The current electoral system was, as you noted, set up to protect smaller states (in terms of population). Instead, what we have is a tyranny of the minority, both in the electoral college and in the Senate.
All the more reason to give statehood to both Puerto Rico and D.C., and the sooner, the better.
Then there are the corrosive effects on elections arising from the Supreme Court's ruling of Citizens United v. FEC in which the Court held that the free speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political communications by corporations, including nonprofit corporations, labor unions, and other associations.
Great for the Media (i.e. ad $'s). Bad for Democracy.
As usual Diane, you hit the nail on the head. Intelligent, succinct, to the point, counterintuitive yet brilliant. That, in short order did open heart surgery and found the cyst. In truth, we suppose that, God doesn't bless America, anymore.
Yes but....at the time certain founding fathers and Presidents...Adams for example clerarly stated their fears that a 2 party system would be the ruination of the country! And...
I believe getting rid of either the senate or the electoral college would be a disaster. While Trump was not convinced, he did get 57 votes to convict and that was a sharp repudiation by the overall country. If we take away the power of some region of the country, we are inevitably headed for a civil war. This balance is intended to prevent any one region from dominating.
So sure, I wish Trump had been convicted. I believe the Republican party needs reformed. Hey I think we need more parties and ranked choice voting would enable that. We most certainly do not need to rewrite the constitution on our voting practices.
Great article and I agree with you wholeheartedly. As a native New Yorker, but now retired and living in Arizona, I'm not sure how this blue state "takeover" can be accomplished. I agree that the Founding fathers ideas were well intentioned at the time, but they have now been manipulated by the GOP to create minority rule. Overturning Constitutional amendments and is extremely difficult. I hope that there are certain concrete ideas to achieve this blue state objective.
The current electoral system was, as you noted, set up to protect smaller states (in terms of population). Instead, what we have is a tyranny of the minority, both in the electoral college and in the Senate.
All the more reason to give statehood to both Puerto Rico and D.C., and the sooner, the better.
Then there are the corrosive effects on elections arising from the Supreme Court's ruling of Citizens United v. FEC in which the Court held that the free speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political communications by corporations, including nonprofit corporations, labor unions, and other associations.
Great for the Media (i.e. ad $'s). Bad for Democracy.
As usual Diane, you hit the nail on the head. Intelligent, succinct, to the point, counterintuitive yet brilliant. That, in short order did open heart surgery and found the cyst. In truth, we suppose that, God doesn't bless America, anymore.
Another thought is to look at the example of Italy. Unified for only 150 years and the impoverished southern tail still wags the rich northern dog.
Yes but....at the time certain founding fathers and Presidents...Adams for example clerarly stated their fears that a 2 party system would be the ruination of the country! And...
I believe getting rid of either the senate or the electoral college would be a disaster. While Trump was not convinced, he did get 57 votes to convict and that was a sharp repudiation by the overall country. If we take away the power of some region of the country, we are inevitably headed for a civil war. This balance is intended to prevent any one region from dominating.
So sure, I wish Trump had been convicted. I believe the Republican party needs reformed. Hey I think we need more parties and ranked choice voting would enable that. We most certainly do not need to rewrite the constitution on our voting practices.
Great article and I agree with you wholeheartedly. As a native New Yorker, but now retired and living in Arizona, I'm not sure how this blue state "takeover" can be accomplished. I agree that the Founding fathers ideas were well intentioned at the time, but they have now been manipulated by the GOP to create minority rule. Overturning Constitutional amendments and is extremely difficult. I hope that there are certain concrete ideas to achieve this blue state objective.