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Date Posted: 12:36:30 09/20/02 Fri
Author: Grumpy˛
Author Host/IP: 155-41.poccpe.cableone.net / 24.116.155.41
Subject: What's it all about?

President Bush; "The great struggles of the 20th century between liberty and totalitarianism ended with a decisive victory for the forces of freedom and a single sustainable model for national success: freedom, democracy and free enterprise. In the 21st century, only nations that share a commitment to protecting basic human rights and guaranteeing political and economic freedom will be able to unleash the potential of their people and assure their future prosperity. People everywhere want to say what they think, choose who will govern them, worship as they please, educate their children — male and female, own property and enjoy the benefits of their labor. These values of freedom are right and true for every person, in every society — and the duty of protecting these values against their enemies is the common calling of freedom-loving people across the globe. . . ."

Republic - "a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law "

From the Constitution: 1 Representative for 30,000 citizens, 2 Senators per state;

NH 3 = 90,000 = 18,000 voters per vote in Electoral College
MA 8 = 240,000 = 24,000
RI 1 = 30,000 = 10,000
CT 5 = 150,000 = 21,428
NY 6 = 180,000 = 22,500
NJ 4 = 120,000 = 20,000
PA 8 = 240,000 = 24,000
DE 1 = 30,000 = 10,000
MD 6 = 180,000 = 22,500
VA 10 =300,000 = 25,000
NC 5 = 150,000 = 21,428
SC 5 = 150,000 = 21,428
GA 3 = 90,000 = 18,000
Total 65 Representatives, 26 Senators; average number of Electors per state - 7. There were 1,950,000 citizens, apparently, or 21,428 per elector.

It's rather obvious that one man, one vote was never a consideration. Three states accounted for 40% of the population, but 35% of the vote. Two states accounted for 3% of the population, but 6.6% of the vote.

Considering today's population, I suspect the disparity is larger. Today, the average Representative speaks for 689,000 people, more or less. I believe a few states have only one representative, and a few more have two. In those cases, those states are speaking for people they don't represent in the Electoral College.

Speaking from an ethical viewpoint, I find that unsupportable, particularly when one considers the final nature of their vote. You can shout all you wish, but the fact remains that the authors of the Constitution were products of their time, and couldn't imagine the "great unwashed" as really having anything to say about government. With Aristotle, they felt that "The perfection of the citizen cannot be predicated of the man who is merely free, but only of the man who is free from such necessary tasks as are performed by serfs, artisans and manual laborers; the latter will not be citizens if the constitution awards public charges to virtue and merit, since no man who leads the life of a worker or a laborer can practice virtue.", and according to Plato, "a well-organized city is one in which citizens are fed by the toil of slaves, and the trades are filled with people of no importance".

The original U.S. Constitution permitted the states to allow only white male property owners to vote or to hold an elected office. This was not changed until the 1820s.

Slavery was not abolished in the US until the 13th Amendment to the constitution made slavery illegal.

The 14th Amendment (1868) said that all citizens of the US had equal protection under the laws. The 15th (1870) said that all adult male citizens had the right to vote.

The 19th Amendment (1920) gave all women the right to vote, 131 years after the Constituion was written.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made any discrimination on the basis of "race, religion, national origin, sex, or physical handicaps" illegal.

The 26th Amendment (1971) gave anyone over 18 the right to vote.

As for the Senate, there was a general feeling that a unicameral legislature might present the danger of acting too hastily, and a counterweight would be needed to provide an opportunity for reflection and deliberation as a means of checking hasty enthusiasm for an idea. The Senate was to provide that function, and the lengthier terms given them was a means of insulating them from transient political pressures. Its actual composition, equal numbers of Senators from each of the States, was an agreement reached to satisfy the fears of the smaller states that their views would be lost in a proportional crowd.

Hamilton, as the first Secretary of the Treasury, was instrumental in establishing a fiscal policy favorable to the development of industry and economic growth. He fought vigorously for assumption by the Federal government of all the states' debts incurred in the Revolution, and the establishment of a Federal Bank and banking system. It seems likely that he had more to do with the success of the United States as a viable entity than any other person.

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