Restore the Senate!

[ihopehefails]

The senate was originally meant to be a body to represent state governments and not the native population of the state itself which is why originally senators were picked by the state legislators so that there would be someone to represent the state government's interest. When that was changed to a popular vote of the states it destroyed a vital check and balance that has always existed between the state and federal governments because any bill getting passed would have to get approval from the state governments themselves in the senate and the senate has unique functions assigned to it in the constitution that furthered this check and balance such as picking judges for the federal court system. When the state government's were the sole decider of what judges would sit on the supreme court it made sure that whatever judges were picked would represent the interest of the state governments thus providing some conflict between state and federal government. Another important function of of the senate is to ratify treaties and having senators in the senate that answered to the state governments wishes it ensured that any treaty ratified got the approval of the state governments themselves thus ensured that the state's interest were maintained in any dealing the federal government has with foreign powers.

Since that was destroyed with the popular vote of senators the influence of state governments have been nullified and there is not any healthy antithesis between state and federal governments that is needed for a proper check and balance that once existed.

I believe that the old way should be restored but we should make it that it takes a 2/3 vote of the house of representatives to make sure that any bill being passed by the federal government has the full support of the American people.

 

[ddye]

The Civil War proved that the fed is more important than the states. If the states truly ran things we'd be a loose confederation of weak, quarreling states, with very little to bond us together as a nation. We'd still have rampant discrimination, child labor, no protection for our food and medicines, and we'd be lucky we hadn't been either conquered or relegated to a rural backwater in the world.

And you have people like Clarence Thomas who believe that a state can even have an official religion, Robert Bork, who believes that states should legislate birth control access and censor the media, and many other potential nightmares like that.

Fuck the states.

Doug

 

[rightwinger]

No thanks....

I prefer to elect my own Senator rather than have him picked in some back room. The position of Senator is too valuable to delegate the selection to local party bosses

 

[nodoginnafight]

IMHO this proposal is very undemocratic and un-American.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The Civil War proved that the fed is more important than the states. If the states truly ran things we'd be a loose confederation of weak, quarreling states, with very little to bond us together as a nation. We'd still have rampant discrimination, child labor, no protection for our food and medicines, and we'd be lucky we hadn't been either conquered or relegated to a rural backwater in the world.

And you have people like Clarence Thomas who believe that a state can even have an official religion, Robert Bork, who believes that states should legislate birth control access and censor the media, and many other potential nightmares like that.

Fuck the states.

Doug

Doug?

States did have their own religion

 

[CrusaderFrank]

This is the only way that Senators would ever tell other Senators "Pay for your own damn projects"