Here is an article singing my song! I've made this argument several times over the years, mostly for the 17th Amendment, but I whole-heartedly agree with repealing the 16th as well. The Federal government is supposed to be a small, LIMITED government. The states are STATES, not provinces. It is a FEDERAL government, not a CENTRAL government. Though I have long viewed the centralizing of power in Washington DC as a predictable result of changing the way senators are chosen, I did not tie the growth of the bureaucratic state to that amendment. However, Kozlovich and Lehr make a good case for it. With states unable to stem government overreach without their Senate veto, the growth of legislation and outsourcing the details to alphabet agencies does make sense. Even so, the Constitution clearly states that 'All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress.' That is clearly not the EPA, the FDA, the EEOC, or any of the other myriad agencies. A rule that imposes penalties must be passed by members of Congress, not outsourced to unelected bureaucrats. The Supreme Court got rolled by FDR's threat to pack the court and the floodgates were opened for more and more rules and regulations to flood from the unelected and largely unaccountable administrative state.
The 16th and 17th Amendments must be repealed! In the aftermath, the central government will dwindle in size and power, and the states will regain some independence from an overbearing Washington DC. As noted in a previous posting, Obamacare was opposed by 26 states and therefore could not have passed if the states still had control of the Senate as intended. Much as I like the idea, it is a hard sell. No path for accomplishing these feats is outlined.
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