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View Full Version : How were senators elected prior to the 17th amendment?




brandon
10-02-2008, 09:54 AM
Okay, I know they were elected by the state legislatures, but how did this work exactly?

Did the majority party hold a primary where the general public got to vote on a candidate, and then the representatives of that party were pressured into voting for the nominated candidate? Or was there virtually no input from the general public? Or did the party's county committees nominate a candidate? Or were the reps basically allowed to vote for whoever they wanted without pressure from the party?

salinaspaul
10-02-2008, 11:29 AM
Here is a copy-and-paste from an old WordNetDaily article that Devvy Kidd wrote that might provide a little insight:


States must force 17th Amendment showdown
Posted: February 04, 2005
1:00 am Eastern

By Devvy Kidd
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com



"Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in."

– President Andrew Jackson

The courage and wisdom of those who birthed this Republic was nothing short of a magnificent event in the history of the world. When creating the federal government, it was imperative that the colonies (later called states) and the people be represented fairly. The method decided upon was the people would vote for their voice – a representative to serve in the House of Representatives.

The states of the Union would each have an equal number of U.S. Senators (fixed at two), appointed by their state legislature to represent the interests of the state. Should that U.S. senator fail in their job, the legislature would recall them and appoint a new one. The decision to have the states appoint their U.S. senators was very calculated.

All of that changed with the fraudulent ratification of the 17th Amendment. U.S. senators would now be elected. The states lost their suffrage rights, they no longer had any representation in Washington, D.C., and the federal machine has walked all over them since.

This issue is one of the most important problems facing this nation today, yet few know anything about it. Last summer, I prepared a working paper for Rep. Henry McElroy of the New Hampshire state Legislature on the history of this amendment and why it is imperative the states step forward and force a constitutional showdown. For those who might knee jerk this would cause constitutional chaos, I can't highly recommend enough Judge Andrew Napolitano's excellent book, "Constitutional Chaos." We're already in constitutional chaos and the situation will only continue to deteriorate without immediate action.

The 17th Amendment was never properly ratified. I have seen the proof with my own eyes at the National Archives and from the documents obtained by Bill Benson from all 48 state legislatures in his work, "Proof the 17th Amendment Was Not Ratified." I also collected court certified documents on this from the bowels of the California State Archives. They are incontrovertible and prove without question that Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, on May 31, 1913, knowingly and willfully issued a memo declaring the 17th Amendment ratified even though he knew the required number of states did not ratify it.

The courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court have been very specific on the rigid requirements for ratification. There can be no mistake fraud was committed and that every U.S. senator since 1913 sits in office under a law that does not exist. U.S. senators ratify treaties, confirm federal judges, U.S. Supreme Court justices and hold impeachment trials. Legally, our participation in the United Nations, every destructive trade treaty, i.e., NAFTA, GATT, Roe v. Wade and any other legislative acts committed by U.S. senators these past 92 years are invalid.

The courts refuse to touch this issue because they don't have the backbone. While several states have introduced resolutions to nix the 17th Amendment (introduced by patriotic representatives and killed by Republicans in every instance), realistically, there's no question this current crop of Congress will never do the right thing. Therefore, it is up to the people and the states of the Union.

The people must get the proof and begin a systematic assault (non violent, of course) on their state legislatures to appoint two U.S. senators to represent them and send them to Washington, D.C. This will force the issue into a court of law where it should have gone decades ago.

Please feel free to use the working paper I prepared for Rep. McElroy for your state rep and senator. They will soon realize that it is to their utmost advantage to press this issue and for the sake of our Republic, this challenge must be made to restore the balance between the states and the people. America is not a democracy of mob rule, but that's exactly what has happened with the election of U.S. senators.

Without question this is a Herculean task, but it can be done. If you know your state representative or state senator will play politics and ignore this fraud, then run for their seat. We only need one state legislature to find the courage to stand up to this lie and make their move. Make a commitment to oust any state legislator or senator who refuses to undertake this fight. We must replace these bad employees with ones who will get the job done or America is going down.

The destiny of this Republic lies in the hands of we the people. There are millions of active Americans in 28,000 citizens groups. It's time to focus on specific issues killing our beloved nation – invasion by illegals, unconstitutional cabinets, unconstitutional spending – get organized and throw out the same old career politicians at every level of government and get true constitutionalists elected who will have the guts to get this Republic back on course. I leave by asking you this: Are we a nation of laws or lies? We cannot be both and survive.




<i>Devvy Kidd authored the booklet, "Why A Bankrupt America and Blind Loyalty," which has over 2 million copies in distribution. She has been a guest more than 1,600 times on radio shows, run for Congress twice and is a highly sought after public speaker. To learn more about Devvy, please visit her website.</i>

You can also check this 7 page PDF (at http://www.devvy.com/pdf/McElroy_Working_Paper.pdf) for why the 17th amendment should be abolished. I will make it a point to read this myself in the next few days