[Maelstrom]

Also consider with the 17th Amendment, the Senate becomes redundant with the House of Representatives. The Senators are more powerful for having the same amount of power in the House concentrated in fewer hands.

It's a nation killer...through slow poison.

[NewRomeTacitus]

I see a close-to-fair balance when taking the hugely abused relegation of bills to committees into consideration. The pecking order system will not be denied. Of course, being a romantic fool, I defy it anyway.
"What would the founders do?" should be the first path of inquiry taken as a matter of course.

[Held_to_Ransom]

Also consider with the 17th Amendment, the Senate becomes redundant with the House of Representatives. The Senators are more powerful for having the same amount of power in the House concentrated in fewer hands.

I don't know if I see that point. The 17th was supposed to keep Senators from building up a large stable power base and riding along for decades, but it hasn't stopped them.

What it has produced though are cases where a state might have a majority legislature in one party, yet Senators of another party. Again, not all that fatal. It may be easier for a Senator to buy a seat, as he can do it direct from the people, but a wealthy candidate undoubtedly could also buy a state legislature in many cases.

The Senate was always the dominant house for the reasons you cite. It allowed the smaller states more control than any proportionate system would, and it still does. This, however, has not been a bad thing in many ways. One can make the argument against it though, but I believe the original concept sound in that regard.