Let us be clear that one of the reasons that it was ratified is because people were sick and tired of abuses like rich people buying senate seats.

See http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2012/06/a-little-story-a... for verification. And note that while he was obvious and egregious, he was not alone. Look up William Lorimer for another example.

Sure, that was a problem, but was this cure along with the rest of the Progressives' grand plan of centralizing power in the Federal government worth the cost?

Are you happy with what our now nearly all powerful central government is doing and what everyone can easily extrapolate for the future? (Well, until it runs out of money, then the real fun begins.)