The key problem is essentially the Hastert rule and its infection of the Senate. Legislation is only considered by leadership, who only concern themselves with counting beans.
The Senate is a gross and antidemocratic institution, but this sort of thing is not unique to the Senate. The nature of legislative bodies is such that compromise and voting while holding your nose is a thing everywhere.
The supreme power of the leadership more a symptom of the 50/50 political split, which empowers the party machinery. The legislative leadership weren’t household names at most points in time.
> The Senate is a gross and antidemocratic institution
In my state the senators are democratically elected, is that not the case in yours? Or is your statement lamenting the fact that the country gives representation to states as distinct entities?
It's very much not intended to be a democratic body so I'm not sure why you would fight on this hill. In my view we've essentially become a failed state because of one party's institutional stranglehold on the Senate.
I never said it didn't, Hastert was Speaker of the House when he introduced it, but it's since come to dominate the legislative process in both chambers. I trusted my use of the word infection conveyed that meaning
