washingtonpost.com — The Framers of the Constitution established election of senators by state legislators, under which system the nation got the Great Triumvirate (Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John Calhoun) and thrived. In 1913, progressives, believing that more, and more direct, democracy is always wonderful, got the 17th Amendment ratified. It's time for repeal.
Feb 22, 2009 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountFeb 24, 2009
i like it better when the sheep has a gun=[
epublicusFeb 24, 2009
mac888,The Constitution for the United States is a contract between the federal authority and the various sovereign states. It contains within it several means to modify the original contract by mutual consent. "Changing with the times" is well covered. It is, however, not a contract to be changed by any government entity unilaterally.
redxivApr 17, 2009
For some reason, there are people who think an unelected aristocracy would be good for America and somehow less corrupt than our current version of Congress.
redxivApr 17, 2009
It was US aid that prevented the Nazis from conquering Britain. That, and Hitler's foolish decision to invade Russia before he'd finished off Britain. And US aid was critical to Russia's survival as well. This is just in terms of supplies, BTW, from before the US had actually joined the fighting.With no US involvement, the Nazis would have won.
redxivApr 17, 2009
@mikeymondaviThe 16th Amendment was absolutely needed.
redxivApr 17, 2009
Maybe George Will is also pro-slavery.
redxivApr 17, 2009
The argument can also be made (and I would make it) that the growth of the federal government has been mostly a GOOD thing.
louiscipher777May 18, 2009
you fail.it was founded based on the greek republic and the anglo-saxon model.
trythison4sighsMay 25, 2009
I think it's funny that every time someone sees a problem it's AUTOMATICALLY because of party affiliation and therefore to be ignored. Maybe, just maybe, they are saying this because of party affiliation... Does that make it an invalid point? No. But, I do admire the fact that any time someone puts forth a valid point that would take power away from the central Federal Government and return it to the States they are dismissed. Kinda like Ron Paul was trashed because of Alex Jones.
trythison4sighsMay 25, 2009
The problem with that is the Government is FORCING people to "be charitable" by STEALING funds from one to give to another. I have no problem donating my time and money to help others but, that is MY CHOICE. I CHOOSE who, what, where and how I help. The Government is FORCE, period. Now, the difference really is the Government's original design was to simply defend our Borders and proliferate and mediate between the States. But, now it's grown to such a size that our vast military budget even in war time is out shadowed by none military/none infrastructural spending. Oh, and when I say infrastructure I mean roads NOT city parks/water parks/schools. All of those can be taken care of on the local level.
brotoiJul 17, 2009
That's not what the Framers wanted, or at least, not most of them. It is, however, a very good description of what we currently have.
brotoiJul 17, 2009
"Essentially, you have elite rule and every once in a while the people have vote on which elite they think should rule."Um, no. The House of Representatives would still be elected by popular vote and would still have its seats distributed proportionally. The only real difference is that the State governments would have a direct hand in approving or rejecting any bills that pass the House. Technically, the current situation has the people approving or rejecting bills passed by the people, which has created a schizophrenic and overly powerful central government that the State governments have no means to control.Separation of powers was the core idea that made it possible for the Constitution to be accepted by the Convention and passed to the States for ratification. By transforming the Senate into a smaller version of the House, the separation of powers has partially broken down and this has allowed special interest groups with greater popular support than they deserve to manipulate the system.The 16th and 17th Amendments opened the way for domination of the central government by a progressive clique of very wealthy families, all of whom still wield far more power and influence than they deserve. Our government has becomes LESS democratic as a result, and not more democratic. This consolidation of real political power in the hands of a a few "enlightened individuals" was the real reason behind pushing for the establishment of a Federal Reserve Bank paid for by income taxes while simultaneously thwarting the ability of the State legislatures to interfere.Why do you think people like the Kennedy's, the Clintons, and now Obama spent so much time and effort getting into the Senate instead of trying to win seats in the House of Representatives? They could care less about the people. Their only desire is to dominate the process.
brotoiJul 17, 2009
"This is one of those CLASSIC examples where Americans need simply look north to Canada and see the answer."Forgive me for stating the obvious, but if you love the Canadian system so much, please feel free to move there and apply for citizenship.Myself, I prefer the American system, always have and always will.
nsresponderSep 2, 2009
"Liberals are now and always have been committed to diversity."As long as you echo the party line, sure. BTW, did you notice how liberals went ape-s**t over the CEO of Whole Foods deviating from the socialized medicine bandwagon?-jcr
nsresponderSep 2, 2009
"You realize the US was on the brink of financial collapse every ten years or so even before the Great Depression?"Incorrect. Banks that got in over their heads were in trouble from time to time when they couldn't make good on their bills of credit, but the money was still gold. Ordinary commerce continued.-jcr
govtdoesnotworkSep 2, 2009
From what I've seen in the media, the bias goes beyond "liberal" and "conservative." What's ignored are the less-government advocates like me. What gets attention is the staged fight between the tax and spend welfare state left and the borrow and spend warfare state right. Libertarians are conveniently-ignored, big government of all sorts is advocated, and the news media (not just Fox "News") all get to bleat about how: "we were fair and balanced" at the end of the day.
johnehubertzSep 28, 2009
Perhaps a POOL of Senators and all other power-heavy legislative jobs should be voted for, no party affiliation other then a poll of their feelings and beliefs on core issues that is given to voters at the polling sites. With such automatic dispersal of control and diversity, it might work.How would it be handled? For each upcoming issue, randomly one of them is contacted in a secure and online process that allows them to know they are the representative to vote their constituency for that particular matter. At that time they are aware they will be protected and monitored 24/7 to prevent blackmail, bribery and contact with the forces of money and tyranny.As the issue unfolds, that person will know to pay close attention to media, citizen attitudes, and his or her own thoughts - which can be shared only anonymously in a forum with their other Senate peers (also in a secure and online forum).Just before the vote core facts are summarized and presented, the Senator-for-a-day does his or her research, has a chance to present his or her views in open forum, and a week later - votes.No chance for the tyrants of big-money and corporate super citizens to f*ck that up - because folks, let's tell the truth here. The corruption is sytem-wide, it is killing the planet, 51 of the largest world economies (51 of 100) are not countries - they are stateless flagless dictatorships that make Al Capone look like a wannabe.Buying influence and manipulating the popular electorate and media since before the Revolution - these modern "East India Tea Company" clones thrive on violence, chaos, injustice and fear.Because when all hell breaks loose - THEY are the ones making the planes and bombs and bullets.And our young people die.Digg folks - digg4truth, digg for freedom