http://www.idahoreporter.com/2010/idaho-gop-accepts-platform-with-loyalty-oath-call-for-repeal-of-17th-amendment/By Dustin Hurst
June 27th, 2010
The Idaho Republican Party approved its new platform Saturday, but it almost didn’t happen. Several delegates opposed much of the content of the newly-written platform and tried to kill all changes. The move was unsuccessful and the new platform, which calls for the repeal of the 17th Amendment and instills what amounts to a loyalty oath for Republican candidates, was adopted after several hours of discussion.
Delegates began work on the platform Friday in an open committee meeting. Changes made by committee members were presented to the body as a whole Saturday afternoon. Initially, convention-goers were given the choice to accept all the changes or none of them, which didn’t sit well with some who were uncomfortable with some of the alterations. One delegate suggested that they scuttle the 2010 platform and re-adopt the 2008 to use in upcoming years. That move drew the ire of the majority of delegates, including state Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, who said he wanted the call for the repeal of the 17th Amendment to be in the party’s ideals going forward. “This is too valuable to forget about,” said Nielsen, who argued that repealing the amendment would give state’s greater oversight of the federal government.
The amendment gave the general electorate the right to select U.S. senators, a power previously held by the state legislatures. Proponents of repeal, including many gathered at the GOP convention, believe that making senators accountable to state legislatures would end runaway federal spending and give states a say in the affairs of the federal government. Opponents of repeal say that it would put a layer of government and bureaucracy in between the people and their senators. Delegates approved adding the call for repeal to the platform despite opposition.
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Perhaps we should require all our Democratic candidates to sign one of them loyalty oaths? What do you think?