Congressional term limits

[formerlurker]

Totally for term limits.  Fixed terms would hopefully prompt those in office to actually do something constructive with their time, eliminates the consistent campaigning, and with a change of guard at the door gives them a heightened level of awareness to party affiliation and loyalty.    You want your party to retain that now open seat?  then remember the constituents who put you there.  

That and it will rid the country of Pelosi, Kennedy, Kerry, Reid, Paul and the like.

[CG6468]

I have favored term limits for many years. Elections do not function as term limits; election results are often purchased by the incumbent candidates.

When I argue for term limits, a common response is, "But it takes them (the politicians) more than a term to learn the system!"

To which I respond, "Thank you for making my point. There should be no damned 'system'"

[franksolich]

When the courts finally acquiesced to the will of the people (which they had not for about 20 years, during which time several term-limit proposals were passed in Nebraska, by very large margins), and in 2006, the politicians had to accept the inevitable, there was much gloom-and-doom about the whole deal.

In the Nebraska legislature, for example, 24 of the 49 state senators (Nebraska has only one legislative chamber), had to retire in 2006, being replaced by political novices, many of whom had never even held a minor elective position before.

There was much gloom-and-doom about this.

At the end of the 2007 session, the governor signed the largest tax-cut bill in the history of the state, $825 million or something like that.

People new in the "system" aren't as enamoured of pet projects and pet issues as are professional politicians, also people new in the "system" don't have the buddy-buddy social connections with lobbyists and special interests, and so can cut fat out of a budget with no remorse, no hesitation, whatsoever.

This year, 2008, Nebraska gets rid of the other 25 professional politicians, meaning that in 2009, all 49 state senators will have been here only since 2007.

I think it's a good deal; of course, only time will tell, but thus far it's worked out much to the advantage of the already overburdened taxpayers.

[DixieBelle]

I'm for term limits. The amount I'm not so sure on yet. It would cleanse D.C. of people like Vast Teddy who are long past their freshness date. You would think that elections serve as term limits but ultimately, they do not.

[rich_t]

The problem with passing term limits is that it completely changes the dynamic of how Congress functions in ways that are not to any of the incumbents' clear advantage, and to the obvious disadvantage of most of them.  Suppose you are one of the Senators or Reps from an out-of-the-way, not-particularly-important State or district.  In a term-limited Congress, you will never acquire a prominent position as a committee head and have relatively little chance of even being seated on one of the major committees (Justice, Defense, Banking, etc.).   In the current system, your longevity will eventually be rewarded in a seniority system.  Where is the incentive to dump your current standing in a known system and screw yourself (and also the people you represent, for whom you will NEVER be in a position to bring home the bacon and possibly improve their relative importance in the national scheme)?

After watching Byrd, Spector, and company dither around, though, an age limit wouldn't trouble me though.

You bring up an interesting point, but IMO the idea of term limits is to benefit the public; not those in Congress. 

One problem with the the current system is that these people become entrenched and totally lose touch with those that they are supposed to be representing.  They in effect become elitists and seem to start to consider themselves as some sort of ruling class royalty that are above the law.

I think that 12 years is long enough to get a lot of good things done and short enough to limit the long term damage that can be caused by entrenched incumbents.

[Chris_]

The problem with passing term limits is that it completely changes the dynamic of how Congress functions in ways that are not to any of the incumbents' clear advantage, and to the obvious disadvantage of most of them.  Suppose you are one of the Senators or Reps from an out-of-the-way, not-particularly-important State or district.  In a term-limited Congress, you will never acquire a prominent position as a committee head and have relatively little chance of even being seated on one of the major committees (Justice, Defense, Banking, etc.).   In the current system, your longevity will eventually be rewarded in a seniority system.  Where is the incentive to dump your current standing in a known system and screw yourself (and also the people you represent, for whom you will NEVER be in a position to bring home the bacon and possibly improve their relative importance in the national scheme)?

After watching Byrd, Spector, and company dither around, though, an age limit wouldn't trouble me though.

Simple solution, committee chairs selected by rotating lottery......

doc

[rich_t]

The problem with passing term limits is that it completely changes the dynamic of how Congress functions in ways that are not to any of the incumbents' clear advantage, and to the obvious disadvantage of most of them.  Suppose you are one of the Senators or Reps from an out-of-the-way, not-particularly-important State or district.  In a term-limited Congress, you will never acquire a prominent position as a committee head and have relatively little chance of even being seated on one of the major committees (Justice, Defense, Banking, etc.).   In the current system, your longevity will eventually be rewarded in a seniority system.  Where is the incentive to dump your current standing in a known system and screw yourself (and also the people you represent, for whom you will NEVER be in a position to bring home the bacon and possibly improve their relative importance in the national scheme)?

After watching Byrd, Spector, and company dither around, though, an age limit wouldn't trouble me though.

Simple solution, committee chairs selected by rotating lottery......

doc

Excellent suggestion.