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bigverne

Joined: 12 May 2004
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 4:11 am Post subject: |
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'78% have a government which they did not choose.'
If only 60% turned out to vote, 40% of the electorate would have a government they did not choose, whatever government got in. If the lazy b@stards can't be @rsed to vote, they have little right to whine for the next 5 years. |
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stalinsdad
Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Jeonju
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| Blair is the next messiah(period) |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 5:00 am Post subject: |
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Seats in the US house of representatives have been frozen since 1911 (due to fears of "immigrant influence"). In the same time, our population has increased exponentially.
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Actually, it's just the size of the room that controls how many Representatives are possible.
If you've ever noticed, pollsters rarely ask more than 1200 people what their opinion is. A larger sample is just not necessary. The same principle holds in elections. This does not mean that larger staffs are not necessary for constituency services however. |
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Nowhere Man

Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 3:14 am Post subject: ... |
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Actually, it's just the size of the room that controls how many Representatives are possible.
If you've ever noticed, pollsters rarely ask more than 1200 people what their opinion is. A larger sample is just not necessary. The same principle holds in elections. This does not mean that larger staffs are not necessary for constituency services however. |
Isn't the notion that the size of a room controls "democracy" fairly whacked-out if not full-on crazy?
We are supposed to have a representative government. At this point, there is one rep for every 630,000 people (note, I've seen this statistic as anywhere from 500,000 to 700,000, so I think this number is fair). For an institution created to support the people, does this not make our own reps out of touch?
By comparison, Britain has a rep for every 70,000 people.
While you have a point about polling, it ignores the influence that third parties could have in our government.
What's more, this is exactly why you won't se any congressmen proposing a change to this.
Like the electoral college, it bolsters a 2-party political system.
Given that both parties are corrupt, greedy jack-asses, I don't see how this can be anything but a bi-partisan issue. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 3:34 am Post subject: |
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Isn't the notion that the size of a room controls "democracy" fairly whacked-out if not full-on crazy?
We are supposed to have a representative government. At this point, there is one rep for every 630,000 people (note, I've seen this statistic as anywhere from 500,000 to 700,000, so I think this number is fair). For an institution created to support the people, does this not make our own reps out of touch? |
No. I also don't see how adding more representatives would do anything besides add more problems, as well. |
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Nowhere Man

Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 4:19 am Post subject: ... |
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To start with, it costs money to bribe politicians. Less pork for the barrel would be a positive step.
3rd parties?
And this does decentralize power. Wannago?
Kuros,
How do you think British government compares to ours? That's not a dig. Just asking. |
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Hwajangsil Ajumma

Joined: 02 May 2005 Location: On my knees in the stall
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 8:59 am Post subject: |
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I expect that Blair (Tony, not Witch or Lionel) is too busy strolling the corridors of number 10 in his silk smoking jacket indulging himself with a little opium and a snifter of cointreau to care what anybody except his Master Dubya thinks.
To disagree with three-fourths of the British public is one of the first requisites of sanity.
- Oscar Wilde |
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Big_Bird

Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Hwajangsil Ajumma wrote: |
I expect that Blair (Tony, not Witch or Lionel) is too busy strolling the corridors of number 10 in his silk smoking jacket indulging himself with a little opium and a snifter of cointreau to care what anybody except his Master Dubya thinks.
To disagree with three-fourths of the British public is one of the first requisites of sanity.
- Oscar Wilde |
Wow, someone still remembers Lionel Blair! What ever happened to that old buggar? |
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Neil
Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Location: Tokyo
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 3:38 am Post subject: Re: Use this Thread to Make Fun of Brits |
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| wannago wrote: |
| Also, what is the name for British red-necks? |
Chelsea supporters. |
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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 3:54 am Post subject: |
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| But, I like the Brits. Well, most of them. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 4:26 am Post subject: |
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Isn't the notion that the size of a room controls "democracy" fairly whacked-out if not full-on crazy?
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If we had a representative for every 70,000 people, there would be 4,000 representatives. We'd need a small stadium for the House. We can't even find 435 honest people to serve now.
I'm not sure increasing the size of the House would do anything much for Third Parties anyway. To win any district, you'd still need to have a plurality in that district. Does the Women's Christian Temperance Union have a plurality in any district? I doubt it. Although the Communist Party might be able to elect someone from Berkeley. |
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Nowhere Man

Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 5:09 am Post subject: ... |
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The Founding Fathers put the minimum at 36,000 (I think it's lack of foresight that they didn't also set a max).
By that count, there'd be about 10,000 reps.
As to whether we'd want the max, probably not. It would be very difficult if not impossible to jump from 435 to such a number.
On the other hand, more reps would mean more, smaller districts.
As a basic principle, consolidation of power breeds corruption.
If 1 rep per 700,000 citizens is OK, I'd ask if you have a number in mind that would be too much. If not, then why have as many reps as we do? How about half as many? How about 43 reps? Then they'd have a lot of space in the House. There'd be room for Barca-Loungers, masseuses, and a raquetball court.
Why is 435 the magic number? |
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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee

Joined: 25 May 2003
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 5:27 am Post subject: |
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| if there were more politicians a company could still bribe them. Just perhaps the price per vote would be cheaper cause each vote would mean less |
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Nowhere Man

Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 6:11 am Post subject: ... |
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Let's say that a PAC blows $400 one night on wining and dining a congressman. Steak, Cristal, etc...
With double the number of reps, that would be 2 steak dinners and something less than Cristal to drink (or double the money).
With a few thousand reps, that would be dinner at TGI with a beer or 10 times the money.
Same goes for campaign donations. $200,000 for one. 100k a piece for 2, or $10,000 a piece for tenfold (or $2 million to buy the same influence).
Would the bribes become cheaper, or would those buying influence have to pay more.
Since 1911, consider the amount of money being donated to political parties. It's increased just as the population has.
Politics is more profitable than ever, and will continue to increase as the same number of reps represent an ever-growing number of people and get more $ as a result of the offices they hold.
The whole thing is already pretty good and screwed (and again, I think that's a bi-partisan statement). Why not try and change it? What do we have to lose?
Even though we have the same number of representatives, the representation of a single individual is steadily diminishing.
The more this happens, the more the idea that we have a government "of the people by the people for the people" is a joke. |
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suwonteacher
Joined: 22 May 2006 Location: Hwaesodong
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Queen's English..... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. |
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