The Biggie In Taking Our Country Back Is To Rescind Amendment XVII

The two houses of Congress are both “representatives of the people” since the passage of Amendment XVII a century ago. Only one house should be representing the people. The other house, the senate, is supposed to represent the states. A century ago, the amendment told the state governments to pack up their reps and vacate Washington, D.C. What little excuse there had ever been for calling the national government a federation, was gone. The D.C. government thereby transformed itself into an empire over the inert state governments.

The succeeding century has been a disaster, legislative wise. The only reason the Founders gave the senators six-year terms and the house members two-year terms was because the house members were essentially the appointers of the senate members. Senate members were to act as more mature councilors who would act as a brake on sharp changes of legislative direction. They were to be the more deliberative body.

Now, let’s throw a few jokers into the shuffle of the cards. That’s exactly what the states did in 1789 as they assigned two representative bodies to a newly unified people. One body of reps should have been enough. So, should the state assembly reps be appointing U.S. Senators or should the U.S. house be appointing the senators. At this point, logic is lost and absolute nonsense takes over. The states bungled the setting up of the system.

Meanwhile, the U.S. house was incrementally increasing its district populations from an original of 40,000 to 700,000, thereby losing any pretense of local control by the electorate over their reps.  Democrats and Republicans began originating the reps and voters could only choose between two foreigners. It was in the middle of this two century trend that the U.S. senators made their big move to partisanship in the evolving system. They quietly pushed Amendment XVII to its passage without either party taking a position on it. The Founders had provided no mechanism for their popular election. They became freelancing politicians not unlike loose cannons on the deck in the D.C. government.

We have lost the few virtues of our system because of outright fraud and deceit. We have never had the pleasure of living under the federated system that should have been set up.

Let’s rewrite No. XVII and establish the elusive federation instead of sabotaging it. It should say that the U.S. house should be the grand assembly of the houses of the fifty states. Every person should be living in a standardized grid of home districts of somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000.  Our present five make-believe reps should be elected to the new single grid of reps. The new set of reps should have full authority to operate the federal system of fifty-one governments. They will hold a convention in their state, and elect all state officers. Then, as one body, they will elect the two national executives. 

If we want to take our country back, let’s follow the above instructions. Look carefully and you will find all of the above in the original Constitution.

All State Houses of Representatives Should Be Sitting In Washington, D.C.

State Governments have nobody to blame but themselves for the bullying coming out of Washington, D.C.

State Governments have never properly used the Congressional District.

The Constitution says that a Congressional District should have a population of at least 30,000 people.

If every State would organize its people into Congressional Districts of that size, the people of this nation would all be equally represented, whether at their own State Capitols or in D.C.  That one set of reps should be doing the entire job of governing all fifty-one governments of the Federation of States.

The election departments of county governments should be finalizing the setting up of these districts.  Experience has proven that the reps are too corruptible to do it.

Then, let’s restore the original U.S. Senate by rescinding Amendment XVII, which has raised havoc with the Constitutional system for a century. Incidentally, State Governments, likewise, should have similar Senates representing their counties.

The district reps, elected by the grassroots electorate, should hold conventions in their respective states. They should choose all the State Officers with whom they will be working.  Those fifty conventions of reps should reconvene as one body and choose the President and Vice-President.

Study the original Constitution of 1789. Compare it with the above suggestions. The suggestions are in line with the original Constitution. We can have a true Federation of the States as originally intended. Talk to your state rep. Remind the rep that the state constitution is inferior to the U.S. Constitution which calls for a single set of districts for the intended Federation of States. We have wandered in the wilderness long enough.