When Donald Trump won the 2016 election, even before he took office, CTH warned about the permanent bureaucratic class in Washington DC and what it meant for an outside to enter this system. With a consistent question being raised, it is well worth the reminder – because the answer has nothing to do with Donald Trump.
First the question:
The short answer is, it’s not that complicated. There is one permanent bureaucratic class in/around DC (two wings, same bird). The pool of appointees comes from this UniParty system. Donald Trump as an outsider faced animosity from the system itself. There are no MAGA bureaucrats.
That said, the more fulsome answer is the real issue. Because it doesn’t matter who the ‘outsider’ is, they are going to suffer the same fate until a structural change takes place.
If you take a small potential pool of America-First administrators, and then overlay the DC filtration system in the Senate, ‘advise and consent’, what you realize is that any appointment has to be approved by the same system that is opposed to the agenda the nominee would represent.
In essence, the DC system is designed to protect itself.
It doesn’t matter who the next presidential candidate is. If that President wants to advance a policy agenda in favor of the American people, they will face the same problem. So let me give one perspective on how to tackle the issue.
To give one example as a baseline, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not block President Trump’s ability to have recess appointments because the republican controlled Senate supported Donald Trump.
Senator McConnell blocked President Trump because the DC system was opposed to President Trump.
Machiavelli said, “It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.” A prescient and oft repeated quote that is pertinent to the situation.
When our founders created the system of government for our constitutional republic, they built in layers of protection from federal control over the lives of people in the states. Over time those protections have been eroded as the federal bureaucracy has seized power. One of the biggest changes that led to the creation of the permanent political class was the 17th amendment.
Our founders created a system where Senators were appointed by the state legislatures. In this original system the senate was bound by obligation to look out for the best interests of their specific states. Under the ‘advise and consent‘ rules of Senate confirmation for executive branch appointments, the intent was to ensure the presidential appointee -who would now carry out regulatory activity- would not undermine the independent position of the states.
When the 17th amendment (direct voting for Senators) took the place of state appointments, the perspective of ‘advise and consent’ changed. The senate was now in the position of ensuring the presidential appointee did not undermine the power of the permanent bureaucracy, which is the root of power for the upper-chamber.
Senate committees, Homeland Security, Judiciary, Intelligence, Armed Services, Foreign Relations, etc. now consists of members who carry an imbalanced level of power within government. The senate now controls who will be in charge of executive branch agencies like the DOJ, DHS, FBI, CIA, ODNI, DoD, State Dept and NSA, from the position of their own power and control in Washington DC.
In essence, the 17th amendment flipped the intent of the constitution from protecting the individual states to protecting the federal government.
Almost every source of federal issue: ex. spending, intervention and foreign assistance, conflict with the states, burdensome regulation, surveillance and spying on American citizens, the two-tiered justice system and the erosion of liberty & individual rights (see COVID examples), can be sourced back to the problem created by the 17th amendment.
As long as the United States senate is more concerned with retaining their own power, no executive branch office holder can break through that system.
In the balance of power dynamic, the Senate has an inordinate amount of unilateral power within the congressional branch. This power dynamic is a direct outcome of the 17th amendment. Indeed, many have argued – myself included, that no single modification to the constitution was as structurally damaging to the framework of government, specifically the balance of power within it, as the 17th amendment.
The House of Representatives was created to be the voice of the people, ie, “The Peoples’ House.” However, the U.S. Senate was structurally created to be the place where state government had representation in the federal government decision-making. The 17th amendment completely removed state representation, and we have been in an escalating battle over state’s rights ever since.
It doesn’t matter who the President is, they do not choose their cabinet. Ultimately the senate does. That’s the core problem.
Overlay that DC structural issue with the fact that almost all of the bureaucracy created by this skewed DC system is now in place to defend itself from any outside effort to change it, and you get this problem that Donald Trump exposed.
Repeal the 17th amendment and you will see the most significant restoration of freedom, liberty and social balance in our lifetime.
Making America Great Again, requires repealing the 17th amendment…..
Agreed- excellent insightful information as usual- that’s why the term limit bs is just a distraction and not a CURE
Thank You
Don’t balance the budget, or use base budgeting, slash 1/3 of the budget each year until the Federal Government is as weak as intended.
The permanent OligarchWhore class in the CONgress is never going to do that.
Nor will the accept repeal of the 17th.
Look at the composition of the several states. Red states comprise approximately 2/3 of them, the threshold level for repeal.
My thoughts exactly.
Again I ask, who will be counting the votes?
LOL…they have proposed a 1% or $0.01 on the dollar annual reduction in spending across the board to get a handle on it several times….the congresscritters will not even bring it to the floor for debate let alone vote on it
The next President must drain the Swamp.
It’s easy to drain the Swamp. Fire all the FBI and DOJ
Office, Division and Branch Chiefs.
Then go after the traitors and the people who
committed the 2020 Election Fraud.
What do you do about that whole Impeachment and Removal thing?
Carter shrank the CIA and George Bush Senior got his CIA buddies together and paid Khomeini millions of dollars to keep the Iran hostages for many months instead of the first intended few weeks. That undermined the sitting president. Instead of getting executed for treason George Bush was elected president after Regan.
I did not know that but am not surprised. Years ago when I rode a McDonnell Douglas van to work, one of our riders had been one of the hostages. He never mentioned it.
don’t care
Carter needed to be ousted.
As for the CIA, it’s been kosher since its invention. Bush is small potatoes compared to who really runs the USA since Roosevelt let them take over the federal government
Removal by 25A. Who decides to remove or not? The Presidents cabinet. Who hires the Presidents cabinet? The SENATE.
When enough Americans
decide to FOCUS on helping Trump succeed at what he’s decided to do, we will win.
Obviously there are 24/7 psyops tempting Americans to indulge in armchair criticisms ofTrump.
Obsessively second guessing everything he DOES while they watch from afar destroys the able to accept guidance,unified, disciplined forces Trump needs in order to succeed.
I understand the problem the Senate presents when it comes to a President picking the people he wants in his cabinet but I’m trying to think of any good attempted MAGA appointments made by Trump that were subsequently rejected by the senate. Were there any?
With the possible exception of Jeff Sessions I can’t think of any Trump appointee who could be called solid MAGA . There was a long list of horrible people who were anything but MAGA. Nikki Haley, Pompeo, Mattis, Esper, Bolton, Cohn, Barr, Wray, Kelly, Nielsen, Wolf, Haspel, etc. etc.. These were first choice appointments i.e. not people selected after the Senate rejected a MAGA candidate.
I think the big problem is Trump just didn’t try to put MAGA people in his administration. Maybe every one of his MAGA picks would have been rejected by the Senate but then that would be on the senate. He just didn’t try.
I think Trump was naive in thinking his appointees would get with his agenda. He didn’t know and/or understand the DS as it existed. He gets it now. The DS thwarted every move Trump made. It is now clear to ALL OF US what the agenda of the LEFT installed government is doing.
Trump was “naive”. Trump didn’t ” know and/or understand the DS”.
Its fascinating that people often imagine Trump shared their naivete and lack of understanding.
In reality, Trump needed “we the people” to wake up and catch up so they would understand why their survival depends on pitching in to help him succeed.
w VP Traitor and Preibus on the transition team and then making recommendations after it is hard to know who is trustworthy and will do the job they SHOULD do…..remember they asked for submissions by the MAGA electorate for executive openings…..mysteriously the database was corrupted and unusable…HMMM
Why is it President Trump’s fault that not one senator, even Ted Cruz or Rand Paul, moved to adjourn the senate?
Then President Trump would’ve had the opportunity to appoint without foot dragging from
the senate pretenders.
It’s amazing how few people even here understand the situation. 100% of the Senate said “We’re not going to give Trump the power to have a single man that we don’t approve.”
Just what is it that people think Trump could have done without the power to have men of his own in the top jobs?
You are right.
When the Senators FEAR Trump targeting them more than they fear Mitch, Senators will do what Trump wants.
Primary battles are proving who to FEAR more. Trump or Mitch? Trumps supporters in each state will prove whether Trump and his supporters are to be feared or whether they are easily psyop duped, divided and defeated.
All eyes are on Pennsylvanias Senate primary battle FEAR test.
If Trumps supporters pull off the mission Trump gave them and Trump/Oz wins, the DC Swamps fear will definitely grow. Bigly.
Hence the psyop flood of hate Oz, doubt Trump, love Barnette distraction bait.
You are wrong. 2000 Mules.
Don’t need our votes.
Don’t fear us.
Doesn’t mean I will give up— just saying.
Great comment hereabouts. This definitely points to a solution that does not require the repeal of the 17th. America needs a completely uncorrupted Senator who serves as a “football blocker” for a MAGA president making recess appointments. Rand Paul could have been that person; however his campaign was not self-financed. In other words American conservatives need to self-finance a Senator to serve as the “football blocker” in the Senate.
McConnell gave Trump lists of “People I could get confirmed for that job, Mr. President.” There was no value in naming someone not on the list since if McConnell says he can’t get your man confirmed that means he’s not going to try and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.
Reread the article. It’s spot on.
There is all kinds of value in Trump nominating people that he wanted and not working from a list provided by McConnell. If McConnell wanted to work against Trump and not confirm his nominees he would have done so at his own peril. Instead Trump gave McConnell’s wife a top spot in his administration. Did he get anything in return from McConnell for that big favor?
What peril to McConnell? That would be zero. The President has no recourse against the Senate. We didn’t load the Senate with MAGA types to give Trump a hand.
During a war to survive what the very best use of limited time and energy?
Looking backward, offering armchairs critiques of the only leader willing and able to guide us to victory?
Saurons orcs are over running Middle Earth. Response. Nit pick Gandalf?
So what you’re saying is that it’s impossible to out maneuver Mitch McConnell. Whatever he says goes and he never loses. Not buying it. If Trump wins in 2024, he needs to hire better.
give President Trumps’ enormous success I don’t see a President Trump doing anything BUT hiring better and broadly.
But, and here is the big gorrilla in the room: What power does President Trump NOW have to influence Mcconnel? That where hiring better hits a reality check.
jmho
He doesn’t hire the Senate. He does not hire entrenched federal employees. President’s who are Mavericks (not that we will see one again any time soon) cannot just arbitrarily snap their fingers and do what they want. Seeing what has been exposed in the last 5 years has really enlightened me to the fact that Trump’s accomplishments (currently being cancelled) were phenomenal.
YOU need to ensure that Trumps endorsed candidates all win, especially Dr Oz and Perdue.
If YOU are unable or unwilling to achieve YOUR mission then President Trump will NOT be able to do what you want him to do.
“He needs to hire better” If you truly believe this, then you WILL ensure that the candidates he wants hired win their primaries.
You do what he needs so he can do what you need.
I prefer the “take McConnell on directly” approach – let the chips fall where they do. Trump then needs to appeal directly to the 95% MAGA populist mass deplorables. Make the issue crystal clear.
Many were delayed. Somehow Grennell who was delayed for over a year by Shchumer for over a year and that was for being the German ambassador.
Wow, remembering that… that is a very sad, terrible list.
“I think”.
More data points, gleaned from research using primary, vetted sources, improves the quality of thinking/analysis.
Without research/data, “I think” typically means I’m just guessing.
In reality, the Senate wouldnt even give people Trump wanted them to hire an initial job interview.
Others went through costly, time consuming, life spending Senate interviews only to be rejected.
Remember Trumps Machiavellian maneuvering to finally get Ratcliffe hired to head the DNI after the Senate had refused to hire him?
Remember how Trump used Ric Grennell to motivate the Senate to reconsider Ratcliffe? 😂😂
Perhaps FOCUS on helping Trump succeed at what he’s doing rather than second guessing him from a far away “back seat”?
None of us understood how pervasive the deep state was in 2016. There were plenty of good MAGA people available. PDJT did not know who they were and large elements of the government were determined to keep them out.
State legislature would just send who they want. Example. Minnesota. DFL has run this state for some time now. They over power the Republicans. DFL would just send whom they want to DC. By voting for senators, at least we have a chance of having a Republican Senator. Leaving the selection of Senators to the state legislature isnt a cure all.
Sure, but under the current method, how often do the Twin Cities elect the senator?
Having the State Legislature select the senators is a version of the electoral college. Districts send their people to the legislature, then they elect senators. The reps from Hibbing, Moorhead, etc … have more say in the election of your senators.
State legislatures would indeed send people they want REPRESENTING THAT STATE’S LEGISLATURE. Meaning that the Senate as a body would have to consider STATE viewpoints rather than just political party viewpoints.
That would be a useful counterbalance.
there are way more repub legislatures than dems. and those are about to take a hit in the mid terms.
Yes
I’ve always thought the 17th amendment was the number one problem with the federal government. States no longer have representation and that upset the balance of the Constitution.
With the 17th Amend. there is no reason for the Senate to exist, it serves no Constitutional function.
The 19th Amendment runs a close second. The 18th is already gone.
We had a bad run of amendments there for a while.
Ted Cruz happens to believe the same thing but says it’s essentially a non-starter.
on the other hand, until last week few people seriously thought a complete repeal of Roe would ever happen.
I agree with repealing 17A but if you want to restore the balance of power 22A must be repealed also. The permanent OligarchWhores in CONgress simply out wait the executive.
Notice that Creepy Groper Joe didn’t have dozens of appointees waiting for confirmation for months up to the entire 4 years?
Notice that the Senate is not taking 30 hours of debate for every appointee? Notice that every single one has gotten republican’t votes?
Trump got the opposite.
Most of that is because the Republicans are not an actual opposition party. They could demand their 30 hours, or use that blue-slip(?) rule to block judges. But they don’t.
The majority of Republicans are not Patriots, are not America First office holders and candidates.
The majority of Congressional Republicans are Democrat wanna-bes. They’re in the job in order to double their wealth every couple-three years and the most important policy if that’s your goal is ‘Never say or do anything that offends anyone.’
obama for life?
That’s what they thought about Roosevelt & why they passed 22A.
It’s far easier to vote a President out than 100 senators.
Depends on who is counting the votes.
Another inconvenient truth
80 beautiful sunny degrees in Ohio today. I’ve got a cigar, bourbon, some Buckeye sports talk on the radio, a clean garage lounge and I’m reading the best political analysis in the world.
Thank you Sundance and The Treehouse.
Will you come out and spend any energy to call out the Lefty agenda or to support the MAGA agenda?
Think about what is the measure of a man.
Seems maybe you don’t live in Ohio. Spring has been wet and cold. This week promises to be the best week after a typical cold and long winter. Tony Clifton is right to lay out blessings knowing the burdens are many. I counted similar blessings today. Thank you Tony!
Exactly my thoughts too, Oh Henry! Seems like winter lasted 6 months here. I’ve come to the Last Refuge every day first thing in the morning and I don’t know how I’d have made it through this winter without Sundance and the people here.
Exactly and I posted like 83 comments here bitching about Liddle Mikey DeRINO. Yet “Rita Pappas” wants to complain.
“Muh Conservative Principles” right out of The CATO Institute is Rita Pappas.
Bushies, Romney and McCain….I can smell that across a room.
Yeah even thinking about playing golf here has been a laugh unless you like mud and rain.
Opening the pool today in SW Ohio!!
I won’t get in it yet but the live in granddaughter and her buddies will jump in and stay long after their lips turn blue LOL!
Amen!
Exactly. Put senators and reps into the proper position: employee. Subject to performance appraisal, and removed from the profit loop. They have no “power”. Not performing? Bye. Next…
My opinion
Government is totally broken, corrupt and in many cases as crooked as the New York mob back in the day. That is the truth. Government should be systematically dismantled. Lock down Washington and everyone in it until the military figures out whether their going to gitmo or their going home. Everyone walking out the gate that doesn’t go to jail gets a pink slip. Systematically build a new smaller government in Arkansas or texas somewhere with certified patriots mixed with ex military. Mandatory term limits. No more bureaucracy, no more lobbyists. No more fat government retirements
A pure constitutional government. For the people, by the people. Otherwise nothing changes. Period
Turn Washington DC into a tourist attraction after its cleaned up and charged admission for tourists and school trips to show what happens when government gets to big and to crooked.
You have just written a lovely plot outline for a fairy tale. Who is powerful enough to do the dismantling— the Jolly Green Giant flying in on his pretend dragon?
We need concrete solutions like a convention of states for example (not saying this is doable). Yet, how can citizens help move this forward. Fighting to elect America First candidates is another achievable goal. I have been out on the streets— even here in California— rallying for Trump, against abortion, etc. Donating to organizations like Project Veritas and Judicial Watch are also helpful.
I want specific, well thought out objectives— not more pontification.
Disperse the power. Relocate all Federal Agencies into all 50 States. Not one Agency should have an office in D.C. Divide and conquer. The power us concentrated. Dilute it by dispersal into the hinterlands.
And btw … your analysis on the 17th A is spot on. A paradigm shift. Never thought of it like that, but it makes sense.
Centralized, self-referential power must be obliterated. It’s killing our Republic.
the STATE says “NO, you can’t do that” – now at that point, what does the elected President Do.
The Fed should be seriously downsized, with the central office in a strip mall in Des Moines.
End the Fed
I am embarrassed to admit that I voted for Bill Clinton solely based on this one issue – he promised to bring a Pentagon accounting center to my hometown. But in the end the program was scrapped. I did not vote for his second term and he was the last Democrat I ever voted for. And your idea makes even more sense in this day and age with so many people working from home. They don’t need to be in DC. Spread the wealth!
Send a fed agency to Portsmouth, Ohio, and let them live with the daily damage but those sickos would likely love the drugs and destitution.
When you look back — recognize that your current perspective is through a lens with a whole lot more insight and information that you were unaware of at the time. It is The actions we all take now that matters.
The unelected bureaucracy IS the problem because they can’t be fired and they don’t give a tiny rat’s ass about poll numbers or election cycles. Not the mention the fact that there are tens of thousands of them and we have to pay their salaries even if they’re working full time to punish us for existing.
THIS is exactly why I am against term limits atm…the bureaucracy already exercises far more power and decision making than they should and such a move would only multiply that
Bureacracy has been runningthings for 50 yrs at least w/o ang supervision.
Certainly not supervision by elected oafficials.
Exactly.
I think that the president could shrink the bureaucracy by simply shrinking departments until they can’t interfere with the running of our (formerly) capitalist system.
When we have more people working for government (local, county, state, federal) than in the private sector, we have a permanent Democrat majority. Add the welfare class and it is almost impossible to elect conservative representatives. Shrink government employment forcing the eliminated to seek private company employment and their motives change and thus their voting patterns.
Any president who is not corrupt would be hammered just like Trump. I believed that he could shrink the bureaucracy. I think he damn well would have tried.
2000 Mules— THEY were never going to let it happen. It is out in the open now— WE (administrative/globalist/
Corporative State) have All the power. YOU peasants have none.
And please, get rid of SES.
I believe one of the justifications was exemplified in Arizona. Their Senator repeatedly bribed the state government to repeatedly send him back to Washington. So they used this as one excuse to completely change the way a Senator was selected. Another justification I believe was that when an Unexpected vacancy occurred some states took an inordinate amount of time to fill the vacancy. So instead of modifying the Constitution to correct these problems and maintain the balance of power between state and Federal government we got the 17th amendment.
This is why Declassifying the crimes of prior administrations + members within them was key.
Drain the Swamp.
Not only did Trump keep putting people around himself in key offices that ended up stabbing him in the back, he didn’t seem to lift a finger at Draining the Swamp in any real sense.
I do not believe that Trump could not have appointed outsiders as heads of arms of the Executive Branch + exposed the crimes of the DC Establishment. That he was “powerless” to fight the bureaucracy.
He had a large enough percentage of the Voters wanting him to Drain the Swamp.
He needed to force the Swamp Creature to openly defend itself contrary to the Constitution + the Laws + the Will of the People.
It would have made fixing the 2020 Election far harder.
It would have ripped the nation into pieces in some ways but they are going to kill us anyway….
Trump needed to Fight.
He didn’t.
“It’s sure easier to put out a fire with another persons’ hand”
Bon mot
It’s even easier to fiddle while Rome burns…
What color is the Emperor’s new shirt? I can’t seem to see it….
True. It’s even harder to put out a fire when you’re too busy fast tracking mRNA shots + calling them Vaccines….
you know more than you ever could about the Swamp now, solely due to these things we call “picking the wrong people”.
Reality Show business picks up a skillset that most common people don’t even think about it – showmanship, demonstrating a point through illustration versus mouth moving.
I didn’t say Trump was the wrong person. I said he didn’t try to do the kinds of things that needed to be done that were at least reasonably within the powers of the Presidency.
We don’t have time left.
The quiet buzz in 2016 was that some in the know from DOD + Intel Circles knew what the Elites had in mind for the future with Hillary (or Jeb Bush) as the QB + wanted to try to mitigate the disaster if not reverse it outright by recruiting Trump.
For those scoffers who think everything I’ve said is too stupid or nonsense to even consider —– before 2016, Leo Zagami wrote a book (Confessions vol 2) all about —- 2020 —- warning that the chatter in the elite circles of the secret societies (like Newt Gingrich mentioned in 2016) was about what we now call The Great Reset + the great culling of Humanity….
It’s hard to dismiss all of this as —- crackpot nonsense —- after Covid + the Lockdowns + everything we’ve witnessed since the launched the virus out of Wuhan — which the US jointly ran with China………
It’s hard to dismiss people as false prophet conspiracy nuts when —- what they warn about actually happens….
+ they have been warning us for a very long time if you just considered what they were saying — like the Club of Rome in 1972 saying their scientists had :”proven” Global Civilization would turn toward rapid collapse in a specific year – 2020 – and by 2040 the human population would be back down to what it was in 1900 — which happens to be about 3x what the Georgia Guidestones say it needs to be at….
You can’t predict a virus out of Wuhan + catastrophic lockdowns 48 years in advance…………….unless your engineers had told you that would about the time in which you’d have the technology + infrastructure to cause it yourself…..
The great reset has been discussed and written about for years. Few people were aware of it. It is currently being publicized and exposed to increasing numbers of people. As people research— more are becoming enlightened about the grand plan of the Gates, Schwabs, etc.
My issue is that presidents do not have the power to do whatever they want. They need some support from others in government. Trump disrupted the swamp game plan and threatened them with exposure. He was blocked, attacked, and harassed nonstop. New to government, he was Initially unaware of who the players truly were and their duplicitous intentions. 2000 Mules— do you think he will be re-elected?
I think you are naive about how much power outsider Trump had. He accomplished a great deal considering the ‘mistake’ his election had on the entire global- corporative- federal swamp. He was undermined and attacked before he even opened a door at Pennsylvania Avenue.
SD you and your team are very good at researching….it would not take very long to put the lie of ratification of the 16th and 17th Amendments to bed……it was one of the first modern scams of the 20th Century to put the Progressive ideology on track
I have been advocating for repealing the 17th for over a decade. It needs to happen. Now.
and what are the steps to do this?
my guess – in the begginging do the Governor DeSantis model – with his state legislator majority etc….
Drop dirt on the sitting corrupt senator – having them drop out and the Governor appoint a good man or woman.
its the reverse of how the STATE got their team in.
The 17th admendment was simply a way to select Senators, if you think that after 1900 – it was producing Senators who were protecting their states, I dunno what to say. There is no evidence of it. if we had the 17th admendment now, the Senators would be chosen in smoked filled rooms by the State legislature leaders. Go look at the Republican leader in your State house and tell me would be choosing a MAGA candidate.
Trump was constantly choosing “bad” Cabinet heads, because McConnell let Schumer block any trump appointees he wanted. He let Schumer slow walk them, kill them in committee, and vote them down on the floor with the help of RINO’s like romney, collins, Lisa Murkey, Cassidy, Sasse, etc.
The other problem is that Trump was under constant assault. FIrst with Muller-Trump-Russia, then an Impeachment trial over nothing, then BLM/Antifa riots. Note that even people we thought were somewhat loyal: Pence, Sessions, Christie, Barr, Coats, were actually not. How can ONE MAN, vet all his appointees, ride herd on them, and unaided run foreign policy, the DoD, the AG, and treasury. Trump couldn’t even count on the CDC doctors not to stab him in the back!
Repeal 17
That still doesn’t explain all of Trump’s bad choices. Some of his earliest supporters, such as Scaramouchi (sp?) and even Trump’s personal attorney, turned against him in time. Then there was the First Lady’s helper who also turned against the Trumps. For a man who spent decades in the cut-throat NY business milieu, he seems to miss being able to spot a snake in the grass.
without PDJT’s “bad choices” most people wouldnt know that he is the only one to trust. they would still be screaming about the next new candidate to save us.
Or, he is controlled opposition
Scarramucci was what is known as the hatchet man in the corporate world. He came in for that purpose only IMHO.
Or just pull an Obama and appoint czars.
I have no idea why conservatives keep bringing up repealing the 17th Admentment. Is this supposed to be code for some OTHER action we can’t talk about? Because we are NEVER going to go back to State legislatures picking the Senators. They don’t want it. And the public doesn’t want it. And its not even clear how changing the selection method is going to give us more conservative Senators.
State legislators selecting Senators is just a Process. If the legislators are corrupt and bribable. Or if they are NOT conservative, you’ll end up just where we are right now. Garbage in = garbage out.
Having the State Legislatures pick Senators won’t give us more conservative senators, it will give us Senators who represent the interests of the state as determined by the legislatures thereof.
No Senator now gives a rip for his state. They care about the voters in the big cities in that state and about the national party platform. That’s our problem.
If the Senators that are elected statewide would go to DC with the intent of voting in the interests of their state constituents, the repeal of the 17th wouldn’t be needed. But they go with the intent of having a life-long gig and becoming millionaires.
The Founders’ idea was that if the Senators didn’t vote in accordance with their states’ best interests, the Legislature could recall them. If the State Legislators can be bribed so that a Senator gets sent back even when they don’t vote the state’ best interests, that defeats the whole idea the Founders had.
In other words, the system of government our Founders devised was only going to work with “a moral people”.
makes you wish for a fission reaction there
yep. several on DC. and don’t forget to give some more to Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Las Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Portland, OR, San Francisco, Seattle.
There is one immediate and impactful method that he President can use to break the logjam. It has to do with spending authorization. He can state up front. “I will not sign a spending authorization that year over year does not reduce the annual expenditures of the Federal government”.
He could also throw in a further point: “I will not sign a piece of legislation that has a greater word-count than the Constitution”. No more 5000 page bills.
Fair Question? Not really…espeically when the answer requires the complicance of the same system mentioned. CTH seems to think time is on our side and we can vote ourselves a bunch of new politicians that will facilitate the conventions needed to rescind the 17 Amendment.
In fact, the system itself is the enemy, and the only way to change it is to smash it to bits.
Violence is indeed the mother of change, and the father of Nations.
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, (October 13, 1978, Pub.L. 95–454, 92 Stat. 1111) (CSRA), reformed the civil service of the United States federal government, partly in response to the Watergate scandal. The Act abolished the U.S. Civil Service Commission and distributed its functions primarily among three new agencies: the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Service_Reform_Act_of_1978
The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a position classification in the civil service of the United States federal government equivalent to general officer or flag officer rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was created in 1979 when the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 went into effect under President Jimmy Carter.
Up to 10% of SES positions can be filled as political appointments rather than by career employees. About half of the SES is designated “Career Reserved”, which can only be filled by career employees. The other half is designated “General”, which can be filled by either career employees or political appointments as desired by the administration. Due to the 10% limitation, most General positions are still filled by career appointees
SES career appointees have civil service protections; they may only be fired or suspended for more than 14 days for misconduct, neglect of duty, malfeasance, or failure to accept a directed reassignment or to accompany a position in a transfer of function. These adverse actions may be appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_Executive_Service_(United_States)
You can blame Jimmy Carter for the current, bloated federal bureaucracy because the majority of the federal government is composed of career employees that vote Democrat and the US President has a limit on how many people he can politically nominate to serve in the federal government due to the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
Repealing 17 is hard. You have to convince the People to give up their “right” to directly pick their Senator. They won’t accept this without major persuasion that the opponents will quickly kill by stating very simply “you’re giving up your power to pick Senators and giving it to the State Legislature.” Tough sell.
The answer, I think, is any MAGA President must adopt a war footing against the bureaucrat class. The MAGA President points out that elections happen but nothing changes because: permanent bureaucrats. The MAGA President and MAGA candidates run explicitly on ending bureaucrat power by eliminating government employee unions, allowing the elected officials to directly fire bureaucrats, and then when/if a MAGA President gets elected you have a FIRE SALE.
Everyone goes.
Every confirmed official in every department, every US Attorney, every diplomat, every deputy assistant Secretary/undersecretary, EVERYONE from every Administration gets pink slipped.
Operation: Decapitation.
Then you pull their security clearances.
Then you ban them from contractor jobs.
The Senate knows that their power over POTUS is exercised through these appointees. Take that power away. Bar those left behind from implementing new policies until a new cabinet head is appointed. Bar them from testifying before Congress until new heads are appointed.
The scale of the problem would be too hard for the Senate to manage.
Then you only put your people in there. Your core supporters. Give the Senate NOTHING. Give them none of their preferred candidates.
And when those people get confirmed (Senate would have to to prevent a Government-wide aneurysm), those people go into the bureaucracy with the express mission of cleaning house. Search their emails. Anyone who posted “”Viva la resistance” to their friends gets fired. Read the General’s military college theses, and if you find some bs in them, they’re reassigned to administrative positions until they retire.
Repealing 17 won’t work. You must cut the head off the snake.
Can a President do any of that by order?
only thing i can think of is a Government Shutdown during budget time – and using that
defund the whole durn thang
Yep. It’s a simple EO. One of the tools the uniparty relies on us the tacit agreement that Official Government Party members in good standing don’t get fired when the new POTUS takes office.
Bush had lots of Clinton people in his administration. Comey was a holdover from Obama. There is no requirement for the newly elected POTUS to accept this. You avoid the appearance of favoritism and avoid posers masquerading as Allie’s by simply firing everyone.
Fire them all.
The above analysis is spot on but it only begs the obvious question- What is the point in voting for a MAGA presidential candidate if everything they do will be stymied by the senate swamp rats?
Also, there is absolutely no possibility that the 17th Amendment will ever be repealed.
Because MAGA Presidents have the power to fire appointed officials.
All of them.
“Also, there is absolutely no possibility that the 17th Amendment will ever be repealed.”
Why not? Prohibition was successfully repealed, so there is precedent.
I don’t think people taking back the right to drink alcohol stacks up well against persuading them to give up their right to directly elect their Senators.
The Anti-Federalists disagreed with you. To a man, they all insisted that it didn’t matter how the Senators were chosen, they would be creatures of the National City.
And Conservative pundits often are critical of PDJT for not pushing back more against ‘the swamp’, when he had two coup attempts against him with establishment Republicans helping, if not leading. In hindsight, I am amazed PDJT accomplished what he did. Sorry folks, but Ron DeSantis would be up against the same Swamp and they would come after him to. Because of this, PDJT is the best hope in 2024. If he wants it.
DeSantis has a huge advantage over Trump: experience combatting the entrenched bureaucrats of FL. Trump had to learn in the fly while surrounded by advisors undermining him at every step.
Desantis doesn’t make that mistake going-in. Trump likely learns from it, but Desantis has been very effective in FL dealing with problems like corrupt, Democrat, elections boards.
I could vote for either one, but think Desantis has the edge when it comes to understanding that the bureaucracy is the enemy, and then smashing it with a rock.
I hear ya, and understand – it’s close. But no one has won against the odds more than PDJT. Wish it were a 0ne-two punch.
They’ll join forces, I’m convinced of this. Trump knows Desantis is very popular among GOP voters. Desantis knows that Trump is the kingmaker and that if he runs with Trump that he’s looking at 12 years potentially in office – 4 as VP, 8 as POTUS.
They should ride down the escalator together to announce going into the GOP Primary that they are running on a unified MAGA ticket. They would save $100M not having to run a serious primary campaign, and tell their supporters to save their money for the general election. Anybody stupid enough to run against an established P/VP ticket would spend $100M to go down in flames. I’m sure the eGOP could convince Liz Cheney or Nikki Haley to go on that suicide mission, but that’s all it would be: a suicide mission.
We’re going to have to learn to practice unconventional warfare if we hope to get a MAGA President back into the White House. At the Congressional level, MAGA candidates have to run on an explicitly America-First Agenda, and as the primaries play out, all of the MAGA Congressional candidates should meet and decide their Top 5 issues, which I humbly submit are:
If Trump and Desantis are smart, they’ll ride down that escalator together in summer 2023 to announce that they are running a JOINT campaign as if they are the incumbent President and VP. Trump’s name goes on the primary ballot, Desantis campaigns with him as if he were already the VP, and they together team up to destroy any eGOP challengers.
In effect, they can say that anybody else is not MAGA, so don’t waste your money or vote on them…save it to defeat the Democrats in 2024. The splitter strategy won’t work if they team up. We need people volunteering as poll watchers, serving as election supervisors, guarding mail-in drop boxes 24/7, and showing up in numbers so huge in 2024 that the Democrats can’t print enough ballots to perpetuate the 2020 fraud…so don’t waste time/money on eGOP losers like Nikki Haley.
It has the added benefit of the two of them not falling into the temptation to take potshots at each other. When Desantis gets asked about the 2020 election fraud, he can truthfully say that because of his reforms in FL – which included removing Democrat election officials from certain counties – the fraud that appears to have taken place elsewhere did not happen in FL where Trump won by a landslide by FL standards.
The states are as corrupt and controlled as the Senate.
Just look at AZ, GA, WI, PA…
Repealing the 17th amendment won’t do squat.
The national security and law enforcement state with financial resources of Fortune 500 companies, Wall Street and Big Tech controls the Senate and the states.
The author is contradicting himself. He talks about the “Fourt Branch” of the government and then make a 180 degree turn and advocates for a repeal of the 17th amendment.
If the goal is to confuse, you have almost succeeded.
Disarm the FBI/DOJ and IC by taking away their off-the-books resorces (ownership and control over Fortune 500 companies, Big Tech and PE funds through a network of llc’s and foreign companies) and you will be able to restore the republic.
how, – through what system.
of course the job is to aggitate to action – because everyone knows thats where it will end up, unless this system submits to the people.
Disarm the FBI/DOJ and IC by taking away their off-the-books resorces (ownership and control over Fortune 500 companies, Big Tech and PE funds through a network of llc’s and foreign companies) and you will be able to restore the republic.
I agree with this as well, however I am shocked that they still play this charade to circumvent our laws. At this point why even bother when DoJ does not give a fuq about which laws the deep state breaks.
“The author is contradicting himself. He talks about the “Fourt Branch” of the government and then make a 180 degree turn and advocates for a repeal of the 17th amendment.”
The Fourth Branch is there to protect the status quo. Repeal of the 17th yanks the rug from under this cozy arrangement.
I don’t think the goal was to confuse but it seems to have had that effect on you.
Sundance call GR and ask him about the actual process to rescind the 17thA at the state legislature’s rather than by convention, if you haven’t already. His contact number is in the website provided. Look at his republic review sometime too. It’s more and audit than amendments and less dangerous. Thank you http://www.reclaimingtherepublic.org/contact.html
First, he was disabled because he didn’t know anybody in DC…..as Paul Craig Roberts pointed out very early after the trump election………..and Second [this is from me] he let hacks… and also Jared and Ivanka…. do his talent searches for him……and they are both left/lib fools.
Just ask Andrew Jackson what it is like to be President when u are not in the club.
So let me give one perspective on how to tackle the issue.
I think a second perspective would be “time”.
On the first attempt to MAGA, unfortunately PDJT was mainly flying solo on a half tank of fuel.
Unlike pos Pence, he needs a trustworthy CoPilot (FO DeSantis) who will be able to upgrade to Captain after four years to continue the mission.
bomb the 17th
inflight refuel to continue the 12 year+ mission
I don’t know how we would repeal the 17th amendment, some voters would think it would be taking away their direct voice. However, the Big Club Uniparty won’t allow America First candidates be elected one way or another.
I saw where you reported that Kathy Barnette has risen in the polls. But then I read all kinds of weird comments coming out of the woodwork against her now on that thread. So, where all the Blystone voters on Ohio’s election primary thread?
I don’t think DeSantis has few traitors, if any, in his office working against him. Somehow, he’s able to have Florida First people working with him, and a good legislature and Florida Senate working with him, too.
I just hope if President Trump gets elected again, he also does a better job of not picking swamp critters, there’s got to be a way to vet these people and just insist on it to McConnell. With what Biden is putting us through, there better not be any argument against America First people in his cabinet.
And because of that, he has people he can bring to DC to smash the existing system.
Senator Hillary Clinton is a prime example of just how perverse the 17th amendment fouled our country. Installed in New York via Arkansas and Illinois, representing only the interests of the Clinton crime family.
Can’t explain this better to the DeSantis supporters who think he’ll do better than PDJT. DeSantis as a governor has more power than a POTUS. DeSantis doesn’t have to deal with McConnell, Cheney, Murkowski, Collins, Kinzinger, and the hordes of other Uniparty turds within his own party.
Desantis vetoed the GOP Legislature’s redistricting map, called them into special session, and pushed through his own map giving the GOP a 22-8 seat advantage.
He took on Disney, and has you could drive a truck through the hole he blasted through their chests.
That’s not to me a guy who would struggle in DC.
Sundance, unfortunately, repealing the 17th won’t fix things. All you have to do is look at all the State level politicians and you’d realize that even if the 17th were repealed, we’d still be in this mess. Do you think Gov Kemp of GA would have Senators that didn’t align with him and the Deep State? Has the GA state congress enacted anything to prove the the election was fraudulent? Pennsylvania. Michigan. How many states stood up to the fraudulent election? How many Republican States actually fought *against* anyone trying to show there was fraud? The system has been far too corrupted for far too long. Repealing the 17th will not change anything. Deep State/corrupted/etc Republican State level Governors/House/Senate will still align with the Uniparty and choose appropriately.
Even now, the States are not doing what they should. DeSantis included. The Federal Gov’t has completely overreached the Constitutional Federal powers and there is no pushback. It’s all a big show. The State AGs get together and sue the Federal in court for huge violations just to be seen. They get to say, Hey we’re doing something. While not really doing much.
The battle at the Federal level is lost. The Republic is lost. We must have the States fight the battles now. And they’re failing miserably. Mostly because of the rampant corruption at the State level. It’s become mini-Federal level bureaucratic nonsense. We have to fix the States. Get Constitutionally minded people in there. Get the States to fight for their Constitutional powers back and minimize the over-reaching Federal power. Yes, get more MAGA people voted into federal House and Senate positions when we can and toss out the RINOs.
Our Republican controlled States should have stood up in the presidential election but didn’t because of all the corruption. The fraud was completely over the top, in your face, no way you could not know it was there. We can’t win without taking back the States. Repealing the 17th really won’t help much unless we have Constitutionally minded people in State level positions. That’s the playing field right now. Musing about the 17th doesn’t move us forward. Sorry, it just doesn’t.
And since they’re the ones who’d have to agree to it, the repeal will never take place.
As one of the quotes on the front page here says; it’s difficult to restore a republic. . . I would say it’s impossible because to do so requires a dictator to make the initial moves and then that very same dictator at the height of their power has to give up that power. Not even Washington faced that degree of temptation.
It will not happen until some sort of confliction occurs and the perfect person gets in the perfect position.
I cannot believe in that much of a miracle.
The Constitution itself provides a legal (and Constitutional!) way around that. Many people scoff at this, because I think they mistakenly conflate this with a Constitutional Convention, which is a different breed. I refer, of course, to Article V of the Constitution, wherein is laid out a process for the States to bypass Congress, with respect to Constitutional Amendments.
I’ll grant you, it’s a long shot and the process can be likened to herding cats, but I only point out that a way does indeed exist. And indeed there are several States who are already (officially) on board with this.
“[I]t’s difficult to restore a republic.”
I imagine it’s equally difficult to restore a monarchy but the British did it anyway.
And as the same man says, how can we know if we don’t try?
If I am correct and the 17th Amendment was still in place Republicans would have been in control of the Senate for a long, long time. If I am correct they would currently have 58 seats.
the unelected are a huge problem. because of their presence they afford legal protection to the scum like schiff. their presence give scum like schiff confidence they won’t be bothered. that time is near over.
Thank you, thank you, thank you Sundance. I read many times that the 17th was a problem because the Senators owed no allegiance to the wishes of the state representatives any longer and so long as the people of the state voted for them , they could carve out their own little fiefdom. This analysis went much deeper. Our founders were geniuses……we need to repeal.
while I agree there is a “fate” element involving the deep administrative state to destroy an uncorruptible outsider.
let me give you the “flip side” to that argument (toned in the famous “heat” movie scene where deniro tells pacino:
Neil McCauley: There is a flip side to that coin. What if you do got me boxed in and I gotta put you down? Cause no matter what, you will not get in my way. We’ve been face to face, yeah.
The point here is very simple and also powerful:
the deep state does have power. We understand this. It is highly motivated. We understand this.
However, what President Trump accomplished was to IGNITE A NATION. And at every level of the political and donor landscape.
we the people NOW have a more full understanding about the dimensions and the capacity of the deep state to act against OUR WILL.
challenge accepted.
in the end, these jackals will not succeed. They only have limited power. They do not and cannot win the hearts and the minds of Patriotic law abiding GOD FEARING AMERICANS.
Long Soldier,
Regitier
It’s called the Senior Executive Service……
Another excellent step that could be taken is to make illegal public-sector unions. They are a profanity against the American people.
Rush broke it down a few years ago. I’m going to try to paraphrase, badly. When private sector unions negotiate terms, it’s Labor vs. Management; the bill payers vs the money takers. But in a public sector union, WE are the Management. We’re the ones paying the bills. But they don’t negotiate with us, they negotiate with other government employees. In other words, it’s Labor negotiating with Labor for fat paychecks. “Sure, have some more! Hey, it ain’t my money.”
Sweet deal! I’d want to keep that going too. That is, I would if I were a dishonest person.
Out with the old and in with the new.
I think we should also have a line item veto. It’s on topic, trust me. See, people were upset over the way State Reps and Sens were taking bribes from candidates for the U.S. Senate.
Candidates would go to State Reps and Sens to offer pork and special interest bills, once they got to D.C. Corrupt Senators worked together to deliver the promised bribes. “I’ll vote for your pork if you vote for mine.”
A line item veto would reduce pork spending, thus reducing anyone’s ability to use pork bills as bribes. Instead of having to sign the whole bill to get the one good thing in it, a President could veto parts of it, then send it back to Congress.