ALEC Is Talking About Changing the Way Senators Are Elected and Taking Away Your Vote

A proposed resolution advocates for overturning the 17th Amendment so Republican-controlled state legislatures could pick senators.

(Reuters / Jonathan Ernst)

By John Nichols

The United States Senate is an undemocratic institution. Just do the math: Progressive California Senator Kamala Harris was elected in 2016 with 7,542,753 votes. Yet her vote on issues such as health-care reform counts for no more than that of conservative Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi, who was elected in 2014 with 121,554 votes.

This is an absurd imbalance. In fact, the only thing that would make it more absurd would be if voters were removed from the equation altogether.

Say “hello” to the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC, the corporate-funded project to impose a top-down right-wing agenda on the states. ALEC is considering whether to adopt a new piece of “model legislation” that proposes to do away with an elected Senate.

The idea of reversing 104 years of representative democracy and returning to the bad old days when senators were chosen via backroom deals between wealthy campaign donors, corporate lobbyists, and crooked legislators, is not new. The John Birch Society peddled the proposal decades ago. But with the rise of the “Tea Party” movement, the notion moved into the conservative mainstream.

The Nation

Author: konigludwig

progressive social democrat, internationalist, conservationist

2 thoughts on “ALEC Is Talking About Changing the Way Senators Are Elected and Taking Away Your Vote”

  1. This will never fly in America. When people realize what’s going on, they’ll respond……When will people realize what’s going on?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I have to agree. I’m curious to see how they would frame their argument for stripping voters of the right to elect their United States Senators. In general, the optics of taking things away from people isn’t good politically.

      Like

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