Hello 17th Amendment -- Goodbye Republic

Hello 17th Amendment -- Goodbye Republic Jim Moore The Serra TimesTuesday March 14, 2006 - 08:21:59 AM,PST An Internet Publication for Real Americans


When is the last time you read, or even glanced through, the U.S. Constitution and its 26 Amendments? Me neither. I’ve had so many other important things to do I haven’t taken time to even think about what happened to the most significant document in American history that made possible our land of freedom and independence.

What happened was that a bombshell, dropped on us in 1913, was more devastating to America than the market crash of ‘29. Why? Because, unlike the crash which lasted only through the 30’s, this bombshell will directly affect our lives, and the viability of the nation, for as long as we have a nation. The bombshell was the 17th Amendment we made to the U.S. Constitution.

Before 1913, the Congress of the United States was functioning in the way our Founders had intended it to function. That is, Senators were elected by their State legislatures, and were representatives of the states, which made up the republic.

Here’s how that arrangement was phrased in the Constitution: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof for six years, and each Senator shall have one vote.”

Oh, but wait a minute, yelled the liberal crowd of that day. They charged that the Senate was “undemocratic” (exactly what our Founders intended it to be) and the Senators should therefore be directly elected; that is, by the people. So, thanks to a demo-campaign of “re-education and misinformation” the 17th Amendment was passed.

Now it reads like this: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years, and each Senator shall have one vote.”

With the simple changing of five words, the U.S. Senators no longer represented the interests of the State, but of their constituents, exactly like our Representatives do -- or are supposed to do.

And America immediately went from a Republic to a Democracy, just that quick.

Read the rest of the article here.

Comment: The Senate without question is continuously chipping away at the power of the Executive Branch while growing larger than the House in legislative power. Only repealing the 17th Amendment will return the balance of power the founding fathers created.