A modest proposal to improve the Senate

Notice: I didn't say "fix" the Senate. That goal is probably out of reach. But my idea would take a significant step toward making it more representative of the U.S. population.

We all know the absurd situation we're currently stuck with: Wyoming, with about 580,000 people, gets the same two Senators as California, with close to 40 million—meaning that a Wyoming resident enjoys a sixty-eight to one edge in upper house representation over a Californian. By what possible stretch of the imagination is that fair?

Put it another way: with the filibuster rule, 41 Senators can stop a bill from passage. If the Senators from the least-populous states teamed up for a filibuster, it would mean that Senators representing just 11% of Americans can effectively frustrate the will of the other 289 million.

In practical terms, this means that the interests of residents of mostly rural, mostly western states are vastly over-represented in the Federal government.

So here's the proposal:

• The 17 least-populous states get 1 Senator. 
• The 17 most-populous states get 3 Senators. 
• The middle 16 states get 2 Senators.