Elect the Attorney General?

[Warrior-Mentor]

Why don't we nationally elect the Attorney General?

States elect their Attorneys General.

This is one of the problems I see with the current Federal system. Too many annointed, er I mean appointed, officials.

State Senators at one time were appointed by their respective states. That changed with the 17th Amendment.

With over 60% of the American public against the movement of 9/11 trials to New York City, do you think Eric Holder would have made this decision if he were directly responsible for answering to the electorate?

Would he have made this promise during a campaign?

If you were "founding Father/Mother" for a day, what other positions would you make nationally elected within the Executive Branch?
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On a similiar note, looking at the Legislative Branch, what would be the pros and cons of electing "Super Senators" if you will - who are elected nationally to represent the country's interests in the legislature?

[JAGO]

W-M,
What a great question! In Florida the Gov (Lt Gov) AG, CFO, Comm of Ag, all elected. Lots of political theater.
I don't know if that political intrigue between executives at the national level is such a good thing. In times of Nixon (H2O gate and the tapes) and Clinton (Waco, Ruby Ridge and Gonzalez) it might have been good to have the independence of an elected A.G. I think back to other periods (Kennedy and integration for one) and the idea of having the A.G. as part of the POTUS' cabinet was quite proper.
From a larger perspective, the federal government was supposed to be one of limited power with the states much more involved with us. As society has become more urban and complex, the power of the national government has increased exponentially and the fed is involved in (too) many aspects of our lives and the fed mandating too many things taking away the states' discretion.
The founders had a pretty good concept and made amending the Const no easy task. All in all the system has served us pretty well. I'd add: I don't think having any more elected officials running around Washington would do us that much good. We've got enough of them!

v/r
phil
Despite what the they say during press conferences, I think this AG and POTUS are of the same mindset and an election of the A.G. would not have changed what they were going to do regarding GITMO and the trials.

[GreenSalsa]

I have to disagree.

I like the idea of a "team" approach to the executive branch--that way if they succeed or fail--it points back to the President.

I would imagine it would recreate some of the chaos we had when the President and Vice-President were from different parties.

I could only imagine the nightmare of leaks and fights a partisan Attorney General would have been under President Bush (43).

[Warrior-Mentor]

Originally Posted by JAGO

Despite what the they say during press conferences, I think this AG and POTUS are of the same mindset and an election of the A.G. would not have changed what they were going to do regarding GITMO and the trials.

I don't think Holder would have been elected.

And if he had, he would be much more susceptable to public pressure - which would have helped prevent this stupid decision.

It seems to me that the attorney general position has always been a uniquely political position with many odd ducks and devoted politicos occupying that position. Without doing a search I can recall Bobby Kennedy, Ed Meese, Janet Reno and now the most destructive of them all, Eric Holder.

The 17th amendment has been extremely destructive of Federalism. A sad mistake in my view. I've seen some recent commentary about repealing this amendment. It would never happen if US Congress were to initiate it. However, if the required number of individual states pass the proposition, well then ...

[JAGO]

Originally Posted by Warrior-Mentor

I don't think Holder would have been elected.

And if he had, he would be much more susceptable to public pressure - which would have helped prevent this stupid decision.

W-M,

Agree w/ you on your first. He's been a Dep A.G. His boss Janet Reno returned to Fla and got no traction whatsoever when she ran for office (Fla dodged that bullet).

On your second, Ms Reno didn't give a Rat's behind what people thought. I suspect Mr. Holder's involvement in the last minute presz pardons when he was Dep AG (Jan 2000) demonstrates he is of the same point of view as former boss.

v/r
phil

[The Reaper]

I disagree that allowing state legislatures to appoint/elect U.S. Senators would necessarily be a good thing.

One thing it would have done, at least here in NC, would have been to keep a number of good Republican Senators here at home while fine Dims like Pretty Boy Johnny Edwards and Kay Hagen would be appointed for life by a seemingly inevitable Dim majority in the state houses here.

TR