Resurrecting Federalism

Ezra Klein’s rather silly defense of the 17th Amendment (updates) | Questions and Observations: "'But it was not sufficient,' say the adversaries of the proposed Constitution, 'for the convention to adhere to the republican form. They ought, with equal care, to have preserved the FEDERAL form, which regards the Union as a CONFEDERACY of sovereign states; instead of which, they have framed a NATIONAL government, which regards the Union as a CONSOLIDATION of the States.'

So there, in the hand of the man who drafted the Constitution, are the working definitions of the two terms as they understood them. Note how the FEDERAL form is defined. As you read through the rest of Federalist 39, you’ll find Madison discussing both the NATIONAL model and the FEDERAL model and pointing out some of both are necessary. They had a purely FEDERAL form under the Articles of Confederation. It didn’t work well. They knew that had to put some national powers into the hands of the new government, but they feared such a type of government, so they wanted to limit the scope of that power. He specifically addresses the Congress and how it was purposely designed to limit the power of a national government while importantly preserving some federalism"

And yes, the 17th Amendment needs to be repealed -- probably even more than the 18th needed to be. And don't get me started on the 16th...