Blog Archive

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Constituencies, real and imagined







Our Government no longer listens to Us.
This is a Bipartisan Statement…or should be.
It’s one place that everyone, from Tea to Commie, should be able to agree.
The other side to this is, of course, the Power and Influence, of Big Money… especially Corporations.
My Rep’s Aide says that “Corporations are just People”….implying assent to the idea that Money is Speech, and muddying the fact that, under current Law, Corps(e) are Persons, in their own right…..
( if this is the case, then why can’t I join and effective Union(I’m in “right to work” Texas), which should  enjoy the same Rights?  Unions in Texas are, under this argument, being Denied their First Amendment Rights.lol)
The above Links are to Folks who are trying to do something about all the corruption and shenanigans that go on so routinely in DC. I support these efforts.




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In addition to these Necessary Things, I have long been an advocate for Smaller Polities…which means More Representatives. It’s silly to expect One Representative to “Represent” hundreds of thousands of  Constituents. Heaven forbid, that more of those Constituents actually Get Involved!
 Impossible.
I have had in my mind a sort of Political Experiment…where one would spend a few years basically hollering…calling and writing letters to their Rep….make note of the response, if any.(non rubber stamped responses, and the like); then, for the second part of the Experiment, one would Donate a large-ish sum to the Rep’s Campaign…and make note of the response, if any, thereafter.
Compare.
Contrast.
My Hypothesis is that the second time period would garner a far more tangible, as well as personal, response, than the former.
Some would say, I guess, that it’s a good thing that I possess insufficient Funds for such an endeavor…

It’s interesting to compare the list of who gives money, and the list of  the Bills sponsored and co-sponsored.
There’s a lot of meaningless hay thrown to Tea, of course…but the substantive stuff seems to track rather nicely with the biggest contributors.
I realize that I am somewhat prejudiced against Mr Conaway….due to his long association with the Bush People….But I have tried to remain open-minded, and give him the benefit of the doubt. To his credit, many of my missives have been answered, in some form.
Still, the evidence, such as it is, indicates that those who pay, enjoy the Congressman’s attention.

Imagine if Mr  Mike didn’t have to pay so much for commercials(over Our Airwaves!)…that, alone, would free up a lot of his time…and at least do more than nibble at the need to raise so much money….thus  mitigating the appearance of corruption. “Free” air time could be provided…simply mandate it, and require the various Stations who Use Our Air, to run an equal number of ads for each candidate. The Air Time belongs to Us, to We the People…this could be like a Tax on Media. Simple.
Imagine, as well, if his Constituency included only a Fourth, or less, of the folks it includes, today…less money needed, and more access for constituents. Mason’s Rep, closer than 250 miles away, in Midland.

I think of Star Wars, and the imagery of the Galactic Senate…with today’s Tech, why is it so far-fetched to consider 2000 Representatives in the US House?
Or more?
Our system only works for Us if We participate.
Most reason, Why participate?! They will never listen to Me.
My Rep should be allowed to Listen to Me…currently, he is Not…due to expediency, and the overwhelming ratio of  him vs. 600,000 folks.
Article 1 of the Constitution  says, “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative...[5]” (from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_congressional_apportionment )
Plenty of room, there, for Improvement.

FTA:” Then in 1929 Congress (Republican control of both houses of congress and the presidency) passed the Reapportionment Act of 1929 which capped the size of the House at 435 (the then current number), but allowed temporary increases upon the admission of new states which were to be reverted upon the implementation of the immediate subsequent census.
In truth, the rules prohibiting legislative entrenchment would allow any subsequent legislature (after 1929) to increase or decrease the membership of the House of Representatives if such legislature so desired.”
A Wiki Chart of  Population and Representatives
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/US_population_per_representative.jpg
Congress could Change this.
They might , if We Demand it.




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