Have You Heard About Russ's Proposed Constitutional Amendment

[sce56]

wanted to share with you some links to stories from over the weekend and this morning about Russ’s proposed constitutional amendment that would require special elections when a vacancy in the Senate arises. Here in Wisconsin, state statutes dictate that a special election be held in such cases. As you know Russ is the chair of the Constitution Subcommittee in the Senate and he has said he’ll be holding hearings on his proposal in the coming weeks.

Here’s a bit of Russ’s statement from yesterday:

“The controversies surrounding some of the recent gubernatorial appointments to vacant Senate seats make it painfully clear that such appointments are an anachronism that must end. In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution gave the citizens of this country the power to finally elect their senators. They should have the same power in the case of unexpected mid term vacancies, so that the Senate is as responsive as possible to the will of the people…”

And here are some stories related to the proposed amendment: The Capital Times: Feingold: Give appointment powers to the people FiveThirtyEight: Feingold Introduces 28th Amendment

Please forward this email on to your friends and family and let them know about Russ’s proposal. As always, we welcome your comments and feedback so feel free to reply to this email.

Thanks again for all of your support.

Trevor Miller
Feingold Senate Committee

P.S. Russ wanted me to let you know how much he appreciates all the support we've already seen from our online community. Stay tuned for more ways you can help.

Now I have an Idea if they are going to amend the constitution how about getting Russ to add in the provision to RECALL Senators so we could deal with AHOLEs like LIEberman! How many are with me on this and how do we get Russ to understand this idea?

[DUlover2909]

1. The original intent was that senators would represent state governments.

The House of Representatives was meant to be the people's house. If the senators are just mere representatives in a seperate chamber, why not just abolish the senate and put their duties in the hands of the House of Representatives?

Some people might yell at me and call me an idiot, but I am asking because I would like to be enlightened and understand the reasoning.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Huh? The idea for a bicameral legislature came...

about because small states like Rhode Island were terrified that larger states like Virginia would walk all over them. The House is not so much a "people's house" as it is meant to represent proportionally the populations of the states.

The Senate was designed to balance the power of the more populous states and make sure the smaller states always had a voice.

Things have change a lot since the 1780's, and eliminating the Senate would give essentially us a parliamentary government like almost everyone else on earth has. I doubt we're ready for that sort of change, but it would be interesting to see states like Alaska and Wyoming have almost no power at all while New York, Texas, California, Michigan and a few others run the show.

[DUlover2909]

4. I drove through Rhode Island last summer.

I also visited the textile mill in Pawtucket and observed the city and capitol of Providence. I admired the history, but I also wondered, why does this little teeny tiny part of the US get such unbelievable representation in the senate? It took me 30 minutes to drive from one side to the other. That's less time than it takes for me to drive across Houston. Why shouldn't more populous areas have the greatest power?

[shintao]

5. I would be for tripling the number of House Representatives

Things were cool back in the old days when the only business was Uncle Johns bulls crossed the Dixie Line. The world we are in today is much more complex, more matters to handle, and not enough hours in the day. We need more representatives to pour through the materials and vote on them when it is called. Then we don't have to hear we didn't have time to read it.

What I suggest is a 3-4 team members who are 1 representative, and they break up the issues and vote on whatever they chose to read and respond to.

This might stop the riders attachments that get slipped into bills. We could eliminate riders.

We might increase the Senate the same way by a 1-2 team members representing the one senate seat.

Your turn! :)

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Yeah, I heard about it, but it takes a while to get...

an amendment passed-- even longer to get one not all that many people think is important. And even longer to get the wording right so it doesn't conflict with states' inherent rights.

As far as Lieberman goes, each state deals with its Senators as it sees fit, and it is entirely up to the voting citizens of Connecticut to deal with him. It is absolutely no business of yours or mine (unless you live in Connecticut) whether he stays or goes. I would seriously object to anyone from New Jersey, Texas, or anywhere else interfering with my Senators, and I would hope you feel the same.