Republican's next big Brain Storm, They want to repeal the 17th Amendment

[Bandit]

Isaacson says he'd like to repeal 17th Amendment
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A North Pole legislator says he'd like to repeal the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows the people of a given state to elect their U.S. senators.

Rep. Doug Isaacson made the comment during discussion on a proposed amendment to Alaska's constitution that would make the attorney general an elected post rather than an appointed one.

Isaacson said he has great confidence in the people. But he says we sometimes make mistakes as voters and correct those later on.

He said he could see someone be elected attorney general who comes across well but delivers poorly.

He said states lost their powers to control congressional and federal overreach when the power for state Legislatures to send people to the Senate was lost with passage of the 17th Amendment.


http://www.kinyradio.com/juneaunews/latest_juneau_news.html

[mikeysnot]

1. They are for the Constitution

until they are against it...

[Distant Quasar]

2. No surprise - they are ideologically committed to oligarchy

I'm sure many conservatives would like to restore property qualifications for voting, as well.

[Laelth]

5. +1. n/t

-Laelth

[el_bryanto]

3. They have been floating this idea for a while

Of course in many states, including ones with substantial Democratic minorities, they have a lock on the legislature so this works out well for them.

Bryant

[HereSince1628]

4. Of course, they do

A senate that represents Koch-controlled state legislatures is just what the corporatists desire.

[Scuba]

6. Republicans want Wall Street to appoint Senators.

[struggle4progress]

7. The real problem, from the Republican PoV, is that Federal Senate elections

are statewide elections and so cannot easily be controlled by gerrymandering, unlike Federal House and state legislature elections. Repeal of the 17th amendment would mean Federal Senate elections can once again be controlled by gerrymandering

[NYC Liberal]

8. Bingo.

In THEORY, the original design of Congress was good. Senate represents the states directly and the House represents the people directly. However, like many things, it doesn't work well in the real world, or when circumstances change over time. That's why the 17th Amendment was passed.

[treestar]

9. that horse has left the barn

right wingers needs to get a grip.

[struggle4progress]

10. Ted Cruz at ALEC summit: end direct vote for senators (December 2013)

By Todd J. Gillman
3:32 pm on December 5, 2013

... The 17th Amendment was ratified in 1913 amid dismay that powerful federal lawmakers were sometimes picked through corruption and backroom deals ... Cruz spoke over lunch to a policy summit of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a controversial group that for years has quietly circulated “model” legislation on anything from voter ID rules to tax policy. He got standing ovations ...

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/ted-cruz-at-alec-summit-end-direct-vote-for-senators.html/

So --- whenever you need to talk about the 17th amendment, be sure to put in a bad word for Cruz and for ALEC