Think Political Parties Are Destroying America? Thank the 17th Amendment! by Todd Huston

The New Media Journal ^ | 5 june 2007 | Todd Huston

[sand88]

Yep, lots of bad things came from our “progressive” past.

The progressives were a wholly evil lot. Instead of letting people enjoy the flower of Liberty, they shown themselves as control freaks. Just as the evil left of today, the progressives hated freedom and capitalism.

[sand88]

The others are bad, but nothing went so far in destroying the last vestiges of Federalism than the 17th.

Very well stated. Power definitely shifted to Washington after the 17th was passed. The evil left knows how to consolidate power. Imagine the lobbyists having to tend to numerous state legislatures. Our Republic would be better off if the 17th Amendment was repealed -- along with a few others :)

[Lurker]

The article says that by using the popular vote to elect senators, the states lost their power and representation in federal government.

They author is correct.

You said that the amendment destroyed the last vestige of federalism,

It did.

but federalism refers to the power being at the federal government level.

Federalism doesn't mean any such thing.

Federalism: A form of political organization in which governmental power is divided between a central government and territorial subdivisions--in the United States, among the national, state, and local governments.

L

[MarkL]

I've long said to anyone who'll listen, that the 17th Amendment was the worst things ever done to the Constitution. The last thing that the founders wanted was delivering a democracy, which is why they designed the government so that only 1 of the 3 branches were to be democratically elected. The 17th means that 2/3s of the government is now democratically elected.

Mark

[fr_freak]

The Eighteenth Amendment was the real travesty !!!

Nope, the Nineteenth was the worst one, hands down!

j/k...?

[HaveHadEnough]

There were some very good reasons why Senators weren't popularly elected.

I'm sure there were.

[MarkL]

Oops! That’s 1/2 of 1/3 - or 1/6th of the government. Now it IS 1/3 branches.

Mark

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

On the other hand, there were good reasons why it was considered a good idea at the time, above and beyond the inability of some states to decide who to send. By the time the 17th passed, most states had already passed laws that had the same effect, and the senators so elected swayed the amendment vote.

[HaveHadEnough]

The 17th means that 2/3s of the government is now democratically elected.

No, the 17th means that 1/3 is democratically elected.

President: Elected through representatives
Supreme Court: Elected through representatives
Congress: Elected by the People

One out of three = 1/3
Before the 17th, it was 1/6.

[MarkL]

Yes, I caught that and corrected myself after hitting POST.

[CollegeRepublican]

For reference: http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a399342cd553c.htm
The Constitution of the United States of America with Amendments

[el_texicano]

I would beg differ on that assessment. If the state legislatures become the appointment vehicle to the senate, the state legislature offices (senators and reps) become the critical battle ground for the parties to fight it out for the hearts and minds of the people.

Conservative states would probably have the majority of the senators appointed to Congress.

[bankwalker]

Maybe so, but the 14th, 16th, and 24th are not far behind.

What was going on back then to make them so dumb?

[beltfed308]

How about the 18th? Took a while to repeal but thank goodness it was.

[Nightbird]

“Delaware once went four years at a stretch without a Senator”

Fine by me.

[robertpaulsen]

Far, far worse is the 14th which the U.S. Supreme Court has used to apply the BOR to the states. Every bad decision (Kelo, Roe v Wade, sodomy, freedom from religion) now applies to the states.

Also, the 14th gave us anchor babies.

[oblomov]

14th: martial law in the South, Reconstruction, retribution for the Southern secession
16th: “progressives” didn’t have enough revenue to build their world-saving war machine, needed more $$$
24th: on the surface, an attempt to remedy the misuse of poll taxes; in reality, a power grab by the far left

[CPT Clay]

Agreed

Scrap the 17th Ammendment!!

[oblomov]

The 14th Amendment also lead to a hyperexpansive interpretation of the Commerce Clause.

>>Also, the 14th gave us anchor babies.

The SCOTUS has never tested birthright citizenship, to my understanding.

[OK]

“What was going on back then to make them so dumb?”

The international banking elites pulled a behind the scenes coup d’etat in 1913 by creating the Federal Reserve Bank, instituting an income tax, and furthering a controlled democracy with the direct election of Senators.

Bankers now create money out of thin air and loan it to the government for interest. The profits go to control things behind the scenes using grants, organizations such as CFR, etc.