A question about Senate & Congress

[il Commy]

What's the difference between the Senate and the Congress in the USA? Just wanted to know.

[Morpheus]

The senate is a subset of congress. Congress has two chambers. One is the senate, the other is the house of representatives. For legislation to be passed, both chambers must pass it and then the president must approve it (if he decides to veto it, congress may override his veto if they have a 2/3rds majority). The senate is composed of two representatives elected from every state. Originally, they were not elected but were picked by state governments, this was changed about a hundred years ago. The number of representatives elected for the house of representatives from each state varies according to the population of the state (if lots of people live in the state it gets lots of representatives and vice versa). The senate must ratify any treaties proposed by the President for it to be valid. There are some other procedural differences between the two chambers, as well.

[il Commy]

Thank you.

[Marxist in Nebraska]

Comrade Morpheus gave a pretty good summary, but there are a few small holes I would like to fill. The Senate has 100 senators, and the House has 435 representatives. Terms in the Senate are six years long, and one third of the Senate is up for re-election in every national election (bi-annual). House reps only serve a two year term, and so the entire House is up for election every election. The Senate ratifies treaties and the House gets first crack at the national budget. There are other divisions of responsibilities, but those are the most important ones.

[Vinny Rafarino]

A bit off topic, but we must also understand the senate has only a specific amount of time to overrule any presidential veto. So in turn, it's common practice for a senate and president to "put off" a veto vote until this time is expired. the last effort for an overturn is the supreme court. They are the last state department that can overturn a presidential veto. Notice that Dubya has placed enough right wing judges on the current bench to pass over this obstacle as well.

A bit scary innit?

[mentalbunny]

Thanks for all the info, I was wondering about that as well, it's all very complicated, and scary! :blink:

[Ctisphonics]

True, but if the judges or the president is breaking the law, they can be impeached, or if the President is pissing the people of, we can storm the White House (right to bear arms)

[Ctisphonics]

Oh sh*t, I forgot who the audience was:

Ummm, I should note, THE PEOPLE CAN STORM THE WHITEHOUSE, as in a massmovement; Not a few left-wing extreamist who are pissed off for who knows what. In other words, don't jump the fence unless Americans are getting Massacred by US troops or something, like in the Boston Massacre.