You know what would make today's chaos in the US House of Representatives Les likely? Repeal the Jim Crow era Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 and uncap the House.
Comments
Log in with your Bluesky account to leave a comment
Regional Capitals, based on resources, population, and logical distribution. Initially you just move the Capitol as the new facilities become available, but ultimately it cycles, meanwhile, each region has a functioning bureaucracy that's regionally close and involved.
I've had the same thought, with the addition of selecting reps at random (like jury duty). You get picked, you serve for two years. If you want another term, you face what amounts to a recall election. Sure, you get some do-nothings, you get some toxic assholes, but you do now, too.
They do need more space, but we can spend a few years allowing zoom/distance voting on a rolling basis, while building a congressional complex with universal studio apartments for everyone somewhere equally inconvenient for everyone. Nebraska, or Kansas, or New Mexico, perhaps.
… might work for small states, because in fact the goal is for them to be in district and responsive to the district.
It’s not a punishment duty. No matter how much we’d like it to be (at least for the ones we vote out).
Both definitely need it, however my rivalry is with THE STATE THAT ONLY HAS THREE FUCKING BUILDING DEPARTMENTS AND ONLY ONE OF WHICH IS EVER FUCKING STAFFED AND THAT ONLY COVERS ALBUQUERQUE.
Hell, just let cities & convention centers bid on hosting "Congress Con" like they do the Super Bowl. Can't go back to the same state until they've visited every state.
Maybe, but the reason to house them at public expense is to cut down on the corruption. No more The Family. No more letting your kid live in the congressional basement. And it’s 8 months of the year, so that’s a big chunk of change for any city.
Oh, that would be my preference, because having everyone in their districts makes them more loyal to us than to their colleagues, but we need a generational die-off (and to elect fewer of the managerial class).
Since they’re not ready for that, there are alternatives.
I'm a big fan of the public expense idea. May even cut down on that 8 months in session, so they actually have to go home to their districts once in a while and interact with their actual constituents.
Thus why my top choice is Everyone’s Remote, Everyone lives in district, because 8 months a year doesn’t actually get everything done already. Congress as a 10-4 Central time remote job with an expected 2 hours a workday on district matters would help.
Plus increasing the house to 1 MotHoR/250K pop.
Shortening the work year would make congressional constipation worse, while turning it into a grown-up, professional job where everyone clocks in and everyone clocks out and all of the votes are electronically tabulated might make it run better.
Basically it has to happen before we have representatives running every two years that each “represent” more people than the population of the nation at its founding
Comments
It’s not a punishment duty. No matter how much we’d like it to be (at least for the ones we vote out).
(it could be either, could be both!0
Since they’re not ready for that, there are alternatives.
Plus increasing the house to 1 MotHoR/250K pop.
I don’t give a shit about the physical logistics. Make house meetings virtual.
More reps: harder for lobbyists to buy influence. Easier for normal people to run for office.