“The system is broken” and, paraphrasing, ‘it corrupts the people we send to Washington D.C.’. Sen. John McCain has said this, or something to this effect, literally hundreds of times in the media over the last ten years - sometimes followed by “We need meaningful campaign finance reform.” From this rhetoric spawned the ‘McCain-Feingold Act’ or, as Rush Limbaugh aptly termed it, “The Incumbent Protection Act”, which put various limits on campaign financing which prove to be more detrimental to incumbent challengers.
McCain was right, the system is broken, but he doesn’t have clue as to why. Otherwise, why would he assume that more legislation, derived from a broken system, would somehow fix the underlying system?
The system was broken in 1913 with the passage of the 17th Amendment. Most people, these days, have no idea of what the 17th Amendment did, or what its impact on our well designed system of checks and balances has yielded. Most are not aware that Senators used to be elected by their respective State’s legislatures, and not by popular vote, as is the case now.
In researching this topic, I came across a concise and understandable article by Mr. John MacMullin. He is a lawyer who has published a number of articles on the subject which have been mentioned in the National Law Journal. (See below for links to his website.) John has graciously given permission to me to reprint one of his articles here in The Liberty Bunker. If you want to understand one of the key reasons why the Federal Government is spiraling out of control, please read on.
For the rest of the article click here.
Comment: If you are just beginning to research information concerning the history of the 17th Amendment, please go to the Liberty Bunker and read the rest of the posting, which is from an earlier article written by John MacMullin. Mr MacMullin's article is one of the best articles published that fully explains how the balance of power was created in Congress, and then ruined by the 17th. Additionally, check out the links I have on the right side of the page, which are also essential for your understanding of the issue.
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