Abolish the Senate???

"Whereas the Senate in particular has become an obstructive and useless body, a menace to the liberties of the people, and an obstacle to social growth; a body, many of the Members of which are representatives neither of a State nor of its people, but solely of certain predatory combinations, and a body which, by reason of the corruption often attending the election of its Members, has furnished the gravest public scandals in the history of the nation. . . ."

Preamble to a constitutional amendment introduced in the House of Representatives on April 27, 1911, by Victor Berger of Wisconsin

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dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@MethDozer Well, I guess money & aristocracy is another way of describing it, since it was assumed State Legislatures would appoint men of stature to the Senate positions. But let's not forget that the original Congress and some of the Revolutionary War leaders -- despite the myths that have grown about them being grass roots rebels -- were mostly men of money and American aristocracy. Plantation owners and leading merchants most hurt by the tax burdens being imposed by the king. Ben Franklin, despite the rustic, coon-skin cap, wigless, persona he created to woo French support, was Deputy Postmaster for the Royal Mail in North America and his son William was the last Royal Governor of New Jersey. Robert Morris was the richest man in the colonies and the largest financial underwriter of Revolutionary forces. John Hancock and George Washington were among the richest.