Free Republic

Few Americans who entered polling booths for the Nov. 4 election and pulled the lever for their favorite candidate for Senate realize that for most of American history, senators were chosen by the state legislatures. It wasn’t until 1913 that the 17thAmendment was passed, granting American voters the constitutional right of directly electing their senators.While this important amendment may seem innocuous, the reality is that few other changes to our Constitution have had the same detrimental effect on our nation than this single, nearly forgotten alteration.The passage of the 17th Amendment was driven largely by the populist movement of the...

Lawsuit Challenges Legality of Senate Special Election From Text of Lawsuit filed October 31, 2014 ...Plaintiffs bring this action challenging the election being conducted by Defendant Nago and the State of Hawaii Office of Elections in relation to filling the vacancy caused by Senator Daniel K. Inouye's death as unconstitutional under the Seventeenth Amendment because the election is not pursuant to a writ of election issued by the Governor and because Defendant Nago's proclamation states that the candidate elected at the special general election to fill the vacancy shall not take office until January 3, 2015. Despite the passage of...

1900s In early 1912, Arizona and New Mexico were added to the Union as the forty seventh and forty eighth states. A series of unexpected events and mood swings in public opinion resulted in the federal government robbing the states in balance of power by the ratification of the 16th & 17th Amendments the following year in 1913. The 16th amendment introducing a personal graduated income tax took over three years to be ratified, but the 17th amendment allowing Senators to be elected by popular vote took less than eleven months. By April of 2013, Congress, the President and all...

t’s a movement that’s been building in recent years: efforts by states to reclaim their constitutional authority by declaring Washington’s health care laws, gun control or other restrictions simply don’t apply within their boundaries. After all, the Constitution stipulates that, except for a couple of dozen specific issues such as national defense, the powers in the U.S. rest with the states. Now a new lawsuit contends states can regain their authority by returning to the practice of having state legislatures elect U.S. senators, as the Constitution originally required. The case is being brought by author, columnist, commentator and activist Devvy...

Prior to 1913, there was no federal income tax. The states had rights and representation in Washington, D.C., there was no Federal Reserve Bank, and the federal government lived under the enumerated powers afforded within the U.S. Constitution. What a difference one year can make... ... Passage of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution would forever change life in America, and not for the better. ... Further, thanks to the 17th Amendment, also passed in 1913, the states no longer have representation in Washington, D.C. Once again, what seemed like a simple sentence and a good idea to some at...

We managed to repeal the 18th Amendment, which created Prohibition. It is time to repeal the 17th. What? You have no idea what the 17th Amendment is? Well, it is the one that effectively ended federalism by taking the power to appoint U.S. senators from state legislatures and having the citizens directly elect them, as they had always done with the House of Representatives. We may not get better senators, but it is likely they would not try dictating to the states what they should do — as they did when they set the national speed limit at 55 mph...

In an interview with ABC News, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, predicted his party would reclaim the Democratic-controlled Senate in November, but he declined to endorse current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as the party leader should there be a transfer of power in the upper chamber of Congress.. . . . .But when asked if he would endorse McConnell — currently embroiled in a tight race for his Kentucky Senate seat — as Senate majority leader, the Texas Republican said that is a decision that would be made “when the time is right.”“Well, that will be a decision for...

A three-legged stool can always stand without wobbling – a solid foundation for good or evil. Addressing the 14th, 16th and 17th Amendments. The Articles (7) and their clauses, the Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10) are original to the Founders, Framers, and Ratifiers. The 11th and 12th Amendments serve to States’ protection. The 13th freed the slaves. The 14th Amendment – This was the first of three Amendments that created the “progressive” three legged stool. The 14th was a mandatory ratification, a required condition before states were allowed reunification after the Civil War. Congress deliberately established federal supremacy. The 14th,...

From Charles de Montesquieu Spirit of the Laws, “When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils, but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles.” There is a fundamental contradiction in the structure of our government that is responsible for the increasing turmoil we’ve witnessed these past few years. Media pleas to “get along” and compromise reflect snowballing social and political tensions. Unimaginable only a decade ago, our rulers in Washington, DC prepare for societal collapse. Rather than deal with the sickness that afflicts our republic, they respond to the...

It was a bit lost in the hubbub over rules and credentials fights, but the platform committee at the Idaho Republican Party convention in Moscow today voted to remove one of the most controversial planks in the party’s platform: The one calling for repeal of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would have the effect of doing away with direct election of U.S. senators and instead letting state legislatures choose senators. “I was the one who made the motion,” said Rep. Brandon Hixon, R-Caldwell, a delegate from Canyon County. “It passed the committee. Now it will go to...

At the behest of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Cale Keable, D-Burrillville, the Rhode Island House has finally voted to ratify the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reqired direct election of U.S. Senators. Before the amendment took effect in 1913, senators were elected by state legislators. That system was widely criticized for breeding corruption as senate aspirants bribed lawmakers to secure the votes needed to win senate seats. The ceremonial resolution approved by the House doesn’t change anything, Keable acknowledged, but he said it does send a message ``that Rhode Island values democracy.’’ Rhode Island never ratified the 17th...

INDIANAPOLIS | Hoosiers never again would vote in a primary election for U.S. Senate candidates if the decision were up to Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller. Zoeller is among a growing number of state's rights conservatives who favor a so-called "soft repeal" of the 17th Amendment that would empower members of the General Assembly, instead of voters, to nominate each party's U.S. Senate candidates. Voters still would have the final say on who represents Indiana in the Senate. But Zoeller, a Republican, believes giving the General Assembly's control of selecting candidates could revive the idea that U.S. senators are ambassadors...

To Freepers, our statist government is a daily “fingernails across the chalkboard” experience. Why is Obama able to sweep judicial, and legislative powers into the executive? Why did our national government morph from one designed to protect our freedoms into one of increasing political and social oppression? Why did the federal government generally remain within its Constitutional bounds prior to WWI and not thereafter? Thank the 17th Amendment. Tomorrow is its one hundred and one year anniversary. It fundamentally altered the Constitution; it pulled the keystone from the arch of our Framers’ structure. The structure upon which our freedoms depend...

Speaking to the attendees of the group’s policy summit in DC, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz rallied the ALEC faithful and urged them not to let the growing chorus of criticism get them down. “I first came to ALEC over a decade ago,” Cruz said. “When I was serving in the Bush administration, I’d been privileged to work with ALEC in the federal government. I’ve been privileged to work with ALEC when I was back in Texas with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, leading the 10th Amendment Center, and I’m proud to stand with ALEC today.” Referencing Sen. Dick Durbin’s earlier...

Amendment to establish congressional term limits. No more than twelve total years combined in house and senate. Amendment to repeal the 17th Amendment. Governors may fill vacancies to fill out remainder of terms. Upon two thirds vote, state legislatures may remove their senators. Amendment to establish twelve year term limits on scotus. On three-fifths vote, and within twenty four months of a ruling, congress or the states may override scotus decisions. These overrides are not subject to judicial review. Congress shall submit preliminary budget to president by first Monday in May for the next fiscal year. Should congress/president not adopt...

The annual meeting of the National Governors Conference is underway in Milwaukee, WI. Scheduled meeting topics include employment for people with disabilities, health care changes, the National Guard, water infrastructure needs, comprehensive federal tax reform, education, homeland security, prison reform, cyber-security. Governors will also meet in private, off-the-record settings, where I presume the substantive, real discussions will take place. As a sort of sister organization, the National Conference of State Legislatures will meet next week. Navigating the Affordable Care Act, helping military veterans find jobs, improving the election process and regulating drones are among the wide variety of topics state...

Senate leaders struck a deal on Tuesday to avoid the “nuclear option,” as Republicans relented and allowed a series of President Barack Obama’s stalled nominees to move forward toward confirmation. As a sign of a break in the stalemate, Republicans allowed a vote Tuesday morning to advance the nomination of Richard Cordray to permanently lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, passing 71-29. In exchange, Democrats backed off their threat to unilaterally change Senate rules—the so-called “nuclear option”—to allow for presidential nominees to be confirmed by a simple majority vote, an historic rules change which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,...

Americans may be able to regain control over their federal government by moving their respective individual state legislatures to invalidate the 16th and 17th Amendments to the United States Constitution. Essentially, this is a vote to reverse ratification of an Amendment without a Constitutional Convention. Repeal of the 16th Amendment starves the federal beast by depriving it of its consumption of money from the states and the taxpayers through income. States could exercise better control over how or even if their money is spent. Repeal of the 17th Amendment makes United States senators directly appointed by the state legislatures, as...

"Those gentlemen, who will be elected senators, will fix themselves in the federal town, and become citizens of that town more than of your state." --George Mason, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788

With the Autumnal Equinox now behind us, We, the People of Massachusetts, are reminded that in less than a month’s time we’ll be called upon to elect (or re-elect) a Senator to represent our interests in the upper house of the United States Congress. T’was not always thus. Those among my readers who stayed awake during Mrs. McGuffey’s 9th Grade History class will recall that, until the 2nd decade of the 20th Century, U.S. Senators were (per Art. 1, Sec. 3 of the Constitution) chosen by state legislatures, not elected directly by the people as at present. The most contentious issue facing the...