A Brief History of the 17th Amendment
At the beginning of the United States of America, our form of government was a confederation of 13 states united by the Articles of Confederation (1777). Our founders elected a confederacy to prevent being under the heel of an all-powerful central government.
At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Articles of Confederation were replaced with our present U.S. Constitution.
“James Madison – one of the primary authors of the Constitution and the future fourth president – asserted that having state legislatures choose their senators in Congress would help give the states a sense of authority and legitimacy in selecting representatives for the federal government. George Mason argued further in Federalist No. 62 that having the state legislatures choose senators acted as a bulwark against federal overreach. Wendell Pierce determined that a balance between popularly-elected leaders in the House of Representatives and state legislature-appointed leaders in the Senate, would allow for a vast range of different perspectives and opinions to be considered in political dialogue.” Excerpt from the National Archives
After the Civil War, a problem of corruption manifested as wealthy people bribed state legislators to appoint them as Senators. Who could ever imagine bribes affecting the judgment of a Texas State Legislator?
The desired balance between popularly elected U.S. Representatives and State Legislature-appointed U.S. Senators evaporated with the 17th Amendment.
The possibility of accountability of U.S. Senators by our elected state legislators evaporated with this amendment.
The corruption of the state legislative processes is as evident as the nose on your face right now. I point to two well-known names: Dade Phelan and Justin Holland, elected representatives who are being corruptly influenced by leftist lobbyists.
There will forever be corruption. This is the nature of fallen mankind. But, when We the People, stand against corruption, we can and do win. When we utilize the tools of accountability in our republican form of government, we can overcome corruption by empowering our people.
Where Are Today?
Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, controls a huge war chest for electing Republican senators, but Mitch McConnell apparently wants Democrat Colin Allred to replace Ted Cruz. Mitch will not contribute anything to Ted’s campaign while huge sums are flowing into the campaign of Colin Allred.
By repealing the 17th Amendment, Texas Republicans will have the ability to cull out Senators who yield to corrupting donations, just as we are doing with state lawmakers in this next session of the Texas Legislature.
John White
Rockwall, Texas
John N. White 