Time For the States to MAN UP

The United States that was founded in the last decades of the 18th century is no more.
The evidence of this is clear in the actions of the last three administrations and the house and senate that have ruled in the past few years.
They no longer represent us, the people that elected them. They have become detached and beholden to the powers that granted them the vast amounts of money they need to get elected. They are beholden to the parties that refuse to fund in their reelection campaigns if they vote with their constituents and against the current party line.

The idea of having representatives meet in Washington was intended by our founders to bring the voice of the common man to the halls of a government. They knew that when they returned home, their neighbors would hold them accountable. This way the common man had a voice in every level of government.
The idea of having two senators from every state was to give the states a say in the federal government. This is no longer so. The states have lost their voice in Washington. The 17th amendment was passed by the progressives in the early 20th century in order to strip the states of any say and to build a stronger central government. The states have been stripped of their sovereignty.

Our government has become a bloated blundering drunken doomed dinosaur. It is headed for extinction. It is not sustainable. And it will take the American people down with it unless the people and the individual states intercede. It is time for an intervention. It's time to stop enabling the alcoholic.

First thing the states need to do is stop taking federal money. It won't be easy, because it is a lot of candy. But they must wean themselves off of it. It is the states that should be granting funding to the Federal government, not the reverse.

Secondly, the States need to call for an amendment to the US Constitution that repeals the 17th amendment. If congress refuses to submit this amendment, the States have a power that has never been used. Two thirds of the States can call for a constitutional convention to proposes this amendment. This way the State legislatures can once again send their own senators to the senate and it will once again represent the states that sent them.

Term limits for all members of congress must be administered. It is clear that the spirit of the founders idea that we could send common people to Washington to be the voice of their neighbors has become a farce. Instead, professional politicians find a seat and won't move out of it, enjoying the perks and benefits too much.

Capitol Hill should be under lock and key for 11 months of the year. In the case of a true national emergency, congress may be recalled for a brief gathering, but otherwise, all voting should be done from the Congressman's office in his own district. With electronic technology and the internet and satellites, there is little reason to be so far away from the home districts anymore. Four weeks out of the year, congress may meet on Capital Hill. This will help ensure that lobbyists have a harder time bribing our representatives, and it might break up the "good 'ol boy" network.