Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill • Hacker News Board

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#61

Post by whimsicalism » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:15 PM UTC

potato3732842 wrote: post #38

whimsicalism wrote: post #4

The Senate is fundamentally a ridiculous way of representing 350 million people and we’re going to continue to get absurd unrepresentative outcomes for as long as it remains a relevant body. There’s no getting around this and it will structurally just get worse and worse. Simply no way something like it exists 200 years from now, it is probably the biggest flaw in the US political structure right now.

The senate kind of makes more sense the bigger the country is. You need something that essentially represents each whole state as a unit. This is also why they originally weren't directly elected. When you consider that the OG federal government mostly dealt in issues that were common to the states or very clearly interstate the reason they chose the architecture they did for the senate seems even more sensible. They…

> You need something that essentially represents each whole state as a unit.

You can have a group of people that represent each state as a unit. Political power should absolutely be proportional to population represented though.

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#62

Post by interestica » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:15 PM UTC

bavent wrote: post #17

whimsicalism wrote: post #4

The Senate is fundamentally a ridiculous way of representing 350 million people and we’re going to continue to get absurd unrepresentative outcomes for as long as it remains a relevant body. There’s no getting around this and it will structurally just get worse and worse. Simply no way something like it exists 200 years from now, it is probably the biggest flaw in the US political structure right now.

Having the house capped is also ridiculous. My rep is also the rep for 750k+ other people. One person cannot represent a district that size appropriately at a federal level. They also cannot really respond to constituents properly either when they have that many.

Having representation based on land/physical space will increasingly be seen as absurd.

Maybe we will have “youth reps” in the future. Or reps based on other organizing group (hunters? Musicians?). The problem is…taxonomical? People won’t have to belong to a single group but can belong to several “unions”.

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#63

Post by adamors » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:16 PM UTC

khuey wrote: post #42

mullingitover wrote: post #10

[flagged]

What actually happened is that a group of squishy Democrats and Angus King didn't actually want the filibuster nuked so when they realized Republicans weren't going to extend the ACA subsidies they called the whole thing off without even reading the bill they were going to pass. The hemp ban isn't even the shadiest part, the self-dealing of allowing certain Senators who were connected to a putsch to loot the treasury…

The fact that all 8 are either retiring or not facing reelection in 2026 means that this was probably orchestrated by the minority leadership.

It’s exactly 8 senators, safe seats, no comments from Schumer. There is no coup.

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#64

Post by dangus » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:16 PM UTC

dehrmann wrote: post #53

bavent wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having the house capped is also ridiculous. My rep is also the rep for 750k+ other people. One person cannot represent a district that size appropriately at a federal level. They also cannot really respond to constituents properly either when they have that many.

But 5,000 representatives can't run a country, either.

China has almost 3,000 house members. The UK has almost 1,500 parliament members with a far smaller population.

The US also has state representatives in every state.

This idea that a large amount of representatives can’t govern is plainly false.

Even a modest increase in representative count would go a long way to make America more democratic and lessen the impacts of gerrymandering.

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#65

Post by hemp_is_canvas » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:17 PM UTC

mothballed wrote: post #46

Even the legal weed state senators were voting for this. It is mostly about shifting profits from mom and pop, low regulation hemp industry to wealthy corporations that own dispensaries that have gargantuan regulatory costs that gatekeep out most the competition. This ensures profits are captured by the wealthy rather than small family type setups. Wealthy former hemp companies will shift to the "legal" weed market,…

76/100 senators voted to keep this provision.

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#66

Post by CalChris » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:17 PM UTC

NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #30

whimsicalism wrote: post #4

The Senate is fundamentally a ridiculous way of representing 350 million people and we’re going to continue to get absurd unrepresentative outcomes for as long as it remains a relevant body. There’s no getting around this and it will structurally just get worse and worse. Simply no way something like it exists 200 years from now, it is probably the biggest flaw in the US political structure right now.

The Senate was absolutely one of the best features of government. Unicameral legislatures are uniformly godawful. In as much as it is imperfect, it is only so because Congress has become more unicameral-like... senators are little more than representatives that stay in office six years instead of two.

WHY is the Senate absolutely one of the best features of government? In Britain, its name more honestly reflected the class it represents, House of Lords.

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#67

Post by goatlover » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:17 PM UTC

dangus wrote: post #56

mullingitover wrote: post #10

[flagged]

8 individual Democrats. Don’t lump in the rest who held the line. You are “both sides”ing this when the GOP is the only side that worked tirelessly to end healthcare subsidies and allow America’s poorest to go hungry.

While true, at least in the Senate there are questions as to whether those 8 were selected to fall on their swords by Democratic leadership because they either aren't running again or aren't up for re-election in 2026. These questions are coming from the progressive part of the party and progressive supporters.

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#68

Post by adamors » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:17 PM UTC

dangus wrote: post #56

mullingitover wrote: post #10

[flagged]

8 individual Democrats. Don’t lump in the rest who held the line. You are “both sides”ing this when the GOP is the only side that worked tirelessly to end healthcare subsidies and allow America’s poorest to go hungry.

8 individual democrats, the exact number needed for the vote to pass, all of whom are either out the door or safe from reelection in 2026. Quite the coincidence.

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#69

Post by mothballed » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:18 PM UTC

whimsicalism wrote: post #61

potato3732842 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The senate kind of makes more sense the bigger the country is. You need something that essentially represents each whole state as a unit. This is also why they originally weren't directly elected. When you consider that the OG federal government mostly dealt in issues that were common to the states or very clearly interstate the reason they chose the architecture they did for the senate seems even more sensible. They…

> You need something that essentially represents each whole state as a unit. You can have a group of people that represent each state as a unit. Political power should absolutely be proportional to population represented though.

The federal government wasn't supposed to represent the people though for the vast majority of its function, it was supposed to essentially mediate interstate affairs and provide protection from foreign incursion.

The vast majority of what it does now, which acts on people rather than states, is a result of exceeding the powers constrained in the 10th amendment. The federal government is breaking because it is operating way outside of its design envelope.

Re: Hemp ban hidden inside government shutdown bill

#70

Post by ethin » Thu, Nov 13, 2025, 5:18 PM UTC

phendrenad2 wrote: post #22

This is from 3 days ago. Did this part of the bill actually make it in? Like, asking for a friend, maaaaaan.

Yep, it did. If I have the right bill (H. R. 5371), it's SEC. 781 if you want to see the actual text. (The table of contents is horribly bad though, and only covers divisions and titles and nothing beneath it though.)