The horrid 17A is responsible for, as the author states, punting lawmaking from Congress to the Executive. Here, outside of the legislative process, various true-believers can formulate environmental, health, education, energy, etc. policy without fear of pushback from the people. Recall the Dept of Energy radicals pulling out their hair when PDJT instituted reforms.
Thanks to the 17A, and just as awful is a social justice judiciary that long ago quietly repealed the 9th and 10th Amendments. Had we not elected PDJT, and Hillary appointed a couple of justices, I can say with certainty that Scotus would soon find the right to vote for illegal aliens under the 14A. Equal protection doncha' know?
Republics are fragile constructs, and our republic is falling apart due, in large part, to the 17A.
Oops. Correction. Not the Energy Dept. The EPA. Same difference.