Term Limits and the 17th Amendment

Term limits is not the solution because term limits is not the problem. Imposing term limits is like taking aspirin for the brain tumor. You might feel a little better but you are still gonna die!

Originally the Constitution provided for the citizens of a State to be represented by the members of the House of Representatives, elected for a two year term by the "People" of the state. The Senate was to represent the state governments and was selected according to state law, (by vote in the legislature or appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the state legislature) for a term of six years. The Senator might be selected from the state legislature’s membership, from a list maintained by the governor or from completely outside government, as sometimes happened.

Article 1, Section. 2.The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States,

Article 1, Section. 3.The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof [Modified by Amendment XVII], for six Years;

Essentially, the Senate was designed to represent the state governments in Washington while the House represented the citizens of the states. The Seventeenth  Amendment provided for the direct election of Senators and effectively left the governors and legislatures without a voice in DC. Senators became "Representatives at Large." State laws, prior to 1913 allowed governors or legislatures to change their Senator at the end of the senators six year term. If the governor’s office or the legislative majority changed party then the change in the states senators was essentially guaranteed. That was a true bicameral government.  If the bicameral system still existed, then the governors could put a stop to any type of insanity Washington might come up with.

Obamacare would not happen. The governors could say "not just no but hell no!"  The tax rates and IRS would not be out of control. The governors could say "not just no but hell no!" The "unfunded mandates" would not happen! The governors could say "not just no but hell no!" All the abusive acts by the federal government would not have happened! 

Governors and state legislatures can be easily changed by the voters.  Alexander Hamilton noted in Federalist [paper] No. 59 that, "The interest of each State, ... to maintain its representation in the national councils, would be a complete security against an abuse of the trust." That representation ended with the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment and "abuse of the trust" became standard operating procedure in Washington, DC.

Equally importantly, since Senators would not be elected by the general population then term limits of either federal legislative body would be moot.

It should be noted that the progressives in the early part of the twentieth century stated in an editorial (unfortunately I can't recall the publication) that the Constitutional election of Senators stood in the way of implementing their agenda. The direct election of senators became their primary goal. They succeeded in 1913 with the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment! It has been downhill for the American Dream since then. Woodrow Wilson and William Jennings Bryan led the charge to water down our bicameral system. The progressives knew their agenda would never happen if the states had the ability to stop it. I won't go into the reasons for the 17th other than to mention that corruption and/or legislative inaction in making appointments was the impetus for passage. The progressives used high explosives to "solve" the problem when a surgical solution was needed!

Also, importantly, the rise of lobbyists can be traced to the direct election of Senators. Power abhors a vacuum and something had to fill the power vacuum left when the states were cut out of the federal government. There have always been lobbyists in Washington. Even George Washington worked as a lobbyist after his presidency. The loss of state representation in Congress gave lobbyists effective control of the government. It is an interesting study for anyone that wants to do the homework!

Imposing term limits will create more problems, unpredictable problems, and do nothing to give governors and legislatures their proper representation in Washington. Term limits does not reestablish our Constitution as the proper restraint on the federal government.

The solution is to reinstate the bicameral government our Founding Fathers gave us. Repeal the 17th Amendment. It might be a good idea to lower the term for Senators from the current six years to three or four years, so the governor or legislature could quickly change the Senator, if appropriate. The term of Senator could also be tied to the term length for the governor. Some governors serve for two years and others for four years.

Anything else is just fluffy stuff!

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