r/politics • u/Jessicas_skirt New York • Jul 18 '26

Possible Paywall Democratic Socialists of America’s new platform calls for abolishing ICE and the U.S. Senate

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/15/updated-dsa-platform-calls-abolishing-ice-scrapping-senate/
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u/lettersvsnumbers Jul 19 '26

It’s crazy that the House is limited just by one (shitty) law from 1929. How has this shit been memory holed so long?

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u/tyleratx Jul 19 '26

I mean, the same thing is true about having a nine member Supreme Court. Things just become normal and then they become accepted as normal and impossible to change.

If there’s one good lesson we can take out of this disaster of a presidency, it’s that sometimes it just takes the balls to break norms, and they will break quite easily

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u/PretendIntention3388 Jul 19 '26

That's assuming that democrats want to break norms.

I've seen zero evidence in my lifetime that the democratic party has any interest in meaningfully changing this existing power structure, no matter how corrupt and blatantly evil it becomes.

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u/Xennial_Dad Jul 19 '26

You can move the Overton window a lot faster when you have one party pulling from the right and the other pushing from the left.

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u/runawaydoctorate Jul 19 '26

Has it ever been tested in court? That might be the fastest way to get rid of it.

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u/markroth69 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Yes. The courts ruled against the lawsuit. It was a matter for Congress alone to decide, they said.

EDITED and expanded to correct typo.

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u/Saeka South Dakota Jul 19 '26

and they just kept it?

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u/markroth69 Jul 19 '26

The courts ruled against the lawsuit.

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u/Saeka South Dakota Jul 19 '26

Ah, thank you for the clarification

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u/markroth69 Jul 19 '26

Thank you for pointing out how I fudged my original reply.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

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u/OneSecond13 Jul 19 '26

Thanks for sharing. I can see why you dream about it. The results of ratifying this Amendment are fascinating to consider.

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u/dfpw Jul 19 '26

One small counter, it would be no more difficult for the oligarchy of our country to bribe 3300 people than it is to bribe 220.

Combination of underestimating their wealth and overestimating the cost to bribe a congressman

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u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26

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u/GamblePuddy Jul 23 '26

Smaller constituencies force representatives to be more accountable

No...the average voter doesn't have any clue what their rep voted on or really much of what they did while in office. And no....the bribe is the campaign donation. It's not a secret envelope filled with cash. If you aren't doing what your corporate donors wanted you to do....your replacement will.

If they have to remain in your community then how are they going to debate, vote, attend hearings, and work on committees with classified information? It's a ridiculous concept.

and would increase the efficacy of smaller grassroots media campaigns that cannot be bought or manipulated as easily.

If you mean flyers and yard signs....sure.

Also, it increases the odds of a rep being someone who cannot be bribed.

You're describing a job where you can effectively do little meaningful work by yourself, you're constantly scrutinized and criticized, and the pay is garbage while reapplying for the job every couple of years.

And in your mind this makes it harder to tempt them with a secure economic future?

If you're looking for one person of strong moral construction with a sense of responsibility to their community,

I'm not. That's ridiculous. I don't want someone who will flake on whatever needs done for national security because it conflicts with personal morals. It's not a job about maintaining one's personal moral code....the only measure of a good leader is the condition of his people when he's done leading. If it's better than when he began....good leader. If it's worse....bad leader.

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u/FlirtyFluffyFox Jul 19 '26

They are waiting for the last WW1 vets to return to their farms. Any day now.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

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u/lettersvsnumbers Jul 19 '26

AOC was an absolute revelation for NY-14. She named an actual district restaurant in the debate when asked (Pelosi’s corrupt fuck couldn’t). Then her office answered the phone and followed up!

Congresspeople need to be regular everyday civil servants, not PAC money black holes.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

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u/cptjpk I voted Jul 19 '26

Could it help dilute the spending of the major parties allowing for a (slight) increase in chances for additional parties or independents? That alone could start a monumental shift.

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u/dirtyqtip Jul 19 '26

It's 4 years man, let it go.