re: #283 Decatur Deb

Ah, a complaint that the 17th Amendment somehow deprives states of their rights. Think about that for a moment. Instead of directly electing your Senate representatives, those pushing for a repeal want the state legislatures to do that for you.

The same state legislatures that have shown themselves in more than a few states to be completely corrupt (NJ, NY come to mind) or batcrap crazy and pushing unconstitutional restrictions on everything from gay rights to womens’ rights (such as access to abortions). They want the ability to reshape the US Senate by taking the most extreme among their own, and giving them a permanent hand in the Senate. It’s a ploy to undermine the fact that Democrats do hold a current advantage, but also towards long term trends where urban areas are more Democratic-leaning and urban areas are continuing to grow while rural areas continue seeing a decline in population. If you eliminate direct representation in the Senate, the gerrymandered state legislatures can then shift the balance to their own views, which will be out of step with their own constituents.