http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/who-should-select-senators/386489/
Who Should Select Senators?
A century after the Seventeenth Amendment transferred that power to the voters, legislatures and governors are devising new ways to retain it for themselves.
GARRETT EPPSMAR 1 2015, 9:18 AM ET
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There are a lot of reasons that I love the Seventeenth Amendment, which transferred the power to elect senators from state legislatures to ordinary voters.
Its passage was one of the most sweeping progressive victories in American history—public fury so intimidated reactionary lawmakers in the Senate that, by approving the Amendment, they in effect voted their own body out of existence.
A second reason is that in the past two decades, new redistricting techniques have allowed state legislatures to create unshakably safe House districts for their members. (Because Republicans controlled a majority of legislatures after the 2010 census, most Republican seats are as safe as Brezhnev’s old spot on the Politburo.) But those techniques are useless when elections must take in the entire state; as a result, a small group of Senate candidates must at least pretend to represent both red and blue voters.
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I OTOH would like to repeal the Seventeenth completely.
Why?
Unintended Consequences!
By removing the State Legislatures from the “State’s Senate choice”, it eliminated a critical feedback loop in the Federalism design of the Dead Old White Guys.
And, as is true with most “improvements” to the Dead Old White Guys’ design, this too is flawed.
Remember, the Dead Old White Guys wanted government as close as possible.
(That movie quote caught the spirit: “Would you tell me please, Mr. Howard, why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a man’s rights as easily as a king can.” Mel Gibson as the character Benjamin Martin in the movie The Patriot http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187393/quotes)
So, the Seventeenth permitted unfunded mandates on the States.
And, basically turned the USA from “these United States” into “the United State”.
Argh!
In addition, the conduct of Senators was closely monitored by the the States. Do something undignified and you were recalled. Do something criminal and you were recalled. Do vote for something that hurt your State and you were recalled.
And, guess what? Hillary becomes the Senator from Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerk. Corzine pays of the D party bosses and becomes the Senator from the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee. Carpet bagging par excellence. All of course voted for by the pee-pull.
Give me a break.
The Seventeenth, like most “progressive” legislation, has given us tyranny!
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