Posted on 12/06/2016 2:31:55 PM PST by george76
The 17th Amendment, which allowed the popular election of U.S. senators, “disenfranchised” state legislatures and altered the U.S. Constitution's checks and balances, Chapman University Law Professor John Eastman told an audience of state legislators in Washington, D.C. last week.
The amendment made it easier for Congress to pass legislation, which eventually led to the massive growth in federal power that the states are still grappling with today...
“What the founders did is come up with this counterintuitive notion that adding an extra layer of government would provide less government and greater liberty. And it only worked if those governments were in competition with and in conflict with each other,”
That all went away when we disenfranchised .. the states from a role in the federal government by removing their ability to choose the senators,” ..
Before the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, each state legislature chose the state’s two U.S. senators while House members were elected by popular vote. This meant that the interests of the state would also be represented at the federal level.
...
the 17th Amendment has drastically altered the system of checks and balances that the founders carefully designed.
...
The 17th Amendment “has been a significant factor in turning what originally was a federation of state governments into a national system, where the federal government sits firmly on top of the states
...
Who are senators dependent on today? The media. The donors. The special interests. Right? They’re dependent on everybody but the states whom they were originally intended to represent here in the nation’s capital
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
The notion for popular election of Senators in the 20th century also coincided with the rise of Marxism as the ideal utopian government. One step toward that utopia was characterized by the promotion of a Democracy instead of a Republic.
Here of FR we like to call out politicians and journals for regerring to our government as Democratic. We at FR jump to make comments correcting any article calling us Democratic. “We have a Republican form of government,” is a common comment in reply. But the 17th Amendment took us one step AWAY from a Republic to a Democratic Republic. I shudder to think of more amendments that might further remove us from the Republic. Think: an amendment removing the Electoral College.
We can only restore our true Republic by repealing the 17th Amendment.
Well said.
An Article V Convention of States.
Unfortunately the Cultural Marxists are waging an all out war with disinformation and scare tactics as to what an Article V convention could do. The Cultural Marxists today are lying to the public today in the same way they did in 1913 when the 17th Amendment was passed. Don't believe the leftist's propaganda. Research this.
Power lying with the people is a democracy, mob rule, which is exactly what the Framers of the Constitution were protecting us from by creating a Republic. That Republic was stolen from us by the propaganda of the Marxists in the early 20th century when they sold America the lie that "the people" should elect Senators. Hence we have the 17th Amendment.
I really hope Trump is the beginning of a new era in America
We've elected Trump president. Executive branch. The 17th Amendment is unrelated being tied to the Legislature. You're talking apples and oranges. If Trump starts using Executive powers to pass laws he is no better than Obama Constitutionally. Yes, we might like Trumps laws better but if we accept them then we accept the violation of our Constitution and have enabled a future American dictator. Haven't we all seen the fear expressed by some here on FR that 0bama would create a crisis, impose martial law and not leave office? That is exactly what we would be opening the door to by "letting" Trump "fix" everything through the power of the pen.
Additionally, we are only sure that we have 4 years of a Trump administration. There are term limits for president. At most he only serves 8 years. Why not address the true problem of the cultural marxism that's wormed its way into our Federal burocracy and repeal the 17th Amendment, call for legislative term limits, put in place a procedure for 3/5 of the states to overcome unconstitutional judicial legislating and while we're at it repeal the 16th amendment?
Civil rights laws are the remedy for Federal corruption? You must be smoking an excess of that medical marijuana.
There’s not one thing you mentioned that’s not a regular fixture in Washington—though your quaint “liquor and prostitues” is a bit dated. Today’s Senator is more likely into young boys and hard drugs. Corruption has never been more naked, but many people still insist their politicians are clothed in only righteousness.
Think about how many States are red via governors and/or legislatures - the Senate would be ours with a likely super-majority if the 17th was repealed and the States sent their choices to Washington....
As for public corruption today, instead of cash for favors, the method is more often improper favor-swapping that generates legal cash or other benefits. This is because personal disclosure requirements and campaign finance reporting, ethics prohibitions as to certain relationships and conflicts of interest, modern public accounting and contracting systems, and tax rules and cash handling requirements tend to work together to make it hard for public officials to accumulate and enjoy the benefit of illegal cash.
In practice, this often makes it possible to impose sanctions for apparent public corruption without showing a quid pro quo or knowing the details of the misconduct. Thus a corrupt public official might get nailed by the IRS for unreported income or assets or currency transaction report violations. Then they may roll over on corrupt associates in return for sentencing leniency.
Or, as is too often the case, public corruption and favor-swapping go undetected and unpunished because improper transactions and arrangements are carefully designed to skirt the terms of the applicable rules. Moreover, from the outside, public corruption is hard to detect and such cases are difficult to investigate and prosecute.
As a senior FBI agent whom I knew explained, in public corruption cases, you cannot always trust your superiors or even the courts. He initiated the ABSCAM case only to have one of the targets who was caught on tape -- Senator Harrison Williams -- call the FBI director and get him removed from the case.
Harrison Williams ended up in prison, but before that could happen, my friend was transferred to Florida in political disfavor. He then put together a string of local public corruption cases. In many instances though, the cases fell apart when witnesses and even judges got flaky due to pressure and manipulations from organized crime.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.