The Youtube clip in a cute, corny, extremely dramatic and straight-forward way basically shows us some of the disadvantages Americans would have if congress did not exist. The character Bentley verbally bashes congress and then has a dream that it has been suspended and realizes that life is much harder. In his dream each state is making its own currency because there is no congress to decide standard monetary policy. This angers Bentley a great deal and when he tries to buy a ticket to Washington D.C. to see for himself that congress is no more, he realized travel expenses have gone up because there is no congress to regulate commerce or railroad fares. Each state also has their own navy and military because congress used to regulate that as well. This dream or nightmare helps Bentley realize that congress does more good then it does bad and he says himself that everyone is so quick to be displeased by congress or complain about taxes but no one is quick to notice all the good and balance congress bring into the life of Americans giving us pure, clean food and federal highways. If congress was suspended in our current day and age, I do not think changes would be that drastic or dramatic; but, I do believe that it would give out president too much power. Just as Bentley's dream helped him become more appreciative of our government's legislative branch, the clip clearly showed me in a dramatized what an important role congress plays In the life of Americans. We should not take it for granted.
After reading chapter 11, and learning more about how congress is put together and exactly what its responsibilities are, honestly, I'm really impressed that the framers of the constitution and those who put together the American government so many years ago came up with a very efficient almost fool-proof system. I think our government is so successful because of our checks and balances system not giving one single branch of government too much power. Furthermore congress has a checks and balances system within itself. The Senate and the House divide and balance congress to once again even out power. I think it is also very efficient for each state to have equal representation in the senate and then representation by population in the House. Because the elastic clause exists giving "congress broad power to pass any legislation necessary to carry out its enumerated powers", which are the most defining powers and national responsibilities of our nation, I also think it is very important that the members of congress are elected by the American people. We vote for who we want making the laws of our country. If there was one thing I would change about congress it is to have term limitations. Chapter 11 talks about the Incumbency Factor which states that it is fact that current officeholders have more of a chance of being reelected into congress than someone who is campaigning for the 1st time. Current office holders are obviously more well known by the public and therefore the public feels safer reelecting them; however, if there were term limitations where each senate or house member could only serve a few years, it would give equal opportunity to all candidates running for congress and even the inexperienced candidates would have equal opportunities to get a seat. More importantly, according to chapter 11, the only way to introduce a bill in congress is to have a member of congress sponsor that bill. For example if I wanted a bill that was near and dead to my heart to be looked at by congress, I would have to go make nice with a member of congress and do my best to convince that member to sponsor and represent my bill. I wish there was some law allowing every citizens to represent their own bills in congress. Congress obviously would maintain its right on voting for the bill; however, I think legitimate citizens should be allowed to introduce their own bills in case of misrepresentation. Mind you there would have to be a strict screening process where only a selective few citizens who really know what they are talking about would be permitted; but, I think it would be a really good idea.
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I agree with you in that Congress does seem like quite an efficient bicameral legislative branch with so many different responsibilities. However, I must disagree with you when you stated that the Senate being represented by two senators and the House of Representatives being represented by population. Though this was done to strike a compromise between large and small states, when it comes to political equality, it fails since the Senate empowers the small states more and the House of Representatives empowers the big states. Despite this issue, the compromise for a bicameral legislative branch does seem to be successful for the most part in slowing down the legislative process and help filter out outside influences and separate the powers. While Congress may only introduce a new bill, the president and interest groups can send a bill to Congress as well. In this sense, ordinary citizens would be able to introduce bills and so forth if they join an interest group or perhaps become involved in politics directly. I don't think ordinary people should be given the right to introduce bills to Congress because that would just cause a massive influx of bills that need to be filtered through and I feel that this would also give the majority too much power which must be avoided to prevent corruption.
You did a summary of the video clip. The video clip reminds me of our previous reading about the Articles of Confederation where the States had their own rules and regulations causing chaos in the nation. Bentley’s realization of how important Congress is is a wake up call for all of us. This video was done years ago but still holds the truth of how people think of our government today. You say that we shouldn’t take Congress for granted but unfortunately some do. It’s the sad truth. I was overwhelmed with the chapter 11 reading not because of the number of pages but how Congress works and passes bills. The framers did do an amazing job, dividing power into three chambers and creating checks and balances to limit power there power. Also, not a bad idea regarding the changes you would make in Congress but it would be very hard to implement.
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