Restoring States' Rightful Place in the Balance of Power

The federal government was created by the states. It took ratification of the Constitution by the states. The states, therefore, should be the masters of the federal government, not the other way around. The federal government should only by able to govern with the consent of the states. The states, on the other hand, answer to the people of the state, and should only be able to govern with the consent of the people of the state.

Things have gotten very turned around, with the federal government exerting power never delegated to it by the states. The courts have proven that they are not adequate protectors of the states.

A couple of changes would fix this. One is to repeal the 17th Amendment, and restore the selection of Senators to the state legislatures. The original design was that the House of Representatives would represent the people directly, by being subject to election by those people, and that the Senate would represent the states, by being subject to selection by the state legislature. This would return us to the smarter original design and intent where both the people and the states would have representation in the federal government.

The other would be to give the states, collectively, effective veto power over federal legislation by allowing a majority of the state legislatures to vote to overturn any federal legislation. This would require a constitutional amendment, but it would put ultimate power back into the hands of the entities who originally created the federal government and gave it all of its delegated powers.

Progressives and statists will hate both of these provisions, which makes them all the more important. (It is interesting to watch political ads in Colorado against Republican Senate nominee Ken Buck proclaiming that he wants to "rewrite the Constitution" and "take away your right to vote" by repealing the 17th Amendment and restoring representation to the states. If only people knew their history, they would see this for what it is. What he really wants to do is un-rewrite the Constitution and restore the original wisdom of the founders.)