Re: [RC] Re: Unlimited Congressmen ?

[David R. Block]

Title: "Remember, to a liberal, anyone who makes money in an endeavor frowned upon by liberals is 'greedy' and any person who express

It will not drive all campaign costs down. If you are a candidate in a metropolitan area, your costs will remain "through the roof." You are paying for being viewed by 5 million pairs of eyes (In Dallas-Fort Worth), never mind that you are only interested in a certain 150,000 of them or so, particularly if you are unknown. You can't really do a race in DFW without at least some media, be it radio, TV, or newspaper. And not all of the little suburbs (OK, so they're not so little) have a paper of their own. (Arlington, Denton, Waxahatchie, and Plano do.) The Dallas Morning News and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and their advertising rates will have to be dealt with unless you are in one of the few suburbs with its own daily paper. With all of that, you're still talking big bucks. Smaller districts can also give certain districts a radical hue. Who knows how many little Nancy Pelosi clones one will get from the bay area?? On the other hand, who knows how many Joe Barton clones you will get from the Dallas area?? Maybe they will cancel each other out. :-) David   "Remember, to a liberal, anyone who makes money in an endeavor frowned upon by liberals is 'greedy' and any person who expresses an idea contrary to basic liberal dogma is preaching 'hate.'  How shallow these people are."—Neal Boortz   On 11/29/2011 10:18 AM, Mike Gonzalez wrote: This is a sticking point because increasing the size of the House will make it considerably easier to get our people elected. Smaller districts drive the cost of running an election way down; you can actually win an election of 150,000 residents by fostering permanent relationships without relying on costly and ineffective commercials and media. Running a campaign in districts with over 700,000 residents becomes a money battle, which minor parties and factions don't have. Then, even after election, Representatives spend half their career outside their district. Decorum: Size of the legislature has no direct correlation to the level of decorum of the body. South Korea, known for its all-out brawls, has 299 members. Taiwan, much the same situation, has 113 members. Griswold and Lyon went at it in the U.S. House in 1798 when it had 106 seats. I'd argue that it's the tradition of the country that defines the level of tact of the body. After the Civil War, the U.S. House became a distinctly more civil organization. Let's not also forget that standing rules of order, such as the U.S. House rule that disallows direct mention of another member on the floor. Constitution: The Constitution has only one mention of congress size: (Art. 1 Sec. 2) The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand. There is not one conflict in the U.S. Constitution that I can find. Costliness: Let's break down current costs: 435 * $174,000 = $75,690,000 - Salary 435 * ~$1,000,000 = $435,000,000 - Staff (18 employees at an average salary of $75,000), Office ($18,000 per year), Travel (~$10,000 per year), Franking (which alone averages $43,000 per district) Total: $510,690,000 Let's say we have 2,000 congressmen at $90,000 each, 45-75 shared research staff per state at $50,000 each, and a communications/ professional assistant for each congressman at $60,000. We eliminate franking, and allot three allowances for DC travel each year ($10,000 per congressman), to be adjusted as needed. We also create the same initial allowance for international travel, to be adjusted as requested. Finally, we give each a telecom allowance of $10,000. 2,000 * $90,000 = $180,000,000 - Salary 60 * 50 * $50,000 = $150,000,000 - Staff 2,000 * $60,000 = $120,000,000 - Personal Assistant 2,000 * $10,000 = $20,000,000 - Travel 2,000 * $10,000 = $20,000,000 - International Travel 2,000 * $10,000 = $20,000,000 - Telecom Total: $510,000,000 -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <RadicalCentrism@googlegroups.com> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org