Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Modest proposal: House of 1,1,1
Ever since the 17th Amendment took away its original purpose of representing the governments of the States, the Senate has been nothing more than an occasion of sin, a literal house of iniquity.
I'd really like to see the original situation restored, but since we're no longer allowed to repeal anything, here's a fresh way to make the Senate represent some fucking thing.
Instead of taking money out of politics which ain't gonna happen, let's take voting and parties out of politics. Make the upper house serve as the House of Vested Interests.
Specifically: If you can get 1% of the national voting population to sign your petition and contribute exactly one dollar each, you get to serve exactly one year in the upper house. One percent, one dollar, one year.
Your pay comes solely from the contributions --- about $2 million in typical years, which should make most bribes look paltry by comparison --- so the taxpayers are off the hook. Petitions that don't make the 1% threshold are refunded. This could be done with minimal overhead via the web.
No limits on numbers. If this yields 12 Senators one year and 3500 Senators the next year, that simply means the intensity of public interest is properly represented each time.
The 1,1,1 system would remove the current false pretense of representing a state while actually representing a union or a corporation. You could openly and cheerfully serve as the Senator from Exxon.
The only thing you couldn't represent is lawyers. Any Senator found to be a lawyer, or found to have ever taken a class in law school, or found to be representing lawyers in any way, shape, or form, shall be instantly ejected and his total pay distributed equally among the other current members. (Incentive to spot ringers.)
This setup would give representation to newly formed or ad hoc interest groups that don't have billions to buy permanent lobbyists and offices. You could be the Senator from the South Park Fan Club, or one of several Senators from the Get Those Teenage Dickheads Off My Damn Lawn Club.
You'd have only one year to make your mark. If the group is strong enough and you do a good job, someone else will serve the group next year. If you do a bad job or the group was transitory, the group will lose interest and thus lose its representation next year. No incentive to gain personal power by seniority, but plenty of incentive to give your group a good run for its money. ¶ 4:48 PM
I'd really like to see the original situation restored, but since we're no longer allowed to repeal anything, here's a fresh way to make the Senate represent some fucking thing.
Instead of taking money out of politics which ain't gonna happen, let's take voting and parties out of politics. Make the upper house serve as the House of Vested Interests.
Specifically: If you can get 1% of the national voting population to sign your petition and contribute exactly one dollar each, you get to serve exactly one year in the upper house. One percent, one dollar, one year.
Your pay comes solely from the contributions --- about $2 million in typical years, which should make most bribes look paltry by comparison --- so the taxpayers are off the hook. Petitions that don't make the 1% threshold are refunded. This could be done with minimal overhead via the web.
No limits on numbers. If this yields 12 Senators one year and 3500 Senators the next year, that simply means the intensity of public interest is properly represented each time.
The 1,1,1 system would remove the current false pretense of representing a state while actually representing a union or a corporation. You could openly and cheerfully serve as the Senator from Exxon.
The only thing you couldn't represent is lawyers. Any Senator found to be a lawyer, or found to have ever taken a class in law school, or found to be representing lawyers in any way, shape, or form, shall be instantly ejected and his total pay distributed equally among the other current members. (Incentive to spot ringers.)
This setup would give representation to newly formed or ad hoc interest groups that don't have billions to buy permanent lobbyists and offices. You could be the Senator from the South Park Fan Club, or one of several Senators from the Get Those Teenage Dickheads Off My Damn Lawn Club.
You'd have only one year to make your mark. If the group is strong enough and you do a good job, someone else will serve the group next year. If you do a bad job or the group was transitory, the group will lose interest and thus lose its representation next year. No incentive to gain personal power by seniority, but plenty of incentive to give your group a good run for its money. ¶ 4:48 PM
