U.S. Senate was ruined by 17th Amendment

"What's the point of having a Senate? If the vote margins are the same as in the House, you might as well close the doors," Chris Dodd told reporters. "Those ideas are normally being promoted by people who haven't been here in the minority and don't understand how the rules, if intelligently used, can help protect against the tyranny of the majority."

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The U.S. Senate was once the voice of the States. The 17th Amendment took that away, and gave the vote for the members of the U.S. Senate to the people.

Originally, the State Legislatures appointed the Senators. The Senators acted on behalf of the States, and the Representatives from the House acted on behalf of the people. When a bill went through the rounds, the people needed to approve it in the House of Representatives, the States needed to approve it in the U.S. Senate, and the federal government needed to approve it in the Executive Branch.

The States no longer have a voice.

That was one reason the Founding Fathers gave the Senate to the States. The other was that they desired to divide the voting powers. The State Legislatures appointed the Electors for the President of the United States, and the Senators in the U.S. Senate. The only federal officials the people voted for were the members of the House of Representatives.

In 1824 the vote of the electors for President was given to the people. In 1913 the 17th Amendment gave the vote of the Senators to the people.

The Founding Fathers feared a tyrannical government. They feared that if all of the parts of government were voted on by the people, then a tyranny could come along, fool the people, and have itself voted into power. Had we have adhered to the Founding Father's original wishes, the overthrow of our Republic by the invading force of progressive Democrats in 2006 and 2008 would have never happened.

Dodd is right. The U.S. Senate is hardly any different from the House, save for the fact that they serve longer in the Senate, and have a few different responsibilities.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Chris Dodd, the Senate's Happy Warrior - Washington Post