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Ask yourself - what voice do states have at the federal level? (post-17th amendment) Hummmmm??
The people living in each state have a voice by being able to select their two senators rather than allow backroom deals happen with politicians to select puppets to sit in the senate for them.
The reason for the 17th Amendment was due to the fact that senate seats could be bought and sold, also there is an issue with deadlock, if a state government couldn't agree on who to send then there wouldn't be anyone representing the state in the Senate.
The 17th Amendment allows the people of the state to decide who the Senators should be that represent the states rather than allowing them to be appointed.
Well, hopefully an Article V convention of states will take this up one day (and bypass congress).
You need 33 more states to agree to this to make it happen, I have a better chance at winning the lottery than this has to happen. But like any Amendment, people are welcome to challenge it and get it removed so that the people in the states lose their right to vote on who the Senators that represent their state are.
No I don't trust my state legislature with any more power then they already have. Why would any one give the power any power they they currently have to elected officials.
Senators were originally appointed by their state governments, so they would have loyalty to their state govt, and would vote against any proposed legislation that might take power from the States and transfer it to the Federal government.
And the 17th was proposed and pushed through, by people who didn't want such care to be taken - people who wanted more and more power transferred to the Federal govt. The same people who also pushed through the 16th amendment, to punish the rich and finance the coming government-uber-alles.
That year (1913) marked the real start of the explosion of government that continues to the present day.
High time to convert at least one house of govt (the Senate) back into being the watchdog against bog-govt usurpation of states' powers. Even the corruption that went on during the appointment process, was a small price to pay for the security of knowing the big-govt fanatics were being stopped, as the Constitution required.
Senators were originally appointed by their state governments, so they would have loyalty to their state govt, and would vote against any proposed legislation that might take power from the States and transfer it to the Federal government.
And the 17th was proposed and pushed through, by people who didn't want such care to be taken - people who wanted more and more power transferred to the Federal govt. The same people who also pushed through the 16th amendment, to punish the rich and finance the coming government-uber-alles.
That year (1913) marked the real start of the explosion of government that continues to the present day.
High time to convert at least one house of govt (the Senate) back into being the watchdog against bog-govt usurpation of states' powers. Even the corruption that went on during the appointment process, was a small price to pay for the security of knowing the big-govt fanatics were being stopped, as the Constitution required.
Senators still represent the states, they are just elected by the people who live in the states rather than bought and paid for seats. I have no interest in returning to the corruption that you seem to casually overlook.
The chances of the people wanting to ever repeal the 17th Amendment and it actually happening is pretty much zero.
Because of the sad practical reality of the situation, I would propose that each state have a 3rd Senator appointed by the legislature. Any law passed would have to pass via 2/3 of the states individual caucus of 2 of 3 Senators.
It is true that responses to my communication to my US senator was answered by an aid, however, my US representative also uses his aids to respond. It is frustrating but it 's not an excuse to repeal an amendment.
Ask yourself, why was the 17th Amendment passed to begin with? There is always a reason for these things.
Yes................. why was it passed? One might ask as well why the Federal Reserve was enacted at the same time a federal income tax was made law.
Perhaps it was passed to enrich the men who occupy the seats in the Senate and increase the power of wealthy individuals and PACs, at the expense of the states and the people.
Have you ever called your US Senators office to address an issue? I guarantee you that if you have you don't speak to your senator but rather to an aid. The only people your senator speaks directly to are the special interests that finance his (or her) campaign. Now call your state senator and see if the response you get is different. My state senator actually answers his own phone. If my US senator was reliant on my state representative to maintain his position and my state senator actually answers to me, wouldn't my US senator then be more responsive to my wishes?
Let's see. If your information is correct you live in Texas, with a population of about 26 million, and each of those 26 million people is represented by two U.S. senators.
Would you care to estimate how much time those two senators have to speak personally to each of their 26 million constituents every time they call?
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