[Publius]

The constitutional requirement of 1 representative for 30,000 people would work if Congress met not in one building, but on the Internet. A virtual Congress, if you will.

Congresscritters would never have to leave their districts, but could stay home listening and interacting with their 29,999 other constituents. Then they could participate in Congress via PC.

Congressional committees and subcommittees could meet in different cities to do business, rather than in DC.

One benefit to a "distributed" Congress of thousands of members would be that it would make the job of the K Street lobbyists impossible. Buying influence and passing out "campaign contributions" would be prohibitive due to the cost of servicing so many congresscritters. And the ever-present voice of the constituents next door and down the block would drown out the influence of the lobbyists.

This would also solve the problem of a terrorist taking out the Capitol building. There would be too many targets distributed all over the country.

Food for thought.

[FairWitness]

The constitutional requirement of 1 representative for 30,000 people would work if Congress met not in one building, but on the Internet. A virtual Congress, if you will.

Remember, the Constitution does not require 1 rep/30,000 - it requires that there be at least 30,000 people per rep. I'm not advocating a 10,000 person legislature, but something greater than 435 would be good. A virtual congress (with a lot less speecifying) would be interesting to try, though I think congress-critter ego and the lust for "facetime" make it highly unlikely.