Quote from jem:
actually the founding fathers... set up a govt in which the people with property got to vote... and the senate was elected by elected representatives not the people.
The "progressive" woodrow wilson screwed us... in to this mess... in which lobbyist had a chance to become very powerful.
from wikipedia...
The Senate underwent several significant changes during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, the most profound of which was the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, which provided for election of senators by popular vote rather than appointment by the state legislatures.
Another change that occurred during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson was the limitation of the filibuster through the closure vote. The filibuster was first used in the early Republic, but was seldom seen during most of the 19th century. It was limited as a response to the filibuster of the arming of merchant ships in World War I. At that time, the public, the House, the great majority of the Senate, and the president wanted merchant ships armed, but less than 20 Senators, led by William Jennings Bryan fought to keep US ships unarmed. Wilson denounced the group as a "group of willful men".
