tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-555191244102972923.post6169407560407568301..comments2023-05-11T00:38:23.906-07:00Comments on Stupid Is A Five-Letter Word: Heh, Idiot Congresscritters, it's not about you.Buttercuphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10201235659652895050noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-555191244102972923.post-77039037529407545212014-07-20T13:11:19.579-07:002014-07-20T13:11:19.579-07:00Oh yes. Actually that's part of something that...Oh yes. Actually that's part of something that's annoyed me for years. The idea that Senators are great statesmen, a cut above the common rabble of the House. Sorry guys, that was thrown away with the passage of the 17th you ain't better than anybody.RGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09171113315326198836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-555191244102972923.post-75303412516049102632014-07-20T11:40:43.175-07:002014-07-20T11:40:43.175-07:00The biggest event that set all that in motion, IMH...The biggest event that set all that in motion, IMHO, was the 17th Amendment, which allowed for the direct, popular election of Senators. Here was a deliberative body of statesmen, appointed by their individual states to represent the STATE'S interests against the Federal government, slated to serve a full six years (longer than any other elected body), suddenly set free of any real consequences for selling out their constituents back home. It effectively transferred the entire Senate to the Federal gov. The House was sure to follow. And, yes, governing through bureaucracies absolves all of the rats from direct responsibility. That's all part of it. If no one is really responsible, then everyone gets re-elected...and the cocktail parties never end.Buttercuphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10201235659652895050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-555191244102972923.post-90243726430549132272014-07-19T14:56:18.367-07:002014-07-19T14:56:18.367-07:00The trick was that they were supposed to act to pr...The trick was that they were supposed to act to protect their own power and that would result, as a byproduct, in protecting the people by preventing too much power from accumulating in any one branch. Self-interest harnessed to the general welfare. Clever buggers those founders.<br /><br />Unfortunately, they worked out that they could protect themselves pretty well by handing most of the responsibility for the details of the laws over to the bureaucrats of the administrative branch. So the more nebulous Congress as a whole or "government" get the blame but individual incumbents still get reelected time after time.RGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09171113315326198836noreply@blogger.com