There recently appeared an article at Salon
critical of the idea of repealing the 17th Amendment. In it, author
Alex Seitz-Wald explains how the desire to return the selection of U.S.
Senators back over to the state legislatures, as opposed to direct
election now, developed, and why it would be harmful if tried. In this
piece, the first of two on the subject, I’ll summarize the argument,
argue the benefits of repealing this amendment, and correct a few points
made by Seitz-Wald.
His overview is that the idea had been a “hobbyhorse of the fringe right” for quite some time, until the Tea Party-types and Glenn Beck helped popularize it. Now that having states represented in congress has become more of a mainstream issue, a number of politicians are beginning to promote the idea. Among them are Utah’s Senator Mike Lee, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Todd Akin (yes, that Todd Akin) of Missouri, both of whom are senate candidates for the GOP. Other prominent republicans who have supported a return to the original selection of the senate are Alan Keyes, Zell Miller, and Ron Paul.
The chief reason for repealing this amendment is to return the senate to its original purpose of representing the states. The theory is that with senators beholden to the states the balance of power would shift in their favor, and we’d return to something more akin to federalism. In this way states would not be so powerless as to have overbearing laws forced upon them, such as REAL ID for example, without at least having a say in the matter. It would also mean that unfunded liabilities and other programs mandated by the federal government, but not specifically funded by it, would not be so easily rammed through if the states could block them in the senate.
This whole argument ignores which powers ought to be granted to government in general (if any) and instead focuses on how they should be divided between the states and the federal government. I’ll cover the former issue in the second article, but for now I’ll focus on how dividing government power between various levels is preferable to consolidating it in one body.
Read more: http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2012/08/25/on-repealing-the-17th-amendment-part-i-agreement/#more-13109
His overview is that the idea had been a “hobbyhorse of the fringe right” for quite some time, until the Tea Party-types and Glenn Beck helped popularize it. Now that having states represented in congress has become more of a mainstream issue, a number of politicians are beginning to promote the idea. Among them are Utah’s Senator Mike Lee, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Todd Akin (yes, that Todd Akin) of Missouri, both of whom are senate candidates for the GOP. Other prominent republicans who have supported a return to the original selection of the senate are Alan Keyes, Zell Miller, and Ron Paul.
The chief reason for repealing this amendment is to return the senate to its original purpose of representing the states. The theory is that with senators beholden to the states the balance of power would shift in their favor, and we’d return to something more akin to federalism. In this way states would not be so powerless as to have overbearing laws forced upon them, such as REAL ID for example, without at least having a say in the matter. It would also mean that unfunded liabilities and other programs mandated by the federal government, but not specifically funded by it, would not be so easily rammed through if the states could block them in the senate.
This whole argument ignores which powers ought to be granted to government in general (if any) and instead focuses on how they should be divided between the states and the federal government. I’ll cover the former issue in the second article, but for now I’ll focus on how dividing government power between various levels is preferable to consolidating it in one body.
Read more: http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2012/08/25/on-repealing-the-17th-amendment-part-i-agreement/#more-13109
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