# NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 7, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018 "2022-02-07T00:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/241 "2022-02-15T16:42:43Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Divide the country into 13 districts from each of which 13 Representatives are chosen by lot. And those thirteen are the ones who compete in the Hunger Games? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/242 "2022-02-15T16:53:06Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Come on, clearly the only way to protect the Capital from treasonous “Americans” is to put it in a completely different country, on a completely different continent. Now there’s an idea: A republic-in-exile, ala the Free French in WWII or [John VI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzUNfnVnIkw) of Portugal/Brazil. [Palmyra Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmyra_Atoll) comes to mind ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/243 "2022-02-15T17:13:24Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > …you buy a $5 ticket and hope your number comes up… Oh, I think a $5,000 ticket would be more appropriate. But who gets the money? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/244 "2022-02-15T17:16:19Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > How about an annual national lottery where cities buy chances to compete for the prize of being the nation’s capital _for one year_ ? No no. You form a committee. An “independent” committee, that vets each city as worthy of being the capital. They must have the proper facilities, and if they don’t they’ll have to build them. At their own expense, of course. And the city gets to be capital for four years. Call it the Independent Opinions (on the) Capital committee. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/245 "2022-02-15T17:16:34Z")
No, the entry level needs to be accessible to anyone. Make the tickets expensive and you end up right back with the same money-controls-the-system problem we have now. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/246 "2022-02-15T17:17:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Oh, I think a $5,000 ticket would be more appropriate. I disagree. Wealth shouldn’t be a bar. OTOH, in my imagined pentacameral legislative structure, one house is a plutocracy, where the seats are bidded on. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > But who gets the money? Goes into the general fund. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/247 "2022-02-15T17:25:23Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Wealth shouldn’t be a bar… Candidates can raise money the way un-wealthy candidates do now: rallies, bake sales, online appeals, car washes, marrying wealthy spouses, offering sexual favors to corporate executives-- you know-- the _American_ way! ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/248 "2022-02-15T17:34:41Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > OTOH, in my imagined pentacameral legislative structure, one house is a plutocracy, where the seats are bidded on. I always liked one suggestion from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Have a system in which one legislature passes laws like normal, and a second one, with the job of deciding which laws to repeal. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/249 "2022-02-15T17:40:54Z")
Why charge money at all? Everyone gets a number assigned automatically and a huge cage of numbered balls is used. One ball per digit, and enough of each digit to make up a complete number. So, for example, the number are 15 digits long you’d need 150 balls in sets of 0-9. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/250 "2022-02-15T17:54:39Z")
The premise behind buying a ticket is to filter out the people who have minimal interest in politics – which is a non-small number of people. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/251 "2022-02-15T18:32:21Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Why charge money at all? If a thing is real, money has to be involved. Everything’s always about money. Otherwise, what’s the point? It makes the world go round. (Money, not love.) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/252 "2022-02-15T18:34:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > (Money, not love.) What’s love got to do with it? (Got to do with it) ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/253 "2022-02-15T20:16:58Z")
How about the inverse: paying **not** to be included in the government pool? I’d certainly pony up. (This is inspired by a comment from a British MP who said something to the effect that it’s a thankless, soul-destroying job and he wondered why he ever wanted it.) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/254 "2022-02-15T21:26:48Z")
It’s just a second-hand emotion. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/255 "2022-02-15T22:13:39Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Come on, clearly the only way to protect the Capital from treasonous “Americans” is to put it in a completely different country, on a completely different continent. > > Do you think anyone is using Moscow right now?   > [@DesertDog](#): > > [Palmyra Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmyra_Atoll) comes to mind I’m thinking of [Valinor](https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Valinor) . ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/256 "2022-02-15T22:54:55Z")
How many people can Devil’s Island accommodate? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/257 "2022-02-15T23:06:24Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > It makes the world go round. I clearly wasted a lot of money on science textbooks. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/258 "2022-02-15T23:13:35Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I’m thinking of [Valinor](https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Valinor) Too good for 'em. How about Númenor, just before it was shoved under? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/259 "2022-02-15T23:15:27Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Too good for 'em. How about Númenor, just before it was shoved under? I was thinking Valinor on the theory that only the worthy few would be allowed in. This would certainly not create an overpopulation problem. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/260 "2022-02-15T23:23:30Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Obviously it needs to be Lebanon KS, the geographic center of the (continental) US. Obviously a godless secular heathen liberal plot, to put it in the least-holy spot in the country. > [@Morgyn](#): > > Why charge money at all? Everyone gets a number assigned automatically and a huge cage of numbered balls is used. One ball per digit, and enough of each digit to make up a complete number. So, for example, the number are 15 digits long you’d need 150 balls in sets of 0-9. This would be ridiculously unfair, and would result in some people having much higher odds than others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018.md?page=14)