The number one item on my constitutional wishlist is the repeal of the 17th Amendment. The Progressive Era Constitutional Amendment altered the dynamics of our American System, placing at risk State Sovereignty, and moving us toward the very dangerous condition of becoming a pure democracy. With the 17th Amendment in place, the States must be subject to laws they had no say in. While attempting to protect against corruption, the 17th Amendment created more corruption, while stabbing State Sovereignty in the eye.
Utah recognizes the need to move the United States back towards being a republic. Utah is working to call on Congress to repeal the 17th Amendment, a proposal that has passed the State Senate, and awaits the assembly to do the same.
The proposal's sponsor, Sen. Al Jackson, R-Highland, says electing senators by the State Senate is needed because no branch of the federal government now represents the needs of State governments. A change would force senators to do that.
"Today, senators are more beholden to special interest groups than to their states" because those interests give them money for re-election, Jackson said.
He added, "It's time for our senators to come home every weekend and take direction from this body and from the House and the governor on how they should vote in the upcoming week."
Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, agreed. "We represent the people and we are the ones who can respond and give direction to our senators."
Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, disputed the plan's logic. U.S. senators are now the only lawmakers elected by all voters in the state, she said, and therefore are not affected by redistricting that she says may have favored Republicans in Utah. She said repealing the amendment would also take away power from voters.
The will of the people unchecked can also be as dangerous as an unchecked governmental system. Allowing the authors of the Constitution representation in Congress will provide the proper balance in government where the States and the people work together to make laws, serving as a natural check against each other. Repealing the 17th Amendment is the only way we can return to that important dynamic that once existed in the American System.
The 17th Amendment is also an unconstitutional amendment. In Article V., it states "that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of it's equal Suffrage in the Senate." Any State that did not ratify the 17th Amendment was deprived it's suffrage in the United States Senate.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Utah Senate votes to repeal 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - The Salt Lake Tribune
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