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Abolish The Senate
www.abolishthesenate.org
Assuming the House and Senate each own 50% of the legislative branch, a voting district in Wyoming has nearly 10 times the representation than a district in California. Across the US, a vote cast in a lightly populated State has greater value than a vote cast in a highly populated State. “All men are (supposed to be) created equal.” Federal law imposes itself equally on every American. Because of this, every vote cast on the federal level should carry equal value. We achieve this ideal when we cut the Senate out of the federal government and give the entire legislature to its rightful owners, the House of Representatives.
Defenders of the status quo claim that citizens from lightly populated States need the Senate for protection against unwanted "Big State" legislation. This is a false assumption because the divisions in government are along ideological lines which have nothing to do with the size of States. Within our House, the people of California speak with 53 very different voices. Not with one voice, 53 times louder than Wyoming. A large portion of these Californian voices have more in common with the voice from Wyoming than they do with the voices from their own State. There is no "Big State" agenda, unanimously backed by the Representatives of California and Texas, but blocked by the Senate in order to protect smaller States. Such an agenda does not exist. But even if it did, implementing it would be illogical because federal legislation (both hazardous and beneficial) applies equally to every State.
States do not even have power in the House of Representatives, the People do. People choose the Representative they believe will best serve their individual interest, not their State’s interest, if one even exists. No State has sway in the House; so when we abolish the Senate, large States will be unable to abuse powers which they do not possess. The Senate was not created to look out for small States. It serves a very different minority.
The super rich, and their puppets, own the Senate because the amount of money required to run a successful Senate race dwarfs the amount required to run for the House. In order to launch a Senatorial campaign, corporate money must be sought. Potential Senatorial candidates are first screened by the concentrations of private power. After this process, the public gets the chance to choose among the corporate nominees. So Senators, emerging from the highest tip of American capitalist society, naturally look out for the interests of the opulent minority.
Within our bicameral system, the People (our House) need to get permission from the aristocracy (the Senate) before passing legislation. Compromise ensures that the laws that do pass are slanted toward elite interest, effectively corrupting all federal legislation.
These problems are amplified by the fact that the Senate has sole congressional authority over passage of Federal Justices, high Executive Officers, and International Treaties. The undemocratic aristocratic Senate, unchecked by the House, routinely rapes these powers. We abolish the Senate and hand these checks to our House.
Defenders of the status quo claim that if all you need to pass a law is a simple majority, minority rights will be trampled. This is a false assumption because individual rights are guaranteed by the Constitution. To violate these rights requires (a criminal President or) passage of an Amendment to the US Constitution, i.e. two-thirds of the US legislature and three-fourths of the State legislatures. Absent a Senate, the American system guards against any impulsive legislation that may harm a morally superior minority.
The Senate suppresses the American will, corrupting its true expression in the legislative branch. We must amend the Constitution to abolish the Senate.
Petitions will be back soon.
Email us at: jaslee@aucmed.edu
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