Congress

Several years back, a mistake was made by Congress.

Originally, the House of Representatives was intended to be the representation for the people.  Theoretically, it still is, although I believe it's more an old boys club, where the primary purpose of the inhabitants is to stay there by promising whatever folks want to be promised, usually at someone else's expense.

The Senate, however, was intended to be representation for the various states - and Senators were chosen by the legislators of the various states - insuring that the interests of those states were represented, and that no state was more equal than any other state.  Since we are not a pure democracy, but a constitutional representative republic, the states have a responsibility to the voters of their own representatives in whatever bodies the states hold to be legislative - and the state as a body has responsibility to itself and to its inhabitants at the federal level to have the interests of the state represented when legislation is being made that affects the state as a corporate body.  Senators were to be answerable to the state legislatures, not to the states' individual voters.

By making senators popularly elected we have effectively removed from them any responsibility to represent the state as a corporate entity - they now depend on their popularity with Joe SixPax to get elected rather than the works they have done in behalf of the state legislature.  The interests of the states are thereby not being served.

I think that this is wrong, and I think it should be reversed.  What it represents at present is an excuse for states to ignore whatever duties they may have, to defer to the Federal Government in all matters and, ultimately, to create for all of us one huge Federal state, which we will all hate.

My opinion, folks.