[Migraine]

designed to avoid one principle thing, the concentration of power in any one branch

It may seem a mere technicality, but I think not: there's another principal thing: avoiding the dominance of the federal over the states. I think that may be even more paramount than the trilateral sharing of power at the federal level.

[Jacquerie]

True, and the moment the 17th Amendment was ratified, we changed from a federal to a democratic republic. Power was certain to consolidate in DC. THE first division of power as designed by the framers was vertical, between the states and the government they created. Our history shows that absent vertical division, horizontal separation of powers will eventually disappear.

The wonder is that it took almost a hundred years for an Obama to appear.

[DuncanWaring]

You’re right ... the problem is not that power is not properly distributed in the Federal government; the problem is that there’s too much power in the Federal government, and that began with the 17th Amendment.