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In 1776 our ancestors declared, "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." Those sovereign people formed our original states and their representatives declared in the Articles of Confederation, "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence."
Our Constitution was accepted in 1787, but state sovereignty was protected because each state has the same vote in the Senate. Wyoming’s 500,000 citizens have the same vote as California’s 35.5 million. Moreover, 75 percent of our states must ratify a Constitutional amendment to change our supreme law.
Republicans however, want to eliminate the filibuster so that only 51 percent of our senators can appoint activist, conservative judges for life who through interpretation can change our supreme law without having to amend the Constitution.
A worst case scenario is that 50 senators representing about 16% of the population plus Cheney could approve Bush's nominees. Under that worst case scenario, the smallest 13 states representing about 4% of our population could prevent an amendment to our Constitution that would reverse judicial abuse. Note in those 13 smallest states, it takes only a simple majority of about 2% of our population to control a state legislature and through it prevent amendments to our constitution.
If Republicans want to preserve states' rights, they'll require 75 Senate votes to approve federal judges. Even better, require 75% of the 435 members in the House of Representatives to approve lifetime appointments to our judicial branch, that would really insure a judicial branch that represents We the People!
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