United States Senators
Who Are They… & Who Do They Represent?
In a now annual display of partisan politics, a dysfunctional National Congress is again grid-locked which essentially de-funds the government. These supposed leaders are acting incredibly immature… their posturing and bickering is reminiscent of childhood playground squabbles… certainly not behavior of grown men and women of such important positions.
FYI… the founders infinite wisdom created a funding system that requires annual approval with no long term provisions… so technically – every year – “We the People” get to choose how our money is spent…
It begs the questions…
- Who are they actually accountable to?
- Who do they actually represent?
- What are these men and women’s actual role in government?
That depends entirely on which version of the Senate you look at… the current 17th amendment version – identified as the United States National Senate or the original constitutional version – identified as the United States Federal Senate… because I can assure you that the two different versions bear no resemblance what-so-ever.
The current 17th Amendment version Senators
It may surprise you to learn that a little over 100 years ago, an amendment was passed to “improve” the Senate’s role in the government. That political party motivated amendment completely changed the purpose and character of the Senate from a part of a balanced people’s representation to a purely political position with no direct accountability to the States they purportedly represent or the people within those States. This change actually gave the political parties an official office to carry out their policies – completely uninhibited… the States are completely helpless to stop them or control them.
It might also surprise you to learn that the current 17th amendment version senators are virtually untouchable by the people of those States. As we’ve seen in recent years, favored political operatives move where ever is convenient or necessary (according to party needs) to posture for their party’s goals.
The current 17th amendment version Senators represent only the political parties, and their ONLY allegiance is to the political parties that groom and finance them. Even though state’s citizens vote for them, they have no control or jurisdiction over them. The 17th amendment created an elite political ruling class faction with seemingly no fiduciary obligations or responsibility to the very citizens that elect them… (although abdicating Fiduciary responsibility still has legal consequences… see Class Action)
Their role in government is to represent their party’s interest, regardless of the outcome to the States and citizens they are purportedly there to serve. That cannot be made any clearer than by their actions over the past several decades and especially the last few weeks.
The Original Constitutional version Senators
The original Constitutional Senators were directly responsible to – and controlled by the States they represented. They were chosen by the State legislatures and were subject to recall if they deviated from that States’ wishes.
Article 1, Section 3 of the US Constitution states…. ‘The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, (chosen by the Legislature thereof,) for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
The original constitutional version of Senators was essentially an 11th hour compromise of a stalled Constitutional Convention. The large and small states were deadlocked… neither willing to relinquish their positions for fear of losing control over their destiny… and remained that way for several weeks, to the point where there was serious talk of dissolving the convention.
One of the basic tenets of the Virginia Plan was proportional representation, which favored the larger states and put the smaller states at a decided disadvantage. In desperation, a proposal was made to create two houses in the Federal Congress, an upper house comprised of 2 senators, chosen by the states to represent them, and a lower house, using the proportional state representation as outlined in the Virginia Plan. This Grand Compromise satisfied the needs of both the large and small states, and led to the successful conclusion that became our Constitution.
This form of government is known as a bicameral form of legislature. A bicameral legislature simply refers to a particular body of government that consists of two legislative houses or chambers. The genius of this 11th hour compromise is that it gave both the states and the citizens within those states active representation over their affairs. Essentially the people were represented by both houses, just in different groups. This was the ultimate form of a Republic, or indirect representation of the people.
The Senate’s current Role in Government
The current 17th amendment version of Senators changes them from Federal Senators to National Senators… this is based on who elects or appoints them. Even though the current Senators are elected by citizens, the people have no control over them. This is one of several places where the political parties true intent becomes abundantly clear… misleading the people into thinking they have a say in this process, where in fact, they only get to choose whoever is provided by the parties… and once chosen, have no say or control over them. If a Senator acts inappropriately – which has happened on several occasions – the people of that state cannot recall that Senator… they are literally out of reach from the very people who they purport to represent.
The Senator’s role in government is part of an ongoing plan honed over several decades by the two dominant political parties to gain a foothold in our governmental process by actually controlling one of the Constitutionally derived positions. This act divides and subverts the people that they supposedly represent. Their allegiance is strictly to their affiliated party, which creates faction politics. These factions have their own agendas, although they do maintain a favorable visibility so they can garner enough public support to maintain control of our governmental process.
The Senate’s current role is to maintain this overreaching and hugely burdensome as well as financially irresponsible form of control over the American people. According the Article I, Section 7, the Senate is tasked with approving the financial bills that originate in the House of Representatives… although that rule has not been adhered to for decades. This latest spectacle should be a glaring wake up call to the American people of their true loyalties and intent.
If there is any hope of saving our battered Republic, serious efforts need to be made to abolish the 17th amendment and return the States to their rightful place of participation in the upper house of Congress… thus recreating a federal government… and simultaneously return the Congress to its original Constitutional form of the peoples representatives.
For a more in depth look of this issue please look at The Mechanics of a Republic
