Type Lower house-to respond to the needs of the people faster since they only have a two year term. Laws dealing with revenue must start in the House. Upper house--The six year term means the Senate can be slower and consider the long term effects of laws. Term limits None None New session started January 3, 2013 January 3, 2013 Majority Leader Eric Cantor, (R), since January 5, 2011 Harry Reid, (D), since January 4, 2007 Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, (D), since January 5, 2011 Mitch McConnell, (R), since January 4, 2007 Seats 435 voting members, 6 non-voting members: 5 delegates, 1 resident commissioner 100 Political groups Democratic (200), Republican (233), vacant (2) Democratic (53), Independent (caucus with Democrats) (2), Republican (45) Next election November 4, 2014 November 4, 2014 Voting system First-past-the-post First-past-the-post Length of term 2 years--all 435 seats are up for reelection every two years. 6 years--Here there is a continuous body idea.
Another disparity is that the Senate is made up of 100 senators, two from each state. However, The House of Representatives is made up of 435 representatives the number of which is determined by that state’s population. It depends on the size of the population in a state. The greater the population in a state, the more representatives that state will have in the House. A third disparity is that senators are elected to 6-year terms, while representatives are elected to serve 2-year terms.
They feel the Democrats take their votes for granted and the Republicans are against them particularly as the majority are poor. Voter turnout for Whites was 66%, 65% of Blacks turned out to vote while Hispanic and Asian turnout rates were much lower and similar at about 49%. In relation to the 2004 President Election the voting rates for Blacks, Hispanics and Asians increased by about 4% points while the White voting rate decreased by 1%. Of the 5 million additional voters in 2008, approximately 2 million were Black, 2 million Hispanic and 600,000 Asian. These statistics show that ethnic minorities have made up the majority of additional voters, presenting the importance of ethnic minorities in the US political system.
The Electoral College also unequally apportions electoral votes due to the significant population increase since it was established. The Electoral College is created by Article II of the Constitution, and is further outlined in the 12th Amendment. As described by Nicholas R Miller, “designing the mode of selecting the President was one of the most difficult tasks that confronted the framers,” (3). In determining how to elect the president, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 considered three options: appointment by legislature, a direct election by the people, or a hybrid of both. Appointment by legislature was considered, as that was the method most states used to elect the governor; however, delegates feared it would upset the balance of the three branches of government by making the president beholden to congress (Johnson 12-13).
Raising the Minimum Wage By: Driscoll, Sally and Grant Richard A The minimum wage in the United States is always debated in nearly every congressional sessions with often no resolution. In 2007, the federal minimum wage was raised to $5.85 an hour. The minimum wage hasn’t been increased since 1997. Within the 10 years that have passed between 1997-2007, the cost of goods had increased nearly to 23%, while housing and education increased even more. There was a bill passed by the United State Senate which increased the minimum wage to $7.25 in 2009.
The House of Representatives would be made up of officials voted in every 2 years, and whose numbers are determined proportionate to the population of the state- for example, Alaska being a small state, only has 1 representative, whereas California, being the most populous state, currently has 53 representatives. The Senate is elected every 6 years, and each state has 2 representatives. Legislation must pass between both houses with a 2/3 majority, enhancing the checks and balances within the legislature. Congress exercises eight significant checks on the Executive, including: the power to amend or block legislation, to override the President’s veto with a 2/3 majority in both houses, power of the purse- all money the president wants to spend on his policies must be approved by Congress, the power to declare war, to ratify treaties, the Senate has the power to confirm appointments made by the President to the Judiciary and the Executive branch, e.g justices, cabinet members, heads of important agencies such as the CIA, the power of investigation, and the ultimate power of impeachment. However, despite this range of powers, we have seen Congress’ power decline since the start of the Constitution.
Between 1824 and 1828, four more were switched to by people the year Jackson became president. Jackson managed to switch one more state, leaving only one left for by legislature all the way to 1836. The comparison of the increasing stand for the people and Jackson rising position in office shows his compassion for the People. In The American Pageant, Thomas and David mention how Jackson’s election “was a peaceful revolution, achieved by ballots instead of bullets…”. The Jacksonians roared, “The people shall rule!”.
Recent research has suggest that the senate has now become the more moderate house. Jeff Flake, a previous congressman but now senator, was one of the most conservative members in the house, and According to DW-Nominate scores, which look at a member of Congress’s roll call votes, he was in the 98th percentile for conservatism among House Republicans in his final year in the chamber. However, Flakes election somewhat changed in view point, he now became a moderate, and he wasn't the only one, Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada was in the 80th percentile for conservatism among House Republicans in the 112th Congress but in the 30th percentile for conservatism among Senate Republicans in the 113th Congress. There were a number of other as well but whats interesting about this is that moderates in senate still seem to have influence, the huge variety of ideologies in a states somewhat force moderate to live on, solely on the fact of re-election. The number of moderate in the senate, outweigh that of the tea party caucus, 3-1.
The House of Representatives, or House for short, is currently composed of four hundred and thirty-five members. Each of the fifty states is allocated one or more representatives based on its population as calculated by the decennial once in ten years. Each state is guaranteed at least one representative. The people of each district vote to elect one representative to Congress. States that have only one representative allocated choose at-large representatives- the state votes as one entire district.
Until then, the measure had occupied the Senate for 57 working days, including six Saturdays. A day earlier, Democratic Whip Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, the bill's manager, concluded he had the 67 votes required at that time to end the debate and end the filibuster. With six wavering senators providing a four-vote victory margin, the final tally stood at 71 to 29. Never in history had the Senate been able to muster enough votes to cut off a filibuster on a civil rights bill. And only once in the 37 years since 1927 had it agreed to cloture for any