This is longtime Cato Daily podcast host, Caleb Brown.

I've moved on to head the Kentucky's Bluegrass Institute,

but I wanted to leave listeners with some favorite episodes over the last nearly 18 years of my hosting tenure.

I tried to pick episodes that are relevant to our current moment.

Thank you for listening.

This is the Cato Daily podcast for Thursday, July 15th, 2010.

I'm Caleb Brown.

The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution stripped state legislatures of the power to

choose U.S. senators.

It was a time for repeal.

Todd Zawicki is a foundation professor of law

at George Mason University School of Law. He believes the Senate could once again be a bulwark

against encroaching federal power if senators will return to their role as protectors of states.

George Mason himself was an advocate for having state legislatures decide how U.S. senators were

selected.

What was the rationale at the time for having senators be selected in this manner?

George Mason wasn't alone in that.

In fact, one of the things you read in the Federalist papers is that they say among the

various proposals, including direct election as senators, it was proposed at the time.

This was really the only one that was acceptable, the one that was most congenial to public

opinion is how Madison said it.

And it was one of the least controversial

...