Are you aware of the Founding States division of federal and state government powers evidenced by the 10th Amendment?
But more importantly regarding 10th Amendment-protected state powers, are you aware that a previous generation of state sovereignty-respecting justices had clarified that Congress is prohibited from appropriating taxes in the name of state power issues, essentially any issue that Congress cannot justify under its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers? This is evidenced by the following excerpt.
”Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” -Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
And regarding constitutionally justifiable federal taxes, are you aware that one of the very few domestic services that the states have constitutionally authorized Congress to regulate, tax and spend for is the US Mail Service (1.8.7), the states having never delegated to the feds, expressly via the Constitution, the specific power to establish other well-known federal government social spending programs, Social Security and Medicare as examples.
The bottom line is that the constitutionally limited power federal government is not working as the Founding States had intended, the 17th Amendment being the main reason that we now have an unconstitutionally big federal government on our backs imo.
More specifically, corrupt, post-17th Amendment ratification senators are not doing their job to protect the interests of the states in Congress as the Founding States had established the Senate to do as previously mentioned. Corrupt senators are actually hurting the states that they are supposed to be protecting by helping to pass bills which not only steal 10th Amendment-protected state powers, but also steal state revenues uniquely associated with those powers in the form of unconstitutional federal taxes. Again, Social Security and Medicare are examples of unconstitutonal federal spending programs imo.
And the main reason that the corrupt feds establish constitutionally unauthorized federal social spending programs is to buy votes from low-information citizens imo, citizens who are clueless to the fact that the feds have no constitutional authority to establish such programs.
The ill-conceived 17th Amendment needs to disappear, and corrupt senators who hurt the states that they are supposed to be protecting by helping to pass vote-winning but unconstitutional bills which steal state powers and state revenues associated with those powers along with it.
Well if I wasn't, I am now. Thank you for your reasoned reply. Good discussion material!
one point though
More specifically, corrupt, post-17th Amendment ratification senators are not doing their job to protect the interests of the states in Congress as the Founding States had established the Senate to do as previously mentioned.
Is there evidence that pre-17th Senators weren't just as corrupt?
all: on a side note, I'm about to go do a bit of construction for a friend but will return in a few hours to view more replys to my query. Please carry on and thanks to those of you with thoughtful posts.