Amendment Fetish: The Repeal Amendment

While proclaiming undying fealty to the Constitution, the Tea Party movement and its allies are touting a hot new amendment to that otherwise perfect document, which goes by the oxymoronic name “the Repeal Amendment.”  This proposed amendment would allow two-thirds of the state legislatures to repeal any law or regulation of the federal government, so long…

Read More

Amendment Fetish: The Seventeenth Amendment

Adopted in 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment changed the way American choose their senators.  Until then, each state legislature selected that state’s two senators for six-year terms.  After 1913, the voters have chosen senators in elections.  Repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment is a centerpiece of the state’s rights push behind the Tea Party movement and its close…

Read More

The Amendment Fetish: The Problem of the States

The swelling Tea Party movement embodies a fascinating contradiction.  Its leaders profess a near-religious awe for the U.S. Constitution.  This has led to stunts like the reading of the Constitution on the floor of the House of Representatives.  Should it also lead to greater sales for The Summer of 1787, I will be hard-pressed to complain. …

Read More