(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Repeal/Replace Permanent Reapportionment [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-12-16
From an early draft of Article I
As a Californian, I despise the apportionment in the US House of Representatives. Its effect on the Electoral College so waters down my vote that any given Wyomipode has more than thrice my say in choosing the Executive. But the damage is more than that. By limiting “supply” of Congresspeople, the price of each goes up. The current crisis over Gerrymandering is but the most obvious sign.
The number of Representatives allowed by the US Constitution is capped at one per thirty-thousand citizens. Mathematically, this entitles us to a literal myriad of Representatives. The current limit of 435, or whatever, is set by a mere law, the Permanent Apportionment Act, and can similarly be abolished by a simple act of Congress. Simple in the legislative sense, of course.
The effect on the House of Representatives would be seismic. I am confident that most Kossacks understand how the GOP leverages the outsized political power of the least populous states to suppress the will of the people. The Republican Party* could never take control of a ten-thousand member House.
Of course, Gerrymandering will still exist, but at one twentieth of the value per district, individual people will have far more of a say.
Of course, it does nothing to affect the Senate, but that would require amending the Constitution, rather than a simple law.
PRIMARY EFFECT: To democratize the Electoral College. No more Bush v Gores, no more 2016s, not even any more 2020s.
PRIMARY EFFECT: To democratize the House. Never again will we hear herald cry, “Benghazi.”
SECONDARY EFFECT: To democratize the primaries. The primaries are subject to some of the same mathematics.
BONUS EFFECT: A US House of Representatives this huge could have seen off the January Sixth Insurrectionists themselves lolol!
*or whatever they rename themselves. “Pepsi Presents Fascism,” is my best guess.
Silliest arguments I’ve heard against:
“Government costs too much already.”
”They couldn’t all fit in the building.”
ACTIONS: Would require passage in the House and the Senate, and signature by the President. Lobby your Representative, Senator and the White House.
Thanks for reading.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/16/2140283/-Repeal-Replace-Permanent-Reapportionment
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
