U.S. Senator Zell Miller: Floor Statement on Repealing the 17th Amendment

senate.gov ^ | April 28, 2004 | U.S. Senator Zell Miller

[AntiGuv]

LOL! That's a good one! =)

It'd be more effective to repeal Article I altogether though..

[EternalHope]

We have at least one good Senator.

[mrbillxx]

Unfortunately for us, he has enough sense to get out.

[sionnsar]

I have introduced a bill that would repeal the 17th Amendment.

Prediction: It will go nowhere. The grand experiment has failed; we have but to vote ourselves more bread & circuses.

[Seeking the truth]

Hey Jim, looks like ol Zell has finally read your memo re: 17th Amendment.

[Freebird Forever]

While they're at it, the 19th should be repealed as well.

[Fixit]

I used to be pro-repeal on the 17th amendment, but the following thoughtful comment on Clayton Cramer's weblog has given me pause.

I'm sure this wasn't envisioned when the election of Senators by state legislatures was first conceived, but with the way district boundaries are drawn these days, the fact is that nowadays the HOUSE represents the state legislature (via gerrymandering), and the Senate represents the people of each state -- since state boundaries aren't redrawn after every census.

I remember one election when I lived in California (probably late 1980s) when about half the votes for Representatives went to each party, but about 2/3 of California's House delegation were Democrats. Why? The Democrats controlled the legislature -- and gerrymandered that, too, with similar results. At that time, California had a Republican Senator (Pete Wilson).

The pattern is probably similar in other states, though perhaps in some cases with the parties reversed. If the 17th Amendment were repealed today, it would not remove power from special interests, it would just ensure that ALL of Congress were chosen by gerrymandering, and it would make the political map at the time of the repeal more entrenched at the federal level.

[Van Jenerette]

Excellent!

[EagleMamaMT]

Read later.

[wildbill]

I believe it was a wise old Roman senator named Cato the Elder who remonstrated continually with the Romans about the corruption in their Republic.

And he used to end every speech with: "Cathage must be destroyed!"

Would that one senator would echo this with: The mad mullahs must be destroyed.

[frgoff]

but the following thoughtful comment on Clayton Cramer's weblog has given me pause.

His argument is flawed. State legislatures are elected for the sole purpose of running state governments. Therefore, senators sent by the legislature will reflect the state's interests.

Even though House districts are heavily gerrymandered, the people in them still vote for candidates based on their popular interests, not the interests of the state in which they live.

Do you really think a gerrymandered House district is going to be more concerned with states rights issues than a non-gerrymandered one?

Having said that, this amendment is going nowhere for the simple reason that people today believe democracy is superior to republic, and so would think that making Senators selected by state legislatures would be a loss of freedom.

You want evidence? Just look at all the ranting about how Bush won the election with less than the popular vote. People don't understand that Presidents are elected by the states, not the people.

[NCPAC]

Zell Miller is a great American.

[Alberta's Child]

If Zell Miller were such a great American he would have made these comments long before he announced his retirement.

[inquest]

Don't be so dang mopey about this. It's amazing enough that it's even at this stage.

[JoeSixPack1]

It is the special interest groups and their fundraising power that elect U.S. senators and then hold them in bondage forever.

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!

[sionnsar]

That's my point... But I promise to cheer up if it gets legs.

[GOP_1900AD]

This is awesome. Although it will go no where, I agree with repealing the *WORST* ammendment. Our founders were men who are in the category of the greatest men of the millennium. By "tweaking" their design to make it more "democratic" we issued our republic a warrant to a long, slow, ugly death.

[GOP_1900AD]

BUMP!

[Doug Loss]

Folks, if you want this you have to support it. Everyone here should contact his or her senators and strongly urge them to support or even co-sponsor Zell's proposal. I'm proposing just that on the Pennsylvania Locale board; you should all do the same on your own local boards.