The Constitution originally states that Senators are to be elected by state legislators. But the 17th Amendment changed that and allowed the people to choose their state's senators. So Randy G. Lancaster of Kelso, WA argued that the 17th Amendment be removed. He argues that having the state legislators deciding on the senators would be more beneficiary because it would cut the costs of their campaign spending. Senate campaigns are some of the most expensive. Also, the legislators are more educated in politics and would be able to have a much wider range of candidates and choose the best one.
This article explains how the 17th Amendment changes the separation of power by giving the power of choosing senators to the people and taking it away from state governments. It takes away their rights to have indirect participation in the federal legislative process as giving to them in the original U.S. Constitution. It also affects the checks and balances of the government. The state government before could choose the senators they sent to Washington, but now can't. They lost power and the balance was off.
http://tdn.com/news/opinion/article_e86ff2b2-e17a-11e0-8710-001cc4c03286.html
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