SaltLakeTribune: The Utah Senate wants to select U.S. senators by itself instead of letting the people elect them directly — as they have since the 17th Amendment was ratified in 1913.
Senators voted 17-6 to give preliminary approval to SJR2 on Tuesday, sending it to a final vote likely later this week. It calls for Congress to repeal the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Its sponsor, Sen. Al Jackson, R-Highland, says reverting to the old system would improve Washington, D.C. because no one in the federal government now represents the needs of state governments.
“Our senators are now more beholden to Washington, D.C., special interest groups than to their own particular state because getting reelected is paramount,” Jackson said. “This is about restoring power back to the states.” more here
h/t Rob.
I don’t think there’s much of a chance but this would be a very, very good thing.
Holy crap, that is a brilliant idea
Alleluia Brother and Sister! I’m no longer fond of Levin but this was one of Levin’s Liberty Amendments. It makes sense as long as the state bodies have some morals left.
Make sure you put in provisions for term limits and recall.
@crazy8 ~ I think that’s the way it was before the 17th Amendment that the state could recall their senators, as the senators were there to do the bidding of the state legislatures, not to their ‘constituents’
….would be a wonderful first step to get back to Original Intent
From Ranger: “Holy crap, that is a brilliant idea.”
Yeah, sort of exactly the way it was set up from the get go. Representatives for the populace (Congress), Senators for the states (Senate).
Popular vote and State assignment respectively.
One of the ‘yhuuuuge’ fuckups we allowed to happen. And the death of the states in controlling a malignant, expanding fed.
Your all overlooking the fact that the state houses and senates, the municipal governing bodies, down to the smallest burg governing entities are all run by the same lowest IQ paid/voted in volunteers. The populace of the states with a large land mass will be run by the whims of the big cities…..those cities are run by outsiders who want to bring their view of what is right and their view was probably spawned by the nest that they soiled and had to move away from….look at Colorado…
About time someone in one of the States came to their senses.
Interestingly enough, if you look into the history of the movement to ratify the 17th Amendment, a campaign to mobilize the uninformed voter of that day was used. Voters across the country were convinced they were saving poor voters in other states whose evil legislatures would not appoint a Senator to represent them. Never mind the State legislatures are elected by those voters, and they could easily solve their problem by electing a better State legislature, but that fact was shouted down in the process.
P.T. Barnum was elected twice to the Connecticut State legislature and to two terms in the US Congress representing his District in Conn. He did it prior to the Civil War by jumping on the very popular anti-slavery bandwagon in New England and un-ashamedly beating that drum effectively all the way to four elected terms in office on little else. What Donald Trump is doing now is little different and also relies on a disturbingly large uninformed voter base even bigger and more effectively than P.T. Barnum could ever have conceived of.
Barnum could not be out-assholed in his day, either.
How bout repealing the 16th while you’re at it?
The best thing about the state legislature electing senators once again is to make them accountable. For example, a senator sent to DC by his state’s reps, who was even considering voting for Obamacare, would be told in no uncertain terms to dial it back. And if he still voted for Obamacare, he would be recalled and replaced.
As it is, our self-serving senators know damn well we can’t and won’t be able to touch them.
BRAVO!! (THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE)
Now if Utah can make it stick.
Actually, you don’t have to repeal the 17th amendment. Just have all statewide offices (that includes US senators) elected by the counties. That is, if you win the popular vote in a county, you get its vote.
This way, the senators are still elected by the people, you’re just putting a qualifier on the election. Instead of the US senators just being representatives-at-large for the largest metro area in the state, even the least populous county is on par with the most populous county. As it should be because they represent the entire state. This means that anyone that wants to be a US senator must actually campaign in the least populous counties as well because their vote is just as important as those of the most populous counties. Think of it as an electoral college for the US senate.
Can you imagine Barbara Boxer trying to sell her socialist snake oil to 500 impoverished farmers and their families in the Tri-County Grange Hall?
i think it is a great idea….
but i really think they just want to get rid of orrin hatch…..a fucking Rino to the max.
Senator Orin Hatch R UT &Juan McStain are the posterboys for repeal of the 17th ammendment. I hope it succeeds.