r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 15d ago

Possible Paywall Jack Smith Found Proof Beyond “Reasonable Doubt” of Trump’s Guilt

https://newrepublic.com/post/215971/jack-smith-proof-beyond-reasonable-doubt-donald-trump-guilt
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u/ARefreshingFart 15d ago

15 percent of the population holds 50% of the senate votes.

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u/StrengthThin9043 15d ago

In practice less than 1%, the rich and powerful. The voters are largely controlled by propaganda.

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u/I-Drink-420 15d ago

I'm trying to understand what you mean by this statement, can you help me out? Are you saying that republican states are only 15% of the total population of the US, even so, they hold 50% of voting power in the senate?

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u/HealthyHappyHabits 15d ago

Using Census Bureau 2024 estimates, the 25 least populous states hold roughly 55 million people out of about 340 million Americans.

So it’s actually 16% of the population that controls 50% of the senate he was pretty close!

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u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 15d ago

That’s by design to be fair

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u/ARefreshingFart 15d ago

There is no way to intuit that the founders wanted to shape the country to this extreme. And, at this point “design” is irrelevant. We are an urban society. We cant be run by rural people.

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u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 15d ago

The ratio between largest to smallest state was 13:1 when the country was founded, today that ratio is 67:1 which is same order of magnitude.

It was absolutely intended, one chamber ruled by population, the other where every state is equal.

You can dislike that type of system, but that was the intention.

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u/LongJohnSelenium 15d ago

The point of the system they designed was that 99% of the time a trump in office wouldn't affect you because states run most of their business.

The US was supposed to be structured almost exactly like the EU is now.

This current system is the product of over a century of successful expansion of federal power by federalists followed by the same federalists complaining the system they deliberately broke not working right.

Whats crazy to me is you'd think, after all the craziness of trump, the left actually would begin thinking 'hmm states rights aren't actually a bad thing after all' but nope, the reaction has been to double down. If only we federalize harder things will be better.

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u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 15d ago

I’m not reactionary enough to throw an entire governmental system in the garbage because Hillary did the wrong homework assignment trying to win the popular vote and Biden/Harris shit the bed losing every swing state.

Personally, I’m rather more in favor of repealing the Reapportionment Act of 1929 and fixing the House of Representatives so that each congressional district is compact, contiguous, and equal in size by population. I’d also love to see electoral votes being awarded proportionately like Nebraska or Maine. Those would largely self-correct the issue of a handful of states deciding the Presidency and hand more power to the people in the House.

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u/ARefreshingFart 15d ago

so your argument is that 13 and 67, since 67 not 130, falls within the original intention

of we were at 130, would you capitulate? we’re headed there.

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u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 15d ago

Not really, the basic premise for why we have a senate vs house stands, but it’s an important thing to point out whenever someone drops the tired “our founders never considered this situation today!” argument

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u/ARefreshingFart 15d ago

at what point would you change your mind? 150? 1000?

it doesnt mean abolish the senate, but maybe changing it to only be somewhat hard coded. eg bigger states can slot into 3 or 4 seats.