Replies

Maybe it's time to float the idea for true campaign finance reform that guaranteed to work -- repeal the 17th amendment and eliminate 33 of the most expensive elections that occur every two years.

Bravo! I wholeheartedly concur. Not only would repeal of the 17th Amendment be genuine campaign finance reform, but it would restore something extremely important to our Republic -- the proper, and vital, relationship between the states and the federal government.

Contrary to the entire point of the Constitution, the states are no longer directly represented by their own agents in the federal government. That's what senators used to be, while direct election of representatives gave the people of the several states their own agents in the federal government.

Only the states have the power to truly check the excesses of the federal government, but they can't do so without a seat at the Congressional table. The senate was not supposed to be like the British House of Lords, which is pretty close to what they are now thanks to the really ill-considered 17th Amendment.

I think it would also go a long way to breaking the power of national bloc political groups like the DNC. They seem to exist to raise campaign funding for Senate races more than Presidential races, since there are 33 of them every two years vs. one Presidential race every four years. Also, those 33 races can actually be 66 races if you factor in the primaries before the general election.

By eliminating the Senate elections, we neuter the power of party national committees, if they are left to only finance the Presidential election and various House races that are not already gerrymandered into safety.

-PJ