Where does he get this from?

[xcalybur]

This is some guys interpretation of Ron Paul and I'm wondering where he gets the Senators should be appointed view of Ron Paul. I've never seen this before. Does someone have an article on it by Ron Paul?

Oh, here is the link to the blog:

http://vanillatrotsky.wordpress.com/2007/06/03/who-is-ron-paul/

 

[Therion]

Ron Paul does support senators being appointed.

Why? Because it's in the constitution.

Is that a good reason? Probably not.

 

[xcalybur]

Hmm, didn't know that. Why did we go to electing Senators then? So Representatives are elected and Senators are appointed according to the Constitution?

Thanks.

 

[Therion]

Senators started getting elected just like Representatives after the 17th amendment. Originally senators were appointed so that wouldn't have to worry about getting re-elected; that's the representative's job, and why they're up every 2 years. However this allegedly led to lots of corruption and cronyism in the appointment process.

Actually I don't know that much about it, so here's a link.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo93.html

 

[mconder]

I really like the idea of having them choosen by the state legislature and that they would be held accountable in some way by the state. That maks total sense.

 

[Harald]

explained in Federalist Papers

Federalist Papers have a good write up on it.

With no federal income tax, taxes can be levvied on states according to their electoral numbers.

Now, appointment of senators creates nice tug of war that limits government spending.

House (ie people) wants something and demands a spending bill.
Senate (states) fights that spending, since states much rather spend the money themselves than give it to federal government

Apart from limiting federal spending, it also allows to run 50 experiments on what is the most efficient level and mode of taxation.

 

[cujothekitten]

It used to be a part of the checks and balances. The system was set up so the representatives were representing the people and the senate only took care of the federal issues. The system we have now is open to mob rule because the majority now has the power to skew the system to their advantage.

We saw this during the Bush administration and we'll probably see it again if a democrat is elected to the white house.

 

[AgentSmith]

The senators used to work directly for the states, for the states interests. It was such a good system that the federalists who took over the Union abolished this practice and now special interests elect senators and nobody in DC gives a rats ass about states rights anymore......

Except Ron Paul.

 

[Original_Intent]

Yep it all boils down to why we have a bicameral legislature in the first place. The representatives are answerable directly to the people and the senators were answerable to the state legislatures.

As has already been stated, it was a great system, but the 17th amendment just makes Senators "super-representatives".

 

[tnvoter]

These are the kinds of questions our country should be talking about, but instead they're(and we're stuck) still watching their politicians betray them on things like immigration etc.

 

[xcalybur]

I totally agree tnvoter. I'm still not convinced that having senators appointed would be better in this day and age. I do recognize that there is little to no difference between Representatives and Senators with it the way it is. Honestly, I think that Representatives and Senators should have limits to how long they can serve. Say a maximum of 6 terms for Reps and 2 for Sen, with the provision that they can serve again after they have been in non-public service for a minimum of the amount of time they were in office. Example: Barak Obama serves 2 consecutive terms as Senator. He cannot be relected until he has been in the public sector for a minimum of 12 years, then he can rerun for a federal public office. He is allowed to pursue a different office such as a Representative or President or be appointed a judge, but he cannot serve again as a Senator.

I don't know, maybe I'm getting to specific or complicated. Just trying to highjack my own thread.