The 17th Amendment

My opinion, is that most Amendments after the first ten, do harm to America.  Take the 17th, as a classic example.  The 17th, passed in 1913, the same year as the Income Tax (16th) and Federal Reserve, reads as follows: 

“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.  The electors in each State shall have the qualifications required for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

“When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writ of election to fill such vacancies: Provided. That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

“This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.”

Article One, Section Three of the Constitution, in regard to electing Senators, says: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State (chosen by the legislature thereof) for six years, and each Senator shall have one vote.”

In other words, the Founders wrote into the Constitution, prohibition of buying votes, as is so common now.  They had the various state legislatures controlling the Senate, and not the voters. This has been defeated with the 17th Amendment.  The Founders believed in the Tenth Amendment as a virtual religion.  The states were to be supreme, and state legislatures were to have control of half of the Congress, namely the Senate, rather than having both houses elected by the electors.  Why?  Because the Founders intended that state legislatures would appoint Senators, and then instruct them on how to vote.  This was to safeguard against the corruption of Senators by special interests seeking federal legislation that would be good for them, but bad for the general public.

If there were no 17th Amendment, there could not be any “earmarks” or the likes of Senator Robert Byrd making his West Virginia State, the recipient of hundreds of billions of federal offices, bureaucrats, and handouts.  If Byrd voted for it, the rest of the Senate would have probably voted against it, and it never would have happened.  It would have been against their own state’s interest. The billions in vote buying for the late health bill could not have happened without the 17th Amendment.   Roger Sherman wrote in 1789, that because Senators were appointed by the state legislatures, they “Will be vigilant in supporting their (states’) rights against infringement by the legislative or executive of the United States.”

The original Constitution, limited Senators’ ability to sell their votes to special-interest groups nationwide.  If a Senator went to Washington and voted against the interest of his own state constituency, he could be replaced on short notice by the state legislature which appointed him.  No election would be necessary.  Bad vote or a bad attitude, and out you go.  Senators didn’t have to raise campaign funds from every possible source before the 17th Amendment was passed.  They were APPOINTED, not elected, and could be fired instantly, if they voted or acted against their own state.  This is as it should be!

Would we have gone to Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, or Afghanistan if there were no 17th Amendment?  Probably not, because the citizenry was against all of them, and the Senators from those states would have voted “no” on going to these wars.  They answered to their states, not to the voters at large…before the 17th Amendment.  Article One, Section Eight, lists the many, many powers of the Congress.  Before the 17th Amendment was passed, the endless bureaucracies and huge federal government would never have happened, because the Senate would have been acting for and been responsible to their individual state legislatures, not a President or vague voter opinions.  Article One, Section Seven, gives the Congress the power to raise revenue (taxes, etc.), and the bills have to be passed by the Senate.  It would have been virtually impossible for huge taxes and public spending to happen before the 17th Amendment.

The huge fund raising, bribery, and corruption in the US Senate, would not be possible before the 17th Amendment.  The 17th Amendment radically changed America…for the worse.  Anyone for getting rid of it?  Maybe candidates for office in November, and in 2012?  We can make it a requirement of candidates if we choose, and we should.