Term Limits Work

BizPac Review ^ | 8-14-2011 | John R. Smith

[TheBombshellProject]

The two smartest political votes that Palm Beach County voters ever passed were Term Limits for county commissioners (2002) and Single Member Districts for the county commission (1988). Both votes removed political power from the hands of a few to the hands of many.

More recently, the best political news I heard all week is that an appeals court ruled that voters can choose to amend a county’s charter to mandate term limits for county commissioners.

Something bizarre happens to most politicians when they stay in public office too long. They deny it, but I have seen it happen dozens of times. Some sort of malevolent mindset takes hold. And a kind of arrogance settles in, perhaps from being told how wonderful you are by too many people for too long.

Term limits work, because over the last few years we have seen what happens when we dont have them.

[TheBombshellProject]

The awful temptations of power, and the weakness of human nature to succumb to those temptations.

[Jack Hydrazine]

“Something bizarre happens to most politicians when they stay in public office too long. They deny it, but I have seen it happen dozens of times. Some sort of malevolent mindset takes hold. And a kind of arrogance settles in, perhaps from being told how wonderful you are by too many people for too long.”

Positions of power and authority tend to attract power mad, fascist, and controlling personalities. More than likely they were already like that before they came into office.

[xzins]

I fully support a constitutional amendment limiting congress to 8 years of service. That would change senatorial terms to 4 years with staggered classes.

A presidential win would not, of course, be counted as years in congress or vice versa.

For people who already should be accomplished in life, 8 years is more than enough time to credibly perform a job.

I would also limit judicial terms to 12 years...in any combination of federal judicial slots, to include the supreme court. Time has shown that there is no truth to the notion that judges are neutral by virtue of not standing for election.

I would start any retirement payments for federal office holders at age 75, and it would only be stipend multiplied by years served. No office holder would receive any cost of living or housing allowance greater than that of a military bird colonel assigned to the pentagon. It would NOT follow them after their term limit completed.