I was recently catching up on some back issues of “The Economist”:http://www.economist.com when I came across a great quote in a _Charlemagne_ column describing the “European Parliament”:http://www.europarl.europa.eu/:
bq. The parliament is elected but not truly accountable. Members can vote down any law without risking the fall of a government and snap elections: that is power without consequences.
Sounds a tad bit like the “US Senate”:http://www.senate.gov/, no?