Wisconsin Legislator: Being a single mother constitutes child abuse

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Just for a point of reference, Wisconsin is 65,503 square miles and has a population of 5,711,767 as of the last census. It would be a bit odd to leave that many people unrepresented. You are correct that there are two senators per state (which is patently unfair, greatly over-representing states with small populations and under-representing states with large ones) but how many members of the House each state has is determined by population, with the maximum number of state Representatives for the nation being 435.

So that's 535 people total to represent 50 states with a combined total of 311,591,917 people, or one representative per ~58,241 people. That doesn't really seem like too many.

[Freeky]

That actually seems like a somewhat reasonable number.

[Juana]

(which is patently unfair, greatly over-representing states with small populations and under-representing states with large ones) but

I dunno. I don't think it's fair to the entirety of Montana to be outvoted by, like, LA.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That actually seems like a somewhat reasonable number.

Yeah, I just looked up Australia and their political structure seems to be pretty similar, but their ratio is around one representative per 9,880 people.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

(which is patently unfair, greatly over-representing states with small populations and under-representing states with large ones) but

I dunno. I don't think it's fair to the entirety of Montana to be outvoted by, like, LA.

Montana isn't a person. It doesn't have opinions or feelings.

Over-representation of states with small populations means that in effect, each Montana citizen is worth 38 California citizens when it comes to passing laws that affect the entire country. How is that more fair? Do you think you, (if you lived in Montana), are 38 times more important than someone in California?

[Deepthroat Chopra]

Hang on a sec...

What I'm talking about is the sheer number of pollies at all levels of government. This Grothman character, I undertsand, doesn't represent Wisconsin in Washington, he's in the Wisconsin Senate, so he represents a small portion of Wisconsin in Madison, yeah?

I'm unconvinced that if he shrivelled up and died, Wisconsin would be unrepresented. Add to that that local politicians, members of school boards, sherriffs, etc., are basically politicians that have to find a constituency, the sheer volume of politicians seems huge, and will result in this sort of chicanery that begat this thread.

We get the odd nutter in parliament, but when looking for sheer bastadry, yanqui politicians leave us choking on dust (by comment).

Our ultra-conservative opposition leader, for example, has proposed about the most generous system of maternal leave on the planet (if you forget about Scandanavia), for example. The fact that we probably haven't got the $$$ for it is another matter. But they're not going around trashing working mothers. To their faces, at least.

[Deepthroat Chopra]

That actually seems like a somewhat reasonable number.

Yeah, I just looked up Australia and their political structure seems to be pretty similar, but their ratio is around one representative per 9,880 people.

May I have a link please?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That actually seems like a somewhat reasonable number.

Yeah, I just looked up Australia and their political structure seems to be pretty similar, but their ratio is around one representative per 9,880 people.

May I have a link please?

I looked up the numbers in Wikipedia and did the math.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Hang on a sec...

What I'm talking about is the sheer number of pollies at all levels of government. This Grothman character, I undertsand, doesn't represent Wisconsin in Washington, he's in the Wisconsin Senate, so he represents a small portion of Wisconsin in Madison, yeah?

I'm unconvinced that if he shrivelled up and died, Wisconsin would be unrepresented. Add to that that local politicians, members of school boards, sherriffs, etc., are basically politicians that have to find a constituency, the sheer volume of politicians seems huge, and will result in this sort of chicanery that begat this thread.

We get the odd nutter in parliament, but when looking for sheer bastadry, yanqui politicians leave us choking on dust (by comment).

Our ultra-conservative opposition leader, for example, has proposed about the most generous system of maternal leave on the planet (if you forget about Scandanavia), for example. The fact that we probably haven't got the $$$ for it is another matter. But they're not going around trashing working mothers. To their faces, at least.

I am not sure what any of what you just said has to do with there being "too many" politicians. There's a huge difference between "A shitty system of representation that doesn't really work because we're not using it as intended" and "too many politicians".

We don't have an overload of politicians per capita; in fact, with over 311 million people we probably need more representation, not less. We just have a broken political system, and the people who are supposed to be representing us, don't.

[Deepthroat Chopra]

That actually seems like a somewhat reasonable number.

Yeah, I just looked up Australia and their political structure seems to be pretty similar, but their ratio is around one representative per 9,880 people.

May I have a link please?

I looked up the numbers in Wikipedia and did the math.

You left out a zero. 150 in House of Reps, 76 in Senate. 22,328,800/226 = 98,800. But that's all at a national level.

Sorry. Spectrum disorder, and that.

[Kai]

Wisconsin is the sane 26 square miles of Madison surrounded by reality of country misogynists. This is how it is. I've gotten used to it, because frankly the state is beautiful, and there are enough good people nearby for me to get by.

[Deepthroat Chopra]

Hang on a sec...

What I'm talking about is the sheer number of pollies at all levels of government. This Grothman character, I undertsand, doesn't represent Wisconsin in Washington, he's in the Wisconsin Senate, so he represents a small portion of Wisconsin in Madison, yeah?

I'm unconvinced that if he shrivelled up and died, Wisconsin would be unrepresented. Add to that that local politicians, members of school boards, sherriffs, etc., are basically politicians that have to find a constituency, the sheer volume of politicians seems huge, and will result in this sort of chicanery that begat this thread.

We get the odd nutter in parliament, but when looking for sheer bastadry, yanqui politicians leave us choking on dust (by comment).

Our ultra-conservative opposition leader, for example, has proposed about the most generous system of maternal leave on the planet (if you forget about Scandanavia), for example. The fact that we probably haven't got the $$$ for it is another matter. But they're not going around trashing working mothers. To their faces, at least.

I am not sure what any of what you just said has to do with there being "too many" politicians. There's a huge difference between "A shitty system of representation that doesn't really work because we're not using it as intended" and "too many politicians".

We don't have an overload of politicians per capita; in fact, with over 311 million people we probably need more representation, not less. We just have a broken political system, and the people who are supposed to be representing us, don't.

Indeed, good point. "Too many politicians" is more a gut reaction to bozo's like this one who spring from a state legislature to carry on with this garbage, rather than a well-thought out action.

[Juana]

(which is patently unfair, greatly over-representing states with small populations and under-representing states with large ones) but

I dunno. I don't think it's fair to the entirety of Montana to be outvoted by, like, LA.

Montana isn't a person. It doesn't have opinions or feelings.

Over-representation of states with small populations means that in effect, each Montana citizen is worth 38 California citizens when it comes to passing laws that affect the entire country. How is that more fair? Do you think you, (if you lived in Montana), are 38 times more important than someone in California?

Removing that safeguard means that states with small populations are totally drowned out by states with large ones, when their voices and concerns are perfectly valid. It's not fair to the people of Montana if they're suffocated under the weight of southern California. Yes, I realize that is in a number of ways unfair to the people who do belong to larger states but we still wield no small amount of power through the House. Two senators per state balances that out a little.

[AFK]

(which is patently unfair, greatly over-representing states with small populations and under-representing states with large ones) but

I dunno. I don't think it's fair to the entirety of Montana to be outvoted by, like, LA.

Montana isn't a person. It doesn't have opinions or feelings.

Over-representation of states with small populations means that in effect, each Montana citizen is worth 38 California citizens when it comes to passing laws that affect the entire country. How is that more fair? Do you think you, (if you lived in Montana), are 38 times more important than someone in California?

Removing that safeguard means that states with small populations are totally drowned out by states with large ones, when their voices and concerns are perfectly valid. It's not fair to the people of Montana if they're suffocated under the weight of southern California. Yes, I realize that is in a number of ways unfair to the people who do belong to larger states but we still wield no small amount of power through the House. Two senators per state balances that out a little.

Yes.  Besides there are two houses.  The House of Representatives helps balance things out by giving proportional representation based on population.  And ultimately, as we've seen all too well, nothing passes without the support of both Houses, so I think all states are getting equally ripped off by their shitty Congressmen. 

[Phox]

Wisconsin is the sane 26 square miles of Madison surrounded by reality of country misogynists. This is how it is. I've gotten used to it, because frankly the state is beautiful, and there are enough good people nearby for me to get by.

At least my state is honest about being run by gangsters and crooks. Hell, it's a point of pride.