Which is why that without the 17th Amendment David Dewhurst would currently be the junior senator from Texas, Bob Bennett would be the junior senator from Utah, and Thad Cochran would be getting ready for the general election.
Now that Bennett, Dewhurst and Cochran each work for a couple hundred legislators who keep very close track of their votes, what is the chance they will risk their jobs, and vote to the detriment of their states?
Would they even consider consenting to sitting judges hostile to the 10th Amendment?
By the design of the Framers, it was expected that less than virtuous men and states would look out for their interests. By doing so, they would keep the new federal government in its constitutional box.
The system worked well before 1913. It will again.
Excellent object lesson: politicians are almost by definition interested mainly in preserving the club membership. C.S. Lewis’ essay, The Inner Ring, beautifully illustrates what is and what ought to be in this arena.
Perhaps, so. But Messrs. Dewhurst, Bennett and Cochran would have been charged with protecting the interests of their states (and its people) against the federal government.
As a consequence, the federal Leviathan might be significantly smaller than it is today.
And that would be an outcome you'd favor, wouldn't it?