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The root problem with this country isn't where taxes get collected, or even how much taxes are collected overall, it's the complete abandonment of federalism. Eliminating the popular election of senators would be the first, and most important, step toward devolving true power back to the states where it belongs.

Right now, senators are the worst of all possible "representatives": They are popularly elected, but only infrequently. They are slaves to the will of the people, but they only fear the lash one year out of six. That's what drives their basic legislative pattern: stubborn resistance to any deviation from the status quo, punctuated every six years by a desperate rush to demagogue some hot-button issue. Meanwhile, no one represents the legitimate issues of state governments at the federal level. In order for a governor to work for federal change, he basically has to petition his own voters to vote for federal candidates who will then represent the state's interests—which means, as a practical matter, that there is absolutely no check on theft of power from the state governments to the federal government.

The 17th amendment calls for popular election of Senators. Originally, they were selected by state governments. The concept was they would be sent to protect states and states rights, and would be a check against the 'Elected by whim of the people' Congress. Congress was intended to be very responsive to the publics needs, and the Senate was intended to be very responsive to their states needs and states rights in general.

When the Senate became popularly elected, they became just like the Congress. Thusly you see the burgeoning and explosive growth in the power and range of the Federal Leviathon.

The 17th did more damage to America than any other amendment, including the 16th.