The first thing I believe we need is to remove the taxing power from the federal level. If we could make the federal govt dependent on state houses to provide funding the dynamic would be forced away from centralized federal govt and the states would have real power to exert.
I wouldn't go that far, but the 16th is certainly evil.
As for the 17th, whenever Congress does or does not act, I think freepers should ask themselves what the outcome would be, if we had a Senate of the States instead of the elected demagogues we have today. For instance, would judicial nominees with a history of hostility to state powers have a reasonable chance at all of confirmation?