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That we´d complacently allow ourselves to be ruled over by demagogues like Trent Lott, Tom Daschle and John McCain? Do you think Jefferson, Madison or Henry would so meekly accept the hypocrisy of Ted Kennedy, Diane Feinstein or those other ‘honorable´ Senators?

No. Which is one main reason that the general electorate was never supposed to vote for our Senators. They are supposed to be about the business of the nation, instead of working up cute little soundbites for the 6 o'clock news. I think one quick fix would turn this nation back closer to the republic than it's ever been and that would be to put the election of Senators back in the state houses where they belong. It would take away their need to run to the nearest microphone and maybe, just maybe they would go back into the Senate chamber and get something done

Bump.

Regarding your post#5, you are correct. The 17th amendment was installed as a purposeful erosion of our Constitutional Republic, and must be repealed.

And EVERY candidate could ONLY take support/money from someone WITHIN his district!

Which is one main reason that the general electorate was never supposed to vote for our Senators.

The job of the Senate was to represent the interests of State legislatures, to ensure that the Federal govt did not usurp the powers that were supposed to stay with the States. People like Kennedy and Feinstein would never have been selected under the old system

Also, under the original system, there was one Representative for every 50,000 inhabitants (rather than our current 435 representing 272 million, or one per 625,000). It is within the financial means of the average middle-class candidate to get together the money to get his message to 50K people (or around 15-20K households). Making it over 10 times as expensive means you need big money

That we´d complacently allow ourselves to be ruled over by demagogues like Trent Lott, Tom Daschle and John McCain? Do you think Jefferson, Madison or Henry would so meekly accept the hypocrisy of Ted Kennedy, Diane Feinstein or those other ‘honorable´ Senators?

There is enough hypocrisy to go around. Jefferson is the guy who wrote that all men are created equal isn't he. But he meant all white men..... right? Do we really think Jefferson wasn't smart enough to realize that a black man was a man...? Much of what our founding fathers wrote and said was intended to inspire the common man to fight their war against the king. A war by in large fought because our founding fathers didn't like paying taxes, and they were smart enough to know that the king didn't have the resources to make them do it.

I'm as patriotic as the next guy... but I don't worship the words of our founding fathers... and I don't believe they were inspired of God. And I believe that writing about all men being created equal and owning slaves is hypocritical.

While you are correct about direct election of Senators, you missed the connection to the 16th amendment. Prior to the enactment of direct elections and direct federal taxation, the federal government had to appeal to state legislatures for funding. These states then had to levy taxes to support the federal requests. It was the job of the senators selected by the states to ensure the state did not get a tax bill from the federal government. You must repeal both these amendments to achieve your objective.