Term limits an idea too long in coming

Last week, federal Congressional representatives filed a bill that would begin the process to implement a new Constitutional amendment setting term limits for US Senators and Representatives.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Rep. David Schweitzer (R-AZ) are the sponsors of the Senate Bill.

Their proposal would limit Representatives to three terms and Senators to two terms, or a total of 12 years.

Term limits for federal elected officials is something that is long overdue.

When the Founding Fathers wrote the original Constitution, it is plain from their written statements of the day that they envisioned a government of public servants who went to Washington for a brief period to serve their constituents and then returned to their homes and jobs to become private citizens again.

The original writers of the Constitution never envisioned a “professional” politician class where once elected, members remained for life, or the life of the voter’s whim.

The idea of term limits has gained steam in recent years as the political gridlock that is Washington has gotten more intense. Very little is accomplished today because partisans on both sides of the aisle act less in the best interests of their voting constituency and more in the best interests of their moneyed supporters whom they must court to win further reelection.

A recent poll claims that 78 percent of voters are strongly in favor of imposing term limits on federal officials. That percentage pretty much holds true across the political spectrum regardless of party affiliation.

Term limits won’t take the money out of politics it will just make it hugely more expensive for special interests to buy favors if they have to purchase a new candidate every 12 years

Term limits would also ensure that policy directions have a chance to change every decade or so. By moving out the old blood and ushering in the new blood, more modern ideas can be generated, hopefully people closer to their constituency will rotate through the doors of the Capitol and perhaps the intense gridlock of the past decade can be eliminated.

With term limits, elected officials who don’t perform for the good of the country can be rolled out even if they have the money to buy a seat in the first place.

One of the potential downfalls of term limits will be that Congressmen, knowing they only have a certain number of years to pay back their moneyed supporters, may try to push through bad-for-everyone legislation in a shorter window.

Although we haven’t seen signs of it recently, we can only hope the electorate is smart enough to see these pitfalls as they arise and shorten the time to voter-boot instead of term-limit boot.

Term limits might also put a stop to the never-ending reelection campaigns that are undertaken by every elected federal official. By simply doing the job the majority of voters asked of them when they are originally elected, Congressmen can focus much less on raising money for exorbitant war chests and more on actually running the government for the people.

There are very few arguments that can be raised against term limits. And all of those arguments would be shallow.

We put no credence in the argument that the learning curve is so steep when a new Congressman hits Washington that it takes eight or 10 years to figure out how things work.

That argument pleads inefficiency and just plain lack of knowledge and foresight.

Those who seek election to the nation’s highest offices should know a lot about what they need to be doing before they put their names on the ballot.

The American people are tired of paying for on-the-job training with political gridlock the only outcome we have witnessed.

The term limits proposal has no sponsors as yet in the House of Representatives. It should have a host of them.

If more than three-fourths of the American voters want term limits, elected officials should be lining up to support the idea.

That they are not is more proof that “professional” politicians, once elected, with the incumbent’s advantage in fund raising, have little regard for the wishes of those who sent them to office.

Let’s all get behind the idea of term limits. Nothing but good can come from them.

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