THE US SENATE by TOM DASCHILE - PART One

I have realized that to actually make a difference in anything - you have to know how it works - this includes our (The United States of America) government systems. So I've been checking out books, trying to pay more attention to political news. Learning about how it all works isn't to bad, but the news side of it makes me want to bash my head against the wall.

Anyway, the first book I'm reading is: The U.S. Senate by Senator Tom Daschile. It's not bad, although he takes a while to actually explain things. I was reading and having to look up some terms, I do like the quotes he interjects and it gets MUCH easier to read once the forward is over with.

Some things I learned, I have a feeling were common knowledge or were things I probably knew but were not something I realized I knew.

• The Great Compromise - solved the state representation issue quite nicely. Both sides get what they want and neither side can be happy about it. 
• House - has 2 year terms, called 'The Peoples House', must be 25 years old
• Senate - 6 year terms (they are staggered in 2 yr increments), must be 30, 'Upper House'..."The Saucer that cools the tea"
• Federal Judges get lifetime appointments from the President and Senate, supposedly to shield from nefarious forces

Also had to look up either because of something the book mentioned or something else I looked up mentioned it and I was curious:

• Statute of Freedom - A precursor to the first amendment (the one about religious freedoms and free speech)
• Constantino Brumidi - He painted a bunch of murals in the Capitol.
• The Secretary of the Senate - which sounded like a super stressful job, and the more I read about it, the more I realized that, yes it is stressful.
• Learned about Robert Morris, who pretty much funded the revolutionary war...against his will. I will have to look into him more later.
• Also had to look up the McCormick Reaper - I thought it was something cool, but it was harvesting tool - which I guess is still cool just not as cool as I what I initially thought it was. Will read the Wikipedia article later...it had a section labeled 'Legal Controversies'

Continuing to read, and will update as a running legible notebook to myself and the only way we can make differences and hold each other accountable for things in our government is KNOWING how this shit works. So I am learning just that.

Actually, my dad showed me a something about just that. See, without learning about this stuff I wouldn't know about this loophole.