There has always been bickering in the US Congress. It is only natural. As a local radio host, here in Utah has said, if two people agree on everything all of the time, one of them is not thinking. Even if one party were to control everything, there will still be bickering in the Congress.
But the Congress seems hopelessly deadlocked. There is one solution for the problem, and that is to constitutionally ban gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering is the practice that allows the party in control of the state legislature to draw congressional district and state legislative boundaries in a manner that is favorable to their party. Here in Utah, it was tried when we were awarded a 4th Congressional District.
Here is the problem that this level of gerrymandering creates. Congressmen tend to listen to their constituents. When someone on the extreme right or left is elected, you can bet that their constituents, as a majority, are happy at least with their own representative.
What is the evidence for this? Congressional approval is at an all-time low, yet over 80% of incumbents are re-elected every 2 years. People are happy with their own congressman, but not happy with Congress as a whole.
How do we fix this? We can do it several ways. First, you could eliminate congressional districts and elect all members of the House of Representatives on a state-wide basis. Or you could pass an anti-gerrymandering amendment to the Constitution. Chances are, however, it would not pass because most Congressmen are elected because of how their district boundaries are drawn. Third is to be more involved after the 2020 census and help ensure the congressional districts in your state are more sanely drawn.
There is a mathematical test for this. If a city, county or ward within a city has less than the proportioned population, it should not be divided. Here in Utah, we have 4 congressional districts. Salt Lake County is the only county in the state that has more than 25% of the state's population. Salt Lake County is the only county large enough be split into multiple congressional districts.
That will help things in the lower house, but what about the Senate? The Senate is also deadlocked, isn't it? Believe it or not, it's not as bad as it used to be in the US Senate. And the Senate is fighting the House. There are ways to hold up legislation in the Senate, but it is in Conference with the House of Representatives where the problem lies right now. The Senate is supposed to be a slower body to consider legislation. They have 6-year terms. It is harder for the body of the Senate to change as the mood of the people change. That is the way the founders wanted it. If you want the Senate to speed up a little bit, shorten the term.
This blog is not for other drastic changes such as the repeal of the 17th Amendment nor the addition of Term Limits. Here in Utah, we demonstrated how easy it is to break the power of the incumbent when we send home Robert Bennett in 2010 at the State GOP Convention. And a lot of people were upset about it. Amazingly, many I have spoken to who are unhappy about the way Bennett was ousted are for term limits and the repeal of the 17th Amendment, either of which could have ousted Bennett without a primary election as well.
Anti-gerrymandering will help with the Senate, but the effect will not be as obvious. Anti-gerrymandering should go down to state legislative districts as well. Many Senators were state legislators or some other office before becoming senators. If state houses are more even keeled, eventually the Senate will follow. Also remember that many of our presidents were Senators.
Support efforts in your state to control gerrymandering. It will lead to a better Congress and a better government.
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