That makes alot of sense. Thank you...I’m thinking that I need to get refreshed on the Constitution. It was an absolute requirement for graduation when I was in high school...including the Declaration of Independence but now, I’d like to revisit it. Mark Levin has been advertising some sort of free course by Hillsdale...need to look into that.
But back to the 17th, there must be other benefits/reasons as well...
What is interesting about this though is that the states have to ratify a constitutional amendment. How did these amendments get through at that time??
The original reason for the choosing of Senators had to do with State Sovereignty. Representatives were to be chosen by the people who would be represented in the lower house. Senators would be chosen by the State Legislators to represent the interests of the State Governments. Some, like James Wilson, one of the founders from Pennsylvania, thought this quite undemocratic and opposed it.
Presumably, Senators would be much less inclined to violate the 10th amendment and thereby stepping on the tows of the state governments. Health Care mandates and Immigration are two such problems that would have different dynamics. So would most of the unfunded mandates that come down from Washington.
It’s far from a Panacea, but these amendments coincide with the beginning of huge federal government expansion.