Consequences of 17th Amendment have been terrible

Kenneth W. Johnson, Las Vegas

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 2:02 a.m.

Regarding the Las Vegas Sun’s Saturday editorial, “Tea Party ‘populism’ ”:

The Founders were “big picture” thinkers. They held as a governing principle what Lord Acton would so succinctly declare: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Political thinkers as ancient as Plato and Aristotle believed that placing legislative power with any single entity, even the people, eventually deprives those very people of their lives, liberty and property. The Founders wisely divided sovereign power by function.

Powers of the federal government were limited to “enumerated powers.” All other powers were retained by the states or the people. The people were represented in the House of Representatives. Sovereign states were represented in the Senate.

The 17th Amendment violates the Founders’ understanding of the corrupting influence of power. It removes power from the states and places it with simple majorities of the people. The unintended consequences have been horrendous.

The described instances of 19th-century corruption cannot compare to 21st-century moral bankruptcy. Now a simple, though dynamic, majority can meet its recurrent crises by plundering the Treasury, wantonly printing money, and indebting itself to foreign nations.

Unforeseen consequences of the progressive agenda and “compassionate” conservatism include a national culture of entitlement funded by government IOU trust funds and a national debt. Other consequences include the rise of incestuous political elites; regulations stifling entrepreneurship; mandates for state action without funds to implement them; and generations of people dependent on politicians, bureaucrats, taxpayers and the national debt.

An immoral and unsustainable situation: a partial answer is to repeal the 17th Amendment.

The writer is director of the Ethics & Policy Integration Center.