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[–] 16 points 9 hours ago (9 children)

1 out of 8 people in us live in California. That’s 12.5% of the population.

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  • [–] 9 points 8 hours ago (8 children)

    And they get 2 senators, same as the 0.172% of Americans living in Wyoming. The US needs constitutional reforms in so many ways.

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  • [–] -3 points 7 hours ago (7 children)

    This is not a problem. The Senate is half of one branch of government, and it's fine to give land limited say. It helps prevent us from turning the less populated states into dumping grounds.

    Even if you disagree, there are much bigger issues. Gerrymandering and Citizens United both do infinitely more damage.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 hour ago (1 child)

    It is 100% a problem that Vermont and California both get 2 senator each.

    California has 60 times the population VT has. 60. Same proportional representation in the senate.

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  • [–] 2 points 8 minutes ago*

    Vermont has 3 total representatives in Congress, one of which is Bernie Sanders. California has 54.

    If the Senate was the entire legislative branch, I would agree with you that it's a problem. It's not.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (3 children)

    It helps prevent us from turning the less populated states into dumping grounds.

    You’re going to have to prove that’s what would happen.

    You’re also going to have to explain why that’s worse than underfunding and not meeting the everyday needs of actual people- the vast majority of whom do not live in rural America- to prevent rural America from “Becoming a dumping ground”.

    (Also while you’re at it, show how republicans aren’t already turning rural America into literal dumping grounds with their regulatory rollbacks.)

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  • [–] 2 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

    I'm going to have to what? Sounds like I didn't need to do shit.

    You're going to have to prove eliminating the Senate is more important than fixing Citizens United or gerrymandering.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 hour ago (1 child)

    Equal representation is a foundation of democracy.

    The US doesn’t have that. And has never had it. If the foundation is shit, everything else is going to go to shit.

    That includes citizens united and gerrymandering.

    Which it needs to be said is a false dichotomy and all three things can be done simultaneously. It’s as lazy and fucking disingenuous as saying urban and suburban voters can’t vote responsibly for rural decisions but rural voters can vote responsibly for urban decisions.

    Any argument you can make for rural voters receiving more voting power can be echoed right back at you and it’s all a load of bullshit.

    So yeah. You’re absolutely going to have to defend the argument you fucking made when that argument is ultimately to disenfranchise 80% of American voters.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 minutes ago

    The Senate is pretty clearly spelled out in the Constitution. Citizens United is a pretty far fetched, liberal interpretation, and gerrymandering isn't in the Constitution at all.

    Eliminating the Senate is more difficult and not on my priority list, and you haven't exactly convinced me to support that. It's a great idea if your goal is to get nothing done.

    I guess we can agree to disagree.

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