Direct Election of Senators

Much gets said about what's wrong with our government, but little gets said about concrete ways to fix it. To be sure, everyone seems appropriately concerned with the acts and laws of government being constitutional. Yet rarely does anyone actually address the document itself. There are things within it which could be changed or altered to better direct the workings of Washington.

Although he himself calls it a distraction, GOP Senate challenger Pete Hoekstra has actually come to support an idea which would radically change the US Constitution. He has expressed his support for the idea of repealing the 17th Amendment. Ironically, that's the one which put in place the direct election of US Senators.

He makes a good point. If senators were elected by state legislatures as they once were, then they could get back to their true job: representing the states as states. We are a federal system after all: it isn't as though the state governments should have no direct say in federal matters. They did when they sent Senators to Washington

Needless to say, his Democratic detractors are calling him a hypocrite. Yet what option does he have under the current system? If he's going to run for Senate he must do it under the current rules. That doesn't make him a hypocrite, but merely and obviously practical.

But let's call things what they are, under the current status quo. We have two Senators, Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, who will not be seeking the best interests of Michigan while in Washington. They are liberal Democrats supposedly representing what is currently an overwhelmingly Republican state. Republicans hold majorities in both State Houses, indeed an overwhelming one in the State Senate, as well as the Governor's chair. Stabenow and Levin cannot be seen to truly represent Michigan as they are diametrically opposed to the obvious will of Michigan residents as expressed in the November 2010 elections.

This is why we need to return to the days when state legislatures selected the representatives to the upper house of our national legislature. This is why we need to repeal the 17th Amendment and at least let the states select senators as they see fit, to best represent the entire state rather than a certain, liberal, out of touch constituency. For clearly Stabenow and Levin do not speak for the majority of Michigan residents.

The Senate was originally supposed to represent the states as states. We must remember that the states are political entities in their own right, and as such merit a certain independent representation at a national level. These days, a run for the Senate is no more than a popularity contest without regard for what may be in the best interest of the state. Indeed, without concern for the will of the whole state.

This is only for a start, to perhaps begin discussion. Sure, nothing will come of it as the special interests hold too much sway and federal power has become too entrenched. But Hoekstra is right. We need to repeal the 17th Amendment.

An interesting argument in favor of repeal can be found here: http://www.restorefederalism.org/?gclid=CLzYpJS357ECFcZQKwodUDUAAA

Enjoy.