Posted on 09/09/2010 9:56:54 AM PDT by NetRight Nation
As Washington D.C. slips further below the waves of partisan rancor and unprecedented red ink, voters of both parties are overwhelmingly endorsing term limits as a way to right the sinking ship.
In fact as increasing numbers of Americans have begun to recognize the importance of refocusing our nation on its founding principles, none of those principles is garnering more support than term limits.
According to the results of a new FOX News poll, 78 percent of all voters favor term limits — including 84 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of Democrats and Independents. By contrast, only 16 percent of voters oppose term limits. In today’s era of political hyper-partisanship and media-fueled ideological divisiveness, those numbers are positively astounding.
Or are they?
The truth is that support for term limits has always been strong. In 2002 for example voters in states that passed legislative term limits during the previous decade were still supporting them by huge majorities — ranging anywhere from 60 to 78 percent.
Given such strong and consistent public support, it’s not surprising that the only successful attempts to undo legislative term limits in the modern era have come from legislative or judicial actions which overturned the results of popular elections. In fact just last year New York City leaders arbitrarily tossed out the results of two citywide elections to give themselves additional terms in office.
So much for the argument that term limits are “anti-Democratic.”
A throwback to Athenian, Spartan and Roman government, the concept of term limits — or “mandatory rotation in office” — is actually a staple of democracy. Championed by Thomas Jefferson and numerous Founding Fathers, term limits were designed to “prevent every danger which might arise to American freedom by (politicians) continuing too long in office.”
“Nothing is so essential to the preservation of a Republican government,” George Mason — the father of the U.S. Bill of Rights — wrote in endorsing term limits.
Famed female historian Mercy Otis Warren — who was dubbed “the conscience of the American Revolution” — vigorously protested the exclusion of term limits from the U.S. Constitution, while accurately predicting the corrosive influence that career politicians would wield over the populace in their absence.
“There is no provision for (rotation in office), nor anything to prevent the perpetuity of office in the same hands for life; which by a little well timed bribery, will probably be done,” she wrote in 1788.
Frankly, our government has moved well past “a little well timed bribery.” Today, decisions in Washington are dictated almost exclusively by a corrupt pay-to-play culture in which powerful special interests (often taxpayer-funded interests) leverage their access to career politicians in order to expand their slice of the public largesse.
It’s a favor factory, pure and simple — and rather than governing on principle both Republicans and Democrats end up being governed by the spoils that come from dispensing those favors.
Look at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — a pair of government-sponsored (now government-owned) mortgage giants that were able to use their relationships with career politicians to evade reform efforts during the early part of this decade. Having escaped accountability, Fannie and Freddie’s reckless lending helped sow the seeds for America’s recent financial collapse.
And look at government’s “solution” to this ongoing financial collapse — draconian new regulations over the free market that give these same career politicians even greater power over the flow of capital in America.
Speaking of government “solutions,” look at organized labor — which has received billions of dollars via government bailouts and Barack Obama’s new socialized medicine bill. Are we supposed to believe that this money is not payback for the $100 million that unions gave to Obama and Democratic candidates during the 2008 election?
Whose interests are being served by these policies? Clearly not those of the American taxpayers, whose personal and financial freedom shrinks with each new government power grab financed by borrowed billions.
And while changing political parties may treat the immediate symptoms of Washington’s disease, absent long-overdue reforms like term limits we will never actually treat the disease itself.
Overwhelming majorities of Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, partisans and independents recognize this reality. It is past time for our politicians to put down their personal interests and follow suit.
The author is chairman of U.S. Term Limits.
Read more at NetRightDaily.com: http://netrightdaily.com/2010/09/term-limits-treating-the-d-c-disease/#ixzz0z3HBEMUj
I’m kind of wishy-washy on term limits. I do think there is value is having familiarity w/existing law and regulation. E.g., let’s say a potential politician gets up in arms about europeans retiring in the U.S. and getting paid out of our SSA (they do), only to later discover that this is part of recoprocity treaty w/have w/many countries (so americans can retire in europe and be paid from their pension system).
Not a good example, but I hope you see what I mean.
Instead of term limits, I would rather see a very efficient impeachment process that applies to all govt branches. Not the recall elections that drag on for years, but something that gets them out when they start abusing their office, like almost all of them do (earmarking). Sort of like putting a cop on administrative leave pending investigation.
Of course, such a procedure could be abused as well, hence penalties for abusing THAT should be life in prison, as it undermines the will of the people.
BUT, HOUSTON, WE STILL HAVE A PROBLEM!
What is to be done about the HILL RATS? These are the allegedly “professional” staffers who are so named because after the election their current boss loses, they scurry like rats to a new member – ANY MEMBER (his politics frequently don’t matter) – just to remain close to the power. Most are flaming liberals and, after the “experienced” staffer shows the new guy where the john is, because they have been up there for decades, far too many of these new members rely on them for how to vote and get along in the thoroughly corrupt system of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” that has caused the mess in which we now find ourselves.
IT GETS WORSE!
Let’s say the new guy needs an “expert” on tax policy. Well, son-of-a-gun, the professional staffer JUST HAPPENS to have a college chum who works at the IRS! Need an “expert” on education policy. Darned if that secretary he just hired doesn’t just have an old teacher friend who works over at the Department of Education!
NOW YOU KNOW WHY THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME – ESPECIALLY IN MALFUNCTION JUNCTION.
Looks like we will also need TENURE LIMITS on the Hill Rats with stiff penalties for breaking the rules!
I recently heard Gingrich tell Hannity that—horrors — the alleged Health Care Bill was almost certainly written at 3 am by 25 year-old liberal staffers, groggy on beer and pizza. Not sure why that was so shocking. HELL, that’s how nearly ALL the so-called legislation has been done up there for decades. It’s why there are two things one should never watch being made: SAUSAGE AND LAWS.
One of the KEY THINGS we all need to do BEFORE we get behind a new candidate to replace the 8 term retread who has sold us out nearly every term up there is to INSIST THAT HE DRAW HIS KEY STAFFERS FROM LOCAL FOLKS WHO MAY STILL HAVE A GRASP ON REALITY OUT HERE IN FLYOVER COUNTRY — THEN HOLD HIS FEET TO THE FIRE ON THAT PLEDGE — OR REPLACE HIM NEXT TIME!
Sadly, it’s the ONLY WAY THINGS WILL CHANGE UP THERE!!
“The graveyards are full of irreplacable men.” - DeGaulle
Meaning that nobody is truely irreplaceable. The arguments against term limits always come back to the idea that there are some people in congress that are simply irreplacable, due to their experience and wisdom. Looking at what has been going on in Washington (on both sides of the aisle) should prove to everyone that widsom doesn’t always follow experience, and there really isn’t anyone in Washington that could not be replaced.
My proposal is to have an 18 year limit (in total) for holding any federal elected office. That would be 3 terms for a senator, 9 terms for a congressman, or any combination (say 6 terms as a congressmand and 1 term as a senator). Once the total goes over 18, you can no longer hold federal elected office.
Make an execption for the office of the president, since it is a unique office.
The point is eliminate CAREER politicians. Bottom line, that’s the real problem. People who aspire to have a career in politics (just like anyone else migh aspire to have a career in private industry).
Get real for congress and senate to vote for term limits would be like you to ask for a decrease in pay.
“The graveyards are full of irreplacable men.” - DeGaulle
Nice saying, and very applicable for each and every one of us, including politicians. For any argument against term limits just point to the President of the US, the most powerful politician, who is replaced every four or eight years. Or conversely point to the tragic and devastational result of the permanently installed, Mao, Stalin, Castro, Peron, etc.
In light of the corruption that inevitably befalls on the artificially powerful career politician, and given the human failing (ego) that would fall on each and every one of us in that position, term limits are the only option. Still not perfect, but necessary.
It is possible the lifetime Constitutional appointment of the SC justices is a significant flaw.
Incidentally had this discussion via correspondence years ago with James J. Kilpatrick, recently passed. He corresponded to a common reader without a hint of condescension. Thank you sir, RIP.
Replace taxpayer funded pensions with 401Ks and watch ‘em flee. The big draw, and why they will do ANYTHING to stay in power is because of the lush pensions, COLAs and medical bennies they have voted for themselves. Short term benefits would be, perhaps, a better crowd running for office. Long term would be the eventual petering out of these leeches.
Once they leave/lose office, show them the door and introduce them to the niceties of a rollover account. Perhaps if their pensions were based on the health of the US economy, they’d be more inclined to favor US interests.
It won’t be enacted for the current bunch, but if the heat is on, they might say the above applies to all newly elected pols. Yeah, the current crowd would be nursing at the taxpayers’ teat for years to come but just imagine if we had done this 20-30 years ago.
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