Mike Lee wants to change the Constitution

"The Constitution was made to be amended from time to time. Sometimes we have to do that in order to make the Constitution more true to the American dream." - Mike Lee on CNN

I just don't know about this guy. I shook his hand once early in the primary process. I listened to him debate. I've had people all but bear their testimony to me that Mike Lee is true. But there's things about him that make me uncomfortable.

For one, he boasts of being a Constitutional expert. Well, seeing as how he wants to remove some Amendments and add new ones, I'm supposed to just trust that he knows what the founding fathers intended or that his definiton of "the American dream" is the right one.

He wants to remove the 14th Amendment with birthright citizenship. This is wrong to me.

He wants to remove the 17th Amendment which allows voters to pick their senators. This would give the people even less power in the electoral process where so many voters already feel disenfranchised.

And I take it he wants to remove the 16th Amendment. From his website:

With 50% of wage earners paying little or no taxes, too many voters have no “skin in the game”—and no reason to question new government programs that are funded by the real taxpayers. Until we reform the tax code to give all Americans a stake in their government (through the fair or flat tax), Congress will continue to adopt new entitlements, new bailouts, and new relief programs."

In other words, he wants to raise taxes on the poorest half of America.

I voted for Tim Bridgewater in the primary. I just found his campaign less offensive than Lee's. It bothers me that Lee is part of another potential Utah aristocracy, coasting on the fame and goodwill toward his father, the late Rex E. Lee, and a brother on the Utah Supreme Court.

I wanted Bennett out because he originally promised to only serve two terms when he ran, and here he was going for a fourth term. And now it looks like Utah's next senator is not really from the Republican party, but from the Tea party. Now that the Tea party has shifting from a real grass-roots movement to being co-opted by special-interest groups, I'm ready for the anger to simmer and the non-Democrats in DC to focus on responsible governing. We don't need them to govern angry, just govern responsibly.