Bowling Green Daily News: Repealing The 17th Amendment [Is] Simply A Bad Idea. I TOTALLY AGREE!
Repealing the 17th Amendment simply a bad idea
By the Daily News
The voters of the state of Kentucky should be the ones who put U.S. senators into office, not the state legislature.
Some in the state, including Kentucky Senate President and 2011 gubernatorial candidate David Williams, R-Burkesville, and Phil Moffett, another Republican gubernatorial hopeful, have called for repeal of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The 17th Amendment, which was adopted in 1913, shouldn’t be repealed and for good reason. Those who represent us in Washington need to be sent there by a majority of a state’s citizens, not by a body of legislators, who depending on which party was in power could be counted on to be partisan in their selection.
Quite frankly, it’s a bad idea.
Williams mentioned repealing the 17th Amendment last Wednesday during a presentation to the University of Kentucky Law School Federalist Society.
The gubernatorial candidate says he doesn’t see this as being a campaign issue that he will discuss much. That’s a good thing since repeal is not likely to gain traction with voters.
Williams is a very intelligent and skilled politician who has a shot at becoming our next governor, but this is an area where we simply disagree with him.
We suspect he may have been engaging in some philosophical hyperbole to deplore the fact that state legislatures have less input in the ever larger role of the federal government.
Moffett, one of his likely opponents in the primary, who floated the idea of repeal at a Libertarian Party meeting, essentially said Williams took his idea from him about repealing the 17th Amendment.
Why does Moffett want to take credit for a terrible idea?
U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning both defended the 17th Amendment.
“Taking that sacred right away from the American people and giving it to politicians would be a huge step backward for our democracy,” said McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer.
It is unlikely that a candidate like U.S. Sen.-elect Rand Paul, R-Ky., who ran for office as an outsider, would have been sent to the Senate by the legislature.
The 17th Amendment allows the citizens of this country to elect our senators from each state. It has worked well since it was enacted nearly 100 years ago, and we see no need to repeal that now.
By the Daily News
The voters of the state of Kentucky should be the ones who put U.S. senators into office, not the state legislature.
Some in the state, including Kentucky Senate President and 2011 gubernatorial candidate David Williams, R-Burkesville, and Phil Moffett, another Republican gubernatorial hopeful, have called for repeal of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The 17th Amendment, which was adopted in 1913, shouldn’t be repealed and for good reason. Those who represent us in Washington need to be sent there by a majority of a state’s citizens, not by a body of legislators, who depending on which party was in power could be counted on to be partisan in their selection.
Quite frankly, it’s a bad idea.
Williams mentioned repealing the 17th Amendment last Wednesday during a presentation to the University of Kentucky Law School Federalist Society.
The gubernatorial candidate says he doesn’t see this as being a campaign issue that he will discuss much. That’s a good thing since repeal is not likely to gain traction with voters.
Williams is a very intelligent and skilled politician who has a shot at becoming our next governor, but this is an area where we simply disagree with him.
We suspect he may have been engaging in some philosophical hyperbole to deplore the fact that state legislatures have less input in the ever larger role of the federal government.
Moffett, one of his likely opponents in the primary, who floated the idea of repeal at a Libertarian Party meeting, essentially said Williams took his idea from him about repealing the 17th Amendment.
Why does Moffett want to take credit for a terrible idea?
U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning both defended the 17th Amendment.
“Taking that sacred right away from the American people and giving it to politicians would be a huge step backward for our democracy,” said McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer.
It is unlikely that a candidate like U.S. Sen.-elect Rand Paul, R-Ky., who ran for office as an outsider, would have been sent to the Senate by the legislature.
The 17th Amendment allows the citizens of this country to elect our senators from each state. It has worked well since it was enacted nearly 100 years ago, and we see no need to repeal that now.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 6:27 PM
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