I'm from Canada. We have a bicameral government sorta like yours. A house and a senate.
In Canada, our house can pass legislation and send it to the senate for their approval. I am unaware of the Canadian senate being able to write legislation.
Your senate appears to write and introduce legislation...unconfuse me.
How is this so? I thought a senate was supposed to be a place of "sober second thought". (save the Ted Kennedy jokes).

Well originally the US Senate was supposed to be the representative of the States on the Federal level, with each State Legistlation appointing the two Senators.  So the reason why it can introduce legistlation is to put forth things from that perspective, that is also the reason that 'raising Revenue' legislation MUST come from the US House of Reps, because it is supposed to be the 'peoples voice' at the federal level.

But We screwed that up back in the first 1/4 of the 20th Century, and made them just another popularly elected body.

So you mean to say the senate can introduce legislation?
How does it work when they introduce it? Does it have to go back to the house and then back to them? It has to somehow go thru both houses right?

"Explain to me the senates function"

Too vote themselves a payraise.

Yes. It goes through both houses.

Often there's a conference committee to smooth out any major differences between a House and Senate version since each house can amend the bill on the floor.


And [b]Silence[/b] was 100% correct in everything he said about the original design and intent of the Senate.

1913 was a VERY bad year for our Constitution. We got both the 16th (income tax) and 17th (Senate elections) Amendments then. Bad. Very bad.

So now there's absolutely NO "state" representation in this United [i]States[/i] Federal Government. No wonder the 10th Amendment don't mean shit to hardly anyone in Congress anymore - NO ONE is acting on behalf of the states. It's all pandering to the sheeple now. [V]

Heh!  Think I'll save this... [:D]