Reply #15: And another Senate does its job

[Euromutt]

Isn't there some apocryphal story of Washington and Jefferson discussing the need for a Senate? IIRC, Jefferson says he doesn't seen the need for a second chamber of the legislature, and Washington draws and analogy with Jefferson's habit of pouring tea into his saucer to cool it enough that he can drink it, namely that the role of the Senate is to cool down legislation passed by the House.

Even though the story is almost certainly a fabrication (since it didn't appear until 1871, and Jefferson was known to favor a bicameral legislature), it does illustrate a point. In this case, the New York state Senate voted down ill though-out legislation that the Assembly passed.