In the original Constitution, the Senators were supposed to be representatives for the the individual States legislators. A Senator who represented his/her state legislature would NEVER vote for unfunded federal mandates! A Senator who represented his/her state legislature would vote to limit federal size and power. That would be a good thing.

As it stands, thanks to the seventeenth amendment, the state government has no representation in Washington. The founders were not just a bunch of bright guys come together with a great idea. They were representatives selected and sent by their individual states to form a more perfect union of states, not the Federal behemoth the big government progressive movement has turned it into today.

I agree. One of the predominant lines from the new Massachusetts senator was how it’s not Kennedy’s seat or the democrat’s seat, “it’s the people’s seat.” However, it is really the state of Massachusetts seat. Zell Miller had it right when he proposed a vote to remove the 17th ammendment to the Constitution. States are no longer represented and we are all feeling the repercussions.

The pecking order under a democracy:

1. X
2. Majority
3. Government
4. Public Servants
5. Case + statute law
6. Corporations
7. Individual (You)

The pecking order under a republic:

1. God
2. Individual (You)
3. Constitution
4. Government
5. Public Servants
6. Statute Law
7. Corporations

Now which system do you prefer?

Where did the founders obtain their wisdom? Their wisdom was to understand the governments of ALL known histories not just what ever temporal issues they faced that day. They new their history; they were scholars of the Greeks, the Romans, etc…., and they had an understanding of government systems of all the thousands of years past. They knew what has been done by governments in the past and what was being done by the various governments of their own time.

The constitution was written in the way it was not to address the issues of “their day” but to address the corruptibility of power on the human heart, which has never changed through the ages. Those men looked back through all ages and it’s only been 200 years for us. This thing you call modern society will go away some day, just as theirs did, and will be replaced by another; and technologies to create and destroy may have been advanced but the ever threat of encroachment of tyranny will ever be the same.

Also, the framers of our constitution had an understanding of tyranny based on experiences that you and I have had the privilege of not experiencing. Checks and balances of power were established on multiple levels at the formation of the constitution because they understood the condition of the hearts of men.

Our great grandparents hauled themselves around in horse drawn wagons. Should the Lord tarry, I believe our great grandchildren will be able to walk through a door on one side of the world and step out on the other side of the world. Be it as it may, and this is the part I know you hate the most; we will always be stuck with the human condition.

You acknowledged the wisdom of our fathers. Don’t you think it would be wise yourself to heed their warnings such as this one?

“If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.”
- Thomas Jefferson

They knew our hearts.

Personally, I say start fresh from the original document (founders original intentions / vision included) and build upon that with “today’s modern problems”. We would be much better off.

My freedoms are taken away from me on a daily basis because of populism. The people vote on most elected officials in washington and they become beholden to do the will of the people in order to be re-elected. They dictate every aspect of our lives. Everything from what we can eat, smoke, hear, drive, or produce is legislated from washington, because the ‘people’ ask for our elected officials to mandate a certain way of living. but that way of living may only be good for a small majority of the people (those that voted in the official,) and bad news for those in the minority. I would prefer the government to be in a constant state of gridlock (which is how our founders wanted it.) and get nothing done and keep me free to choose those things that I do, so long as they do not interfere with the the rights of others. That is the true essence of freedom. Not your facist belief that freedom only comes from a vote by the people through legislation in Washington.

I would suggest you read the federalist papers (pay close attention to the ones refering to seperation of powers,) then move onto the constitution. You may be suprised at what you read. If you still disagree with the freedoms that come with a Federal for of government, I would then refer you to some of the facist regimes in Western Europe were you can find all the dictatorial democracy you want.

We don’t have a “Democracy” that’s mob rule. We have a republic…We have the Rule of Law. The senators should be chosen by state legislatures not voted in by the people.

Israel has an official representative in Washington, DC but your state does not. The House should be the highest office the people vote for. The Senate is there to represent the States. The House represents the people. Allowing senators to be elected by popular vote was a mistake that needs to be corrected.

It’s a good idea because it puts representatives from state governments back in Washington D.C.

You’d still only have 2 senators from the states, but rather than being policitical schills to the winds of the national parties, they’d be there to protect the interests of their individual states.

From http://www.articlev.com/repeal17.htm

“The 17th Amendment should be repealed. This would reinstate the states’ linkage to the federal political process and would, thereby, have the effect of elevating the present status of the state legislatures from that of lobbyists, to that of a partner in the federal political process. The state legislatures would then have the ability to decentralize power when appropriate. It would give state legislatures direct influence over the selection of federal judges and the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary and much greater ability to modify the power of the federal judiciary. This structure would allow the flow of power between the states and the federal government to ebb and flow as the needs of our federal republic change. Figure A below portrays the existing relationship be­tween the states and the federal government. This relationship, combined with the effect of the Supremacy Clause, is guaranteed to concentrate power into the hands of the federal government with little hope of return.”

America! A constitutional republic of states!
God bless America? America bless God!!!

HEAR! HEAR!