Do you like arithmetic? Doing arithmetic sometimes improves my day, sometimes it doesn't. Today was a "doesn't" day.
NPR's repeated statements that the 2007 Senate set a record for filibusters irritated me so much that I decided to try to calm my mind by looking at some numbers. What I found surprised me. Many of you know what I discovered, but I hope this diary will interest a few readers.
Two-thirds of the Senate must agree to override a veto.
Two-thirds of the Senate must agree to expel a member.
Conviction on an impeachment charge requires a two-thirds vote.
Two-thirds of Senators present and voting must agree to debate a proposed change of a Senate rule.
34 Senators can block a veto override, prevent the expulsion of a member, or prevent impeachment conviction.
(Following numbers for total U.S. population include Washington, D.C., and exclude other non-state affiliates such as Puerto Rico.)
Guess what? 34 Senators represent 7% of U.S. residents! Fewer than 34 Senators can block debate on a rule change.
What the 2007 Senate actually set a record for was failed cloture votes. Except for debate on a proposed rule change, cloture requires 60 votes. 40 Senators represent 10% of us. 42 Senators represent 11% of us, less than the population of California.
Cloture procedures are set forth in a Senate rule that was passed in 1917 and subsequently amended a couple of times. This is the rule that can render impotent Senators who represent 90% of Americans. This also is the rule that can negate the will of the House of Representatives, by preventing Senate passage of a bill that the House passed.
Perhaps it is the cloture rule that makes Congress, and particularly the Senate, seem like a terminally dysfunctional anachronism. Why do we need a Congress when we have a unitary monarch? Perhaps the cloture rule should be amended again. Perhaps the cloture rule should be dispensed with. The House doesn't seem to need one, and the Senate operated without one for many decades. The cloture rule is a Senate rule, however, and a proposed change can't be debated without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators present and voting. Fat chance, slim chance, and no chance at all.
If the Senate could pass a cloture motion, the debated bill could be passed or defeated by majority vote. You might think that, by the time we get to 51 Senators, the population imbalance might be significantly less. Not so much. 50 Senators represent about 16% of the total U.S. population.
This look at the numbers is simple-minded. It doesn't address the facts that some small-population states are centrist or liberal, and some large-population states are conservative, for example. Nevertheless, my brute-force number-twiddling has given me a new appreciation of the difficulties faced by Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. No wonder they're frustrated. I still think it is their job to get the job done, I still get tired of hearing that Republican obstructionism is the cause of Congressional inaction, but you know what? The Senate looks to me like a vehicle built for obstruction, not accomplishment. More Dems in Congress will help, but our Congressional leadership has my sympathy meanwhile.
I agree with BooMan23. We need to elect as many Senators as possible in 2008.
Based on About.com:
Cumulative
Percent of
Population
- Wyoming 515,004 0.17
- Vermont 623,908 0.38
- North Dakota 635,867 0.59
- Alaska 670,053 0.82
- South Dakota 781,919 1.08
- Delaware 853,476 1.36
- Montana 944,632 1.68
- Rhode Island 1,067,610 2.03
- Hawaii 1,285,498 2.46
- New Hampshire 1,314,895 2.90
- Maine 1,321,574 3.34
- Idaho 1,466,465 3.83
- Nebraska 1,768,331 4.43
- West Virginia 1,818,470 5.03
- New Mexico 1,954,599 5.69
- Nevada 2,495,529 6.52
17. Utah 2,550,063 7.37
- Kansas 2,764,075 8.29
- Arkansas 2,810,872 9.23
- Mississippi 2,910,540 10.20
21. Iowa 2,982,085 11.20
- Connecticut 3,504,809 12.37
- Oklahoma 3,579,212 13.57
- Oregon 3,700,758 14.80
25. Kentucky 4,206,074 16.21
- Louisiana 4,287,768 17.64
- South Carolina 4,321,249 19.08
- Alabama 4,599,030 20.62
- Colorado 4,753,377 22.21
- Minnesota 5,167,101 23.93
- Wisconsin 5,556,506 25.79
- Maryland 5,615,727 27.66
- Missouri 5,842,713 29.62
- Tennessee 6,038,803 31.63
- Arizona 6,166,318 33.69
- Indiana 6,313,520 35.80
- Washington 6,395,798 37.94
- Massachusetts 6,437,193 40.09
- Virginia 7,642,884 42.64
- New Jersey 8,724,560 45.55
- North Carolina 8,856,505 48.51
- Georgia 9,363,941 51.64
- Michigan 10,095,643 55.01
- Ohio 11,478,006 58.85
- Pennsylvania 12,440,621 63.00
- Illinois 12,831,970 67.29
- Florida 18,089,888 73.33
- New York 19,306,183 79.78
- Texas 23,507,783 87.63
- California 36,457,549 99.81
Washington, D.C. 581,530 100.00
Total U.S. population 299,398,484 (estimated for July 1, 2006)
A few tidbits:
The interests of 1% of us are represented by 10% of our Senators. 9 states containing almost half of U.S. residents are represented by only 18 Senators. Washington, D.C., which has no Senators, has more residents than Wyoming. Wyoming has 0.17% of U.S. population, and has the same number of Senators as California, which is home to 12% of us - a 71-fold disparity. California has almost three times the population of Illinois or Pennsylvania, and is almost twice as populous as New York. California has 55% more residents than Texas.
UPDATE:
Wikipedia article on cloture rule.
Senate article on cloture rule