Saturday, March 10, 2012

4. Term Limits

From http://www.the99declaration.org/term_limits
"Members of the United States House of Representatives shall be limited to serving no more than four two-year terms in their lifetime.
Members of the United States Senate shall be limited to serving no more than two six-year terms in their lifetime. 
The two-term limit for President shall remain unchanged. Serving as a member of Congress or as the President of the United States is one of the highest honors and privileges our culture can bestow.
These positions of power and prominence in our society should be sought to serve one’s country and not provide a lifetime career designed to increase personal wealth and power."
The first thing that I notice here is how specific this is. The Senate limit seems to be modeled after the Presidential term limit, but the House one seems arbitrary. Is it designed to mirror the eight years that a President may serve? Why not make it six two-year terms, so that all legislators max out at 12?
Regardless, on its face, this provision seems reasonable enough. Upon further reading, it turns out that there's a giant debate about the concept.
The pro- argument seems to boil down to the idea that implementing term limits increases turnover, and turnover is necessary to ensure fairness, minimize corruption, and to bring fresh ideas to the legislature. The con- argument seems to be that there are good men and women in the legislature, and they should not be penalized because some legislators can't act ethically. If there is meaningful ethics reform, the argument goes, term limits are unnecessary.
Honestly, I can see both sides of the argument. I'm tending to lean toward the pro- side. I think that yes, there are good congressmen, but they aren't the only good people out there. Especially in the two-party system that we have now, if the incumbent tends to agree with my views, I'm not going to run against him. I might be just as ethical as he is, and hold generally the same views, but I'll let him continue his ride, while I might have something new to bring to the table that he doesn't. If he were at the end of the limit of his term, I might consider running for his position, and he would be replaced with someone ethical, who generally agrees with his positions, but has a different slant on things. That's a good thing, I think.

There is something else to consider here, though. In order to impose term limits on Congress, we would need to pass an amendment to the Constitution. The main way to do this is to have an amendment proposed in both the House and the Senate, have it pass by a 2/3 majority in both houses, then each 3/4 of the states' legislatures need to support the amendment by a simple majority. This process usually have a time limit set on it, but it doesn't have to.
Meanwhile, there will be a major national debate. The people probably won't have any direct say (unless the amendment is to be ratified by convention, which has only been done once -- and even then each state has its own rules on how to hold a convention). Individual state legislative campaigns may be dominated by the issue.
Are we ready for all of that? Is this important enough to get the process going? Do we have any hope of getting a 2/3 majority in both houses of Congress? Maybe the answer to all of these is yes.
We need to consider: is now the time to try to amend the Constitution to impose term limits on Congress?

1 comment:

  1. 99Y2...

    Hi - My name's Kurt.

    I live on SSI disability, about 700$/mo, and the 99/OWS movement spoke to me very stongly. Although I am not able to participate directly (I thought late in 2011) I would add my two cents by writing... Turns out, I just finished my project last week.

    I'm writing, because I've been a fan/follower of yours on OpEdNews during this time -- I've read a lot of your posts -- and, well, I guess I'm asking a favor of someone who might be ideologically sympathetic. Or tolerant at least.

    I'm done grinding away, and what do you know? it seems there's no one left to give a hoot... So I made my text into an eBook and put in on Amazon Kindle for 99 cents. I guess what I'm trying to do now is find a few people among the authors and bloggers I've admired, who might be interested in my topic enough to read a few pages, maybe write a review.

    But honestly. At this point, all I'm looking for is someone to share a labor of love with. That's pretty much it. I sit in this Appalachian hole-in-the-wall, getting older, and all I hope for is to be heard, just once. So, I'm pretty much begging lol! Could you read, even just the first couple pages at Amazon and leave a comment? I'm not such an ass that I'd expect anyone to read all 100+ pages. But maybe five or ten? Just the Introduction &/or Conclusion?

    It's not total drivel -- I did earn (albeit sloooowly) a BA in English before my symptoms finally shut me down and made me a hermit. If anything, it's over-written. But I feel my voice, or my style at least, is distinct, and I wrote it consciously at an extremity, if only to offer another facet to the OWS Anthology of Poetry. To layer in another octave to the chorus of the Outcast. And now even that Anthology has stopped taking sumissions!

    Politically, I am motivated largely by Obamacare -- I'm for it, if I can't get single-payer -- and I am willing to support the president and the notion of working for change, not by rewriting the Constitution, but by electing sane, intelligent people. So I'm from that wing of the 99 crowd.

    In any case. I'm not looking for accolades or money. I guess it's just company. The feeling you get listening to live radio, only the other way around -- the feeling of a living ear at the end of my voice.

    That's all. Sorry to bother. Also, I'd be happy to give away copies of my RTF to anyone who asks. Anyone who might be up to reading the entirety, but who doesn't want to pay, or who isn't set up to borrow from the Amazon library.

    Thanks again. No pressure, truly. Frankly, if you've read to the bottom of this letter, that's more than enough.

    - Kurt.. Oh yeah! eBook Link:

    Amazon.com/dp/B008ULODTA

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