FW: [Winona] Congressional Approval Numbers down to 29%

[bcbothun at hbci.com]

I think the House should be expanded to 1595 members earning about $45,000
a year each.  That would give us roughly one Representative per 190,000
constituents.   That would still be about six times the number of constituents
per Representative that was set out in the Constitution but would bring us much
closer to a situation where each citizen might have a realistic chance of
actually KNOWING their Rep (as opposed to possibly meeting and perhaps shaking
their hands with them at a county fair or campaign rally).  That would also
bring their salaries more in line the 2005 per capita Income number of $42,000
(or 2005 Median income of $46,000) and ensure that their concerns really were
our concerns, rather than the concerns of just the 3% of Americans at or above
their income level.

Actually, when you look at how out of touch they are in terms of income and
accessability, 29% approval seem exceedingly high!


Ratio of representation in the House, 1789–1923 and Current
Years 	Source 	Constituents per Representative
1789–1793 	U.S. Constitution 	30,000
1793–1803 	U.S. Census of 1790 	30,000
1803–1813 	U.S. Census of 1800 	33,000
1813–1823 	U.S. Census of 1810 	35,000
1823–1833 	U.S. Census of 1820 	40,000
1833–1843 	U.S. Census of 1830 	47,700
1843–1853 	U.S. Census of 1840 	70,680
1853–1863 	U.S. Census of 1850 	93,425
1863–1873 	U.S. Census of 1860 	127,381
1873–1883 	U.S. Census of 1870 	131,425
1883–1893 	U.S. Census of 1880 	151,912
1893–1903 	U.S. Census of 1890 	173,901
1903–1913 	U.S. Census of 1900 	194,182
1913–1923 	U.S. Census of 1910 	212,407
Current         U.S. Census of 2000     696,952

Bryon