Democrats represent more

According to the July 2004 census:
the 44 Democratic Senators now in Congress represent 148,026,027 Americans, while the current 55 Republican Senators only represent 144,765,157 (you can split the 310,000 Americans represented by independent Senator Jeffords, but that is being charitable to the reds).

If not for the illegal redistricting of the house of representatives by the soon to be felon, Tom DeLay, the republicans wouldn't even control the house.

to who is representing corporations at the expense of Americans?

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=175



:scared:

represent people. However, since the population has expanded hugely since the number of Reps was set into law, the time for expanding the number of Reps is overdue.

The Senate was to assure that every state would have an equal amount of representation in one house of Congress. It was set up this way so that states with big cities and large populations couldn't oppress states with agrarian, smaller populations.

I can live with that. What I can't live with is the Electoral College and the incredibly stupid "winner take all" system. Make it proportional, and then eventually abolish it altogether.

This is why I think that Proportional Representation should become a cornerstone of the Democratic Party's platform. Let us, as Americans, put our money where our mouth is, and push for not just election reform, but electoral reform.

When this country was created, the average Congressman represented 33,000 citizens, and was easily reached and influenced by them. Most of his constituents were demographically the same, they usually shared the same occupation, ethnicity, and religion.

Today a congressional district contains nearly 570,000 inhabitants. Such a restriction on representation raises the cost of entry to the heights such that only the wealthy, and those sponsored by the wealthy can afford it.

Today, fields of industry are intermixed, and congressional districts are much more diverse, containing a breadth of employment, industries, ethnicities, and religions. We currently award elections to the candidate with the most votes, whether or not that candidate won a majority or not. This leaves a large section of the population with a candidate they did not support, and virtually disenfranchises voters of minority parties within districts.

My solution is, for us, with the interest of the people of the U.S. in mind, to push for a doubling in size of the House of Representatives, and to campaign for the individual states to elect their representatives through some form of Proportional Representation. Specifically, I'd like to see Mixed Member Districts, where voters wind up with half their representatives representing geographical districts, and half representing ideological parties. A more thorough description is available at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/polit/damy/BeginnningReading/PRsystems.htm#MMP

A CNN article on increasing House size: http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/06/columns/fl.cohen.campaign.06.30/
A site devoted to proportional representation: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/polit/damy/prlib.htm

And welcome to DU!!!!!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: