1. *Thread*

A short explanation of "Bicameralism"--one of our founding governing principals DESTROYED by the 17th Amendment. Its elimination was a major factor in enabling the Federal Gov to be captured by a small group of powerful & rich forces, i.e. the "Ruling Elites." https://twitter.com/SamParkerSenate/status/1326011754422259712

2. Prior to passage of the 17th amendment, it was hard to wrangle consensus between the Senate & House. This depressed the value of House seats b/c whatever fervor whipped up in the House would/could often be quelled by the Senate--then under the control of state legislature.

3. This difference in "constituencies," (the people vs. the States) limited the scope of potential law/policy making. It prevented/minimized "log-rolling," i.e. quid-pro-quo governing/voting. Collusion. Very expensive & hard to curry favor of both The People & State Legislatures.

4. Once the Senate was put under the control of the people, though, these checks on the Fed Gov were removed. Now, both houses could much more easily collude & be captured by the monied, powerful elites. This greatly expanded the scope of the gov to whatever they wanted.

5. B/c both houses could more easily come under 1 set of forces, it ignited a bidding war on House & Senate seats. The value of both seats skyrocketed, & put the congress firmly under the control of the Ruling Elites.

Now, congress is only responsive to the Elites. No Check.

6. Furthermore, the Reapportionment Act of 1929 permanently froze the size of the House at 435, rather than letting it scale up as mandated by the Constitution. As a result, the power of each scarce seat has grown along w/its value. It's our of reach of "The People."

7. Now, over 90% of all races are won by the better funded candidate. This ensures that the Senate & House are both firmly under the control of a single constituency--which is neither "The People" or "The States." Yes, you get to vote, but only on those chosen by the Elites.

8. Here's just 1 of a legion of examples: Seorge Goros has outright bought dozens of elected officials across many levels of gov.

Look how many DAs he controls around the country. How many do you control w/your single vote?

9. Here's a picture of the wealthiest person/family in each state. Together, these 50 people/families have as much or more political power probably than any 10s of millions of citizens. And the only real check on their power is another person/group w/a sh*tload of money & power.

10. The Framers' primary concern in creating the Constitution was to protect our inherent God-given, natural rights by restraining tyranny & tyrants from infringing upon or destroying them. The 17th amendment & its BICAMERALISM was 1 of the many checks they created to this end.

11. Besides destroying Bicameralism, the 17th A also removed the states as a sovereign group from their seat at the Fed Gov table. Look at all the powers the State Legislatures were meant to have power/influence over--but over which they now have little to none: i.e. EVERYTHING.

12. The states, as a whole, were a massive counterbalance to the power of the Fed Gov. Through their control over the Senate, they had a collective hand on the reins of gov & were essentially equal in governing power w/the Fed Gov. W/the 17th A, they lost their "equality."

13. W/the loss of State Sovereignty Equality, the Fed Gov became untethered from the principal EXTERNAL check on its power--the States. Now, the reserved powers of the states are extremely limited & include no checks over the Fed Gov.

NO CHECKS OVER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

14. Compare the current reserved powers of the states to the powers of the US Congress--which the states were always supposed to have influence/power over through the Senate (#11 in this thread above):

15. Why are External Controls so important? B/C the United States was created as a *compound republic.* The POWER was 1st divided between 2 "distinct governments": the States & the Federal w/INTERNAL & EXTERNAL controls placed on the Federal.

The states were the EXTERNAL Check.

16. These EXTERNAL controls included the State Legislatures having control over the Senate in a Federal BICAMERAL legislature.

The INTERNAL controls are famous & well-known: "Checks & Balances" and "Separation of Powers." See below.

17. No matter how the power is distributed w/in the Fed Gov, though--there's still no EXTERNAL control. IOW, there's nothing external that theoretically restrains its power. The states were supposed to be this external power, but the 17th A destroyed our *Compound* Republic.

18. An unfortunate byproduct of removing states' representation from the Fed Gov is that the 10th Amendment was de-fanged. The states no longer control a lever of power w/which to jealously guard their powers & rights--nor their citizens' powers & rights.

19. To keep this thread brief, here's an article in which I discuss the ways, powers & methods the Framers gave us to enforce & empower the 10th amendment & limit the power of the Fed Gov.

https://delegatedigest.org/2018/05/31/giving-teeth-to-the-10th-amendment/

20. The Electoral College was also powerful check on the power of the FedGov & the seizing of that power by tyranny. Unfortunately, it was 1 of the 1st firewalls to be breached. Here's a thread on the original intent of the EC. Much of it isn't well known: https://twitter.com/SamParkerSenate/status/1308275825821716481

21. So, what effect have the 17th Amendment, the freezing of the House at 435, & various other changes had on the size, power & scope of the Fed Gov? Here's one look: It's exploded in size & power to relieve us of our wealth.

@threadreaderapp unroll