Rudy Canoza
2016-11-11 04:50:12 UTC
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/view_from_chicago/2012/11/defending_the_electoral_college.html
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/defense-electoral-college
What the blind and ardent populists fail to understand is that the
country was founded as a union of *equal* sovereign states, and the
Constitution was written expressly to recognize and make use of the
power of the states. This shows up in more ways than just the Electoral
College.
Consider Article V of the Constitution, regarding amending the
Constitution itself. Proposed amendments voted on and approved by 2/3
of both houses of Congress - already an anti-majoritarian threshold -
are submitted to the states for ratification, and must be approved by
3/4 of state legislatures, which currently comes to 38 states. Now
suppose an amendment has been submitted to the states, and 36 states
have voted to ratify it, 12 have voted to reject it, and the remaining
two states to decide are California and Wyoming. The California
legislature, dominated by leftists, votes overwhelmingly to ratify the
amendment - say, 80% to 20%. The Wyoming legislature votes very
narrowly - 51% to 49% - to reject the amendment. The amendment *FAILS*
- and this is good, and just. This is just how a federal system works.
We are not a popular democracy. We never were intended to be one, and
it is most excellent that we are not one. Generally, majority sentiment
prevails, but there is nothing sacred about simple majority rule. If
anything, simple majority rule should *never* decide the very important
issues. That equates to mob rule, and it is bad and wrong.
I'm about to reach my mid 60s, and I venture to say there will be *NO*
serious move to eliminate the Electoral College in my lifetime. For one
thing, it would take a constitutional amendment to do so - thankfully -
and see above what I wrote about amending the constitution. There is
simply no *FUCKING* way that all those small population red states in
the heartland are going to vote to ditch the Electoral College, or any
other constitutional provision that favors them at the expense of the
big coastal People's Republics.
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/defense-electoral-college
What the blind and ardent populists fail to understand is that the
country was founded as a union of *equal* sovereign states, and the
Constitution was written expressly to recognize and make use of the
power of the states. This shows up in more ways than just the Electoral
College.
Consider Article V of the Constitution, regarding amending the
Constitution itself. Proposed amendments voted on and approved by 2/3
of both houses of Congress - already an anti-majoritarian threshold -
are submitted to the states for ratification, and must be approved by
3/4 of state legislatures, which currently comes to 38 states. Now
suppose an amendment has been submitted to the states, and 36 states
have voted to ratify it, 12 have voted to reject it, and the remaining
two states to decide are California and Wyoming. The California
legislature, dominated by leftists, votes overwhelmingly to ratify the
amendment - say, 80% to 20%. The Wyoming legislature votes very
narrowly - 51% to 49% - to reject the amendment. The amendment *FAILS*
- and this is good, and just. This is just how a federal system works.
We are not a popular democracy. We never were intended to be one, and
it is most excellent that we are not one. Generally, majority sentiment
prevails, but there is nothing sacred about simple majority rule. If
anything, simple majority rule should *never* decide the very important
issues. That equates to mob rule, and it is bad and wrong.
I'm about to reach my mid 60s, and I venture to say there will be *NO*
serious move to eliminate the Electoral College in my lifetime. For one
thing, it would take a constitutional amendment to do so - thankfully -
and see above what I wrote about amending the constitution. There is
simply no *FUCKING* way that all those small population red states in
the heartland are going to vote to ditch the Electoral College, or any
other constitutional provision that favors them at the expense of the
big coastal People's Republics.