“Woody and TR still thought they had to override or change the Constitution, since they assumed it meant what it said.”
They found a way, however.
The 17th Amendment was the cornerstone to the Progressive agenda. With it, they took away the primary means of limiting the growth of the federal government, the individual states. Before the 17th Amendment senators were selected by state legislatures to represent the interests of the state — which included maintaining control of state powers.
Once “the people” elected Senators, they became nothing but additional House members representing the whims and fancies of the people — who could always be persuaded to concede to the federal government those powers that were formerly theirs (and the states’).
If you ever want to return to the constitutional principle of limited government then the 17th Amendment must be repealed.
The 17th Amendment was the cornerstone to the Progressive agenda.
The 16th, 17th, & 18th Amendments were the Progressive Trifecta.
Seems something we read in high school indicated Progressives believed this representative republic experiment, a nation of laws with men limited by a Constitution would end shortly after the loss of recreational alcohol consumption. And it nearly did. Execept Progressives never counted on the resourcefullness of a 21st Amendment repealing their 18th. Too bad the 21st only repealed the 18th Amendment.
Cheers,
OLA
Problem: I’ve lived in half a dozen states, and in each of them the state legislature was even more corrupt and subservient to special interests than is Congress.
IMO returning election of senators to the states would not help and might very well make things worse.