 years ago.
The population of the United States in 1910 was estimated at 92.2 Million. In 1910, the average US House of Representative member was beholden to 211,954 citizens
The population of the United States currently is estimated to be 298.5 Million with the average US House of Representative member beholden to 686,206 citizens.
See the problem?
Now, imagine a United States where the Congress didn't arbitrarily decide to stop growing. Imagine a place where the ratio of 211,954 to 1 still existed. We'd have over 1,400 people in the House of Representatives--over 3 times as many elected officials representing the diverse view of citizens in the United States.
And it would help put an end to two-party dominance in the United States.
I live in Colorado. We have two very blue districts in CO-01 and CO-02, representing Denver and Boulder respectively. Both are liberal towns. But imagine who we could run if instead of one Diana DeGette from Denver, we had 3 elections. My God! We might actually get a Socialist/Green Party Candidate elected from the Metro area! Just imagine what folks San Francisco would be able to send.
This works on the flip side too. Imagine Kansas sending Bible-beaters and Constitution party people to DC.
Expanding the House would also make it easier for the "Mythical Little Guy" to run. Now you have to raise MILLIONs of dollars to run a federal campaign, but if we returned the person-to-representative ratio to that before Public Law 62-5, things would become dramatically more affordable.
If the House is expanded to 1,400 members, the rich and diverse views of this country would be better represented. It would help destroy the two-party system that manipulates the game for their own advantage, and help bring back a government for, by, and of the people.
But don't expect the Democrats or Republicans to do anything. They like it the way it is--their power left unchecked.
And America will continue to suffer.