Seventeenth Amendment

[saysmydoctor]

It amends the constitution to allow for the direct election of Senators to Congress.

What are people's opinions on this?

[Adeniz19]

what is wrong with direct elections of senators?

[wrppdarndyrfngr]

from wikipedia:

There are some states' rights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States%27_rights) advocates who have called for the Seventeenth Amendment's repeal.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United _States_Constitution#cite_note-3) For example, conservative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism) former Democratic Senator Zell Miller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zell_Miller), upon retiring from the Senate, said “Direct elections of Senators … allowed Washington’s special interests to call the shots, whether it is filling judicial vacancies, passing laws, or issuing regulations.”[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United _States_Constitution#cite_note-4) Thomas DiLorenzo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_DiLorenzo), author of The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, said "The Seventeenth Amendment was one of the last nails to be pounded into the coffin of federalism in America.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United _States_Constitution#cite_note-5) Some blame the Amendment, together with the Sixteenth Amendment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_S tates_Constitution), for the expansion of the authority of the United States Congress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress) in the 20th century.[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United _States_Constitution#cite_note-6)




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So because there is corruption we should get rid of electing congress though a democratic popular vote?

[Adeniz19]

from wikipedia:

There are some states' rights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States%27_rights) advocates who have called for the Seventeenth Amendment's repeal.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United _States_Constitution#cite_note-3) For example, conservative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism) former Democratic Senator Zell Miller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zell_Miller), upon retiring from the Senate, said “Direct elections of Senators … allowed Washington’s special interests to call the shots, whether it is filling judicial vacancies, passing laws, or issuing regulations.”[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United _States_Constitution#cite_note-4) Thomas DiLorenzo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_DiLorenzo), author of The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, said "The Seventeenth Amendment was one of the last nails to be pounded into the coffin of federalism in America.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United _States_Constitution#cite_note-5) Some blame the Amendment, together with the Sixteenth Amendment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_S tates_Constitution), for the expansion of the authority of the United States Congress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress) in the 20th century.[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United _States_Constitution#cite_note-6)




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So because there is corruption we should get rid of electing congress though a democratic popular vote?it seems there would be more corruption the other way around :shrug:

[saysmydoctor]

The House of Representatives, under the original unamended Constitution, was still a democratic elected body.

[x togepi x]

states rights=aristocracy. so no, i'm fine with directly electing senators.

[saysmydoctor]

states rights=aristocracy. so no, i'm fine with directly electing senators.
Agree with this. I was just wondering what people's opinions were, not saying I'm for repealing this. I know Ron Paul is, I believe.

[timchoke]

I've been opposed to the 17th Amendment for years.
Obviously, there are the two houses. The House of Representatives was meant to be the people's voice in the national arena. The Senate was the state's voices, voted in by the state legislatures. By allowing the general populace to vote the senators in, state's voices were completely marginalized. I'm all for repealing the 17th Amendment.

I think repealing it would also present a good trickle down effect. That is, if your state representatives, state senators, governor and other officials would be in charge of the election of senators, people are going to start caring a lot more about the "silly" small, local elections. If the dumb Rep. from you tiny district has a say in who your senator for the next six years is, you're going to care a lot more about him come election time. Just saying..

I'm glad this is a topic here. I'm interested in what other people think.

[EasySkankin]

It's a different political environment. The U.S.A. no longer has fears of states breaking off from the union, so I don't see why states' rights is an issue

[timchoke]

Well, while secession may have been a small part of it, I don't think that's really why there were state's rights. The Founders realized that the Federal Government was far too large to effectively care/protect its citizens. Beyond that, that wasn't the purpose of have a central government. The greater purpose of the Union was to, essentially, make sure the states' had each other's back in war times and help each other out in the other times. It wasn't ever meant to be the be all, end all power it is today.

[incredulous]

Under the 17th amendment, senators have to worry about getting elected by a very wide margin and have to spend a lot of time and money campaigning. On the one hand, this is good because it makes them directly accountable to the people. On the other hand, the vast majority of people aren't experts on all the issues, so the mass media and popular sentiment play a large role in who people will vote for, which may not lead to the best policy making. But since there's no way to completely rid the system of corruption, I'd rather have the senators be directly accountable to me, not the states.