Can you imagine 535 new congressmen in the nation’s capital? (Yes, I realize we only vote for one-third of the Senate at a time.) Instead of slowly bringing in new people who can be taught by the old how to grease each other’s palm and scratch each other’s back to entrench themselves in the system, you’d have 535 people who wouldn’t even know where their offices are.
There’d be no existing relationships with lobbyists. No one would be well-versed in parliamentary rule. They’d probably have to rewrite the rules of the House and Senate. They’d look at the way the system has been working – like any outsider looking at a new company – and start addressing all of the problems that make it defective. Special interest groups would have no hold on any of them. The new representatives and senators wouldn’t owe anything to anyone except the voters.
And they’d all be emboldened. There’d be no established leadership to fear. There’d be no senior members who could put the hammer down and prevent them from speaking their mind.
Debate would be honest, and people would say what they mean. It would be a chance to clear the decks of Democrats AND Republicans and start again in the United States Congress.
We can only take out one third of the Senate, but we could knock out all 435 representatives in just a few short months.
Imagine that.
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