How about this as a new Constitutional Amendment?

[thatjoeguy]

Now I'm not a Constitutional Lawyer, nor did I play one on TV (I did stay at a Holiday Inn once though) but I've got this crazy idea that we can save ourselves some headaches with one simple addition to our beloved Constitution.

Here goes but please don't shoot me :)

No member of Congress shall serve more then two terms in any single capacity as a member or more then four terms total if elected for another public office. No member of Congress shall receive any compensation of any sort from any government entity other then while serving in office except those members of Congress that have also served as the President of the United States or as a member of the Supreme Court. No member of Congress, their siblings, immediate descendants, or immediate relations of any sort thereof shall assist in any way or receive any compensation from any entity or association of said entity, whether direct or indirect, which receives any public funds or is seeking such funds from any public entity for at least 10 years following their last day served.

This I think could solve 3 problems: Get ride of the career politicians. Eliminate their cozy retirement/health care packages (forcing them to get real jobs). And also eliminating their 'cashing in' on any government work they do by obtaining any posh jobs for them or their family members while in office or within 10 years after.

And since I'm on a role how about adding this one too:

Any person seeking any public office, prior to being accepted/placed on any ballot in any state, must first show legal documentation to each State's Attorney in which state they intend to seek office, his or her qualifications to said office.

Hmm, wonder what headache this one would eliminate?

JB

[thatjoeguy]

“How bout we protect the one we have first? Is your state on the list?”

I’m in Illinois, so yes mine is sadly on the list. We may actually have started this for all I know :(

JB

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

If the UN voted for complete gun control,
This would be law instead of the second amendment!

[bpjam]

The Supremes already nuked much of what you (and I) want.

[exnavy]

I have a better one, much simpler as well.

No public office shall be a payed position, federal, state, or local, including retirement, under penalty of death.

[cripplecreek]

My state democrat representative was the only democrat in the state to vote against it. I’m proud to say that “Yes I did vote for him.”

[JimRed]

The best term limit tool is at the ballot box by the people that do the voting.

While I'd like to be comfortable agreeing with that sentiment, the seemingly forever presence of individuals like Robert "KKK" Byrd, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John "Maverick" McCain and Ted "the swimmer" Kennedy tend to disprove it.

McCain really should not be mentioned in the same sentence as the rest of those, as I believe he has America's best interest at heart, but wrong is still wrong, and too long is too long!

Two three year house terms, two five year senate terms, two four year Presidential terms would help keep the career politicians at bay.

And please, PLEASE, STOP VOTING FOR LAWYERS! Their sole purpose is to pass laws that cause you to need them constantly.

[cartoonistx]

You a right! Term limits is a bad idea. It just encourages the worst kind of Gerrymandering in order to create “super-safe” districts for the political parties. A better solution would be to limit the total number of years that one can serve in any elected or appointed office or series of offices (except in the judiciary) to 24 years. This would provide for a reasonable career yet ensure a faster turn-over. Someone with presidential aim would have to be in position to do so within at least 20 years in order to serve there one term. Were they able to be elected president from outside the government they still would fall under the current presidential 2-term requirement.

[fr_freak]

Actually, I think the Constitution as written originally had the right idea. The problem is that idiots have tinkered with it since. In my view, the downward trend of our government has two basic causes:

1) lack of accountability of representatives to voters
2) social parasites being able to vote themselves free money

Ironically, the Founders built in safeguards against both of these problems - we just removed them after the fact. Originally, federal Senators were elected by the state legislatures to be representatives of the States, to act in the best interest of the State, and to be accountable directly to those state legislatures. Currently, our Senators laugh at their constituents because they are just some vague mob. But a state legislature would be a smaller body and would have very specific demands of a senator. Fail to represent those demands and you're out, and no amount of silly TV ads touting your status as a "fighter for working families" and other such meaningless nonsense would fool them. Meanwhile, we should have fairly stringent requirements regarding residency for state Senators and Representatives, and federal Representatives. Perhaps a 5-year full-time residency requirement to be able to run for any office, so we can avoid Hillary-type carpet-bagging, and all representatives should be required to have an open town-hall type meeting IN PERSON with their voting constituents at least once a year.

The second part is reducing the right to vote to those who would be responsible, who have a real stake in the outcome of elections. The vote has been dumbed down to any warm idiot over the age of eighteen at the same time that public education has been dumbed down to the level of your average Asian kindergarten, only without the respect. You cannot have non-producers voting in your elections, period. The vote should be limited to property-owners and military veterans, and there should be stringent ID checks. Voter eligibility lists should be published by the local governments a full year before any election, so as to allow for any dispute.

I am convinced that the closer our government representatives are to us, the more they will behave, so voting should be as local as possible, and then the power trickles up from there.

[Fresh Wind]

Which is why the Democrats will never permit it.

Which is why the Democrats and many Republicans will never permit it.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I’ve never liked term limits. Term limits means someone that doesn’t live in my district doesn’t like who the people in my district elected but that someone won’t move into my district to vote against him/her.

The best term limit tool is at the ballot box by the people that do the voting.

I'd agree, if it were not so painfully obvious by now that

1. Other things being even remotely equal, the incumbent always wins reelection - and incumbents know it. And once an incumbent really believes that, he should have been voted out office long ago, for all the good he will be. And Democratic incumbents arrive in Washington knowing that.

2. Even if you think that your congressman is the fairest of ten thousand, there are about a quarter of a million adults in a congressional district. Meaning that there are about 24 other people who are also the fairest of ten thousand. You can't seriously believe that your congressman is the wisest and most public-spirited person in your district. Half of them are Democrats!

[Red_Devil 232]

Well that sure would promote corruption to the nth degree.

[KrisKrinkle]

Not sure that goes deep enough, especially for representatives who get elected every two years.

All of these guys have a staff to help them. A “permanent” staffer could work for various congressmen over the years and become experienced in their job.

A new congressman comes in and hires the experienced staffer, because he’s experienced, and takes his advice.

What we’d end up with (and probably have now to some extent) is an entrenced bureaucracy of permanent staffers who are the real power behind the elected officials. These would be people the voters can’t reach to replace.

[fr_freak]

I have a better one, much simpler as well.

No public office shall be a payed position, federal, state, or local, including retirement, under penalty of death.

Actually, I read a very interesting perspective on this, a while back. I believe it was Thomas Sowell who wrote it, but the gist of it was that there is no real way to eliminate the possibility of corruption in our politicians, and term limits and low salaries may actually increase the likelihood of a politician being susceptible to bribery. If a politician is less than wealthy already, and is offered substantial money and/or perks by some lobbyist or other scoundrel to vote one way or another, or submit one type of legislation or another, he might be very tempted to take it, especially if he is limited to only one or two terms, and knows he'll be job hunting soon.

Meanwhile, the bad legislation that he'll help pass will end up costing the taxpayer millions if not billions in bail-outs, excess regulations, or pork spending. The suggestion was made that it might be cheaper in the long run to pay each public officer a million dollars per year, as long as that then removes the temptation for them to engage in economy-killing legislation. I don't know if I agree with that idea, but I think the point is well made. I am convinced that only local accountability will help reduce corruption, and by that I mean physical, in-your-face, your-neighbors-want-to-kick-your-ass accountability.

[K-oneTexas]

Term Limits are good, 8 years for any Congress Critter is more than sufficient, like the President. (All National Office eight years, sound good.

Personally i’d like to see an amendment limiting Congress in raising their own pay, maybe set at $100k per year by amendment. If a raise is wanted the citizens must authorize it through a nationwide vote, much like local governments in their bond proposals, etc.

However repeal of the 17th Amendment would be even better as would quite possibly limit Senators to the same term as their State’s Governors.

Limit their pay and their terms and maybe they’d need to get a real job at some point in their lives.

The Bricker Amendment would also be good, in subjugating treaties and executive agreements to the Constitution and not raise them above it.

Course repeal of the 16th Amendment would be good also.

Maybe even add an Amendment to make all Presidential Candidates post original certified birth certificates from the respective State where voters could see them ... after the USSC validates the State Offices certification, a duty Congress could not remove.

[wita]

Agreed on all counts. Term limits will not turn dishonest people into good people. The State of SD instituted term limits and found that all it did was hinder the work of the legislature because of the inexperience of the new legislators, and now the very conservative individual that spearheaded the fight for term limits, is very sorry that it passed.

[fr_freak]

4.Any member of congress convicted of a felony or impeached from office shall forfeit all retirement benefits accrued during his or her service.

I think any member of Congress convicted of a corruption-related felony (bribery, graft, etc.) should receive the death penalty. I'm not kidding. Someone who murders one person is eligible for the death penalty, so why not someone whose actions could result in the death of a nation?

[Sci Fi Guy]

It does not have to be that extreme. I'd like 4 terms house and 2 senate consecutively. Letting them run for different offices, or sitting out a term or two would make a huge change.

We could even grandfather it in, say it starts in 2020 or it exempts the current members of congress. Anything to get the limits in. Gradually the current members will be replaced.

[cripplecreek]

True, besides there have been some really good long time congressmen. Maybe term limits on senators would be better since they’re the ones who seem most willing to betray the people once they take office.

[Seruzawa]

IIRC a Founding Father said, “Only a moral people can be free”.

It’s a mistake to fall into the same trap that the libs do. No amount of govt rules, laws, threats, tweaking, etc can cure the basic problem of an unethical population dominated by materialism. Eventually the entire nation becomes one big prison with a corrupt brutal murderous govt that ends up being worse than an anarchy.

We’re at the tipping point. No amount of new laws can solve the problem. It takes active involvement in the political arena. And the target is the schools as much as anything. They need to be purged of the “experts”, the legal drug pushers, the counselors, the textbooks full of lies. We have a population weaned on govt loving lies and anti-human propaganda.