[stoney1445]

How were the states convinced to pass this amendment??

[woods]

The main argument, as I recall, involved alleged corruption in the election of senators by the state legislatures. Thank goodness our senators have become such upstanding people now!

[gutzmank]

It was also sold as more democratic. Under the old selection, the story went, elites selected senators in secret. Far better to have the people do it.

[ctylor]

So is the rule that if the States want to get this amendment repealed, they can request it and if they get 34 states, then there would be a convention but it would run the risk of being a runaway convention, or the Congress itself has to vote in favor of repealing this amendment and send it to the States to get 38 States to approve?

I think the first possibility, which is apparently unused in US history, is the only reasonable shot to get rid of it, unless they can get 33 States to petition for a convention and the Congress fires back with a repeal amendment out of fear…

[gutzmank]

The JBS’s “runaway convention” scenario is doltish: Congress can propose any amendments it wants to propose too, but we don’t say, “Mustn’t have a Congress, because it can propose amendments.” Besides that, even if it did propose forever to place supreme executive power in the hands of 6’4″ Prussian guys named “Kevin,” 38 states would have to ratify the (obviously good) idea before it became part of the Constitution.

Still, to get around this concern, I favor the mechanism described at CompactforAmerica.org. In fact, I’m one of CFA’s Advisory Board.

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