It is Time to Repeal the 17th Amendment

As the federal government now seeks to overturn a state law in Arizona regarding illegal immigration, it is now time to seriously consider repeal of the 17th Amendment, which changed the way U.S. Senators are elected.

The amendment removed the right of state legislatures to select their two Senate representatives in Washington, and made their selection the result of a direct election by all voters statewide.

This sounds practical on its surface because it gives voice to “The  People,” and takes it away from elected officials. But modern political realities have really undermined that direct vote and, in the process, have harmed the power that states have in the nation’s capitol.  Now that senators have to chase big campaign contributions wherever they can, a significant amount of their contributions are coming from special interests, not from constituents back home. They take all manner of out-of-state money as needed and as directed by leaders of their respective political parties. This makes them unresponsive to the desires and needs of their own states.

My polling, and the polling, and the polling of many other companies, has shown that the job approval of Congress is abysmal – well below 20% favorable. This can be directly attributable, I believe, to the failure of Congress to stand up against radical proposals promoted by Congressional leaders and by the Obama administration.

The result has been an incredible increase in the burden that U.S. senators are willing to dump on their own state’s leadership back home at the statehouse because the senators are no longer accountable to state leaders and no longer care what they think. This has dramatically undermined the 10th Amendment (leaving to states all other tasks not enumerated in the Constitution).

There is no doubt that, for instance, the federal Medicaid program, would look far different today had states had a strong voice in the U.S. Senate, because that single program is killing state budgets across the nation. If senators were accountable to their own state legislatures, that program would be fixed.

National health care is another example. It never would have passed the Senate had those senators been more worried about what their legislatures wanted than with what U.S. Senate leaders wanted. A vote against the interests of their own state would have resulted in the recall of many senators.

Now, this week, we have yet another rreminder that the feds are out of control in trying to single out one state for punishment – Arizona – regarding a failed national policy on immigration. Really, it is a failure to simply secure the border. How many senators would be voicing opposition to the Justice Department’s action had they known that their own state legislatures were watching over them?  The answer is - quite a few.

It is time to amend the Constitution to repeal the 17th Amendment so that states have a fair and powerful seat at the table in Washington. This is the only way that is going to happen.