Post by nels97 on Nov 28, 2003 17:04:59 GMT -5
Whatever happened to the drive for Congressional Term Limits? It seems to me that Congress has decided that they no longer need to fear that it will ever happen.
Given the way the Congress (on both sides of the aisle) has been behaving lately, it is becoming increasingly clear that nobody up there gives a damn what the American people think of their behavior: pork barrel bills out the gazoo, unprincipled blocking of Federal judges, callous obstruction of school reform in the face of extraordinary declines in American student proficiency vs the world, kowtowing to every special interest you can think of, etc,etc, etc. No matter whether you are conservative, liberal, or independent, it is certain that you are becoming more aware that Congress is growing more arrogant every day, responsive only to the focussed special interests who give them the most campaign support, not to the general unfocussed population of taxpayers, many of whom vote unthinkingly by name recognition.
As the years go by, and as the percentage of successful reelection of incumbents rises, it becomes ever more unlikely that Congress will ever be party to, or even be vulnerable to, the proposing of an amendment to limit Congressional terms.
And with so few states in the past few years adopting statewide term limits, it will be a very long time before 38 states will have the necessary mindset (based on their own term limits) to force Congress to call for a Convention for Proposing Amemndments as required by the Constitution. (I know some people are terrified by the prospect of a Constitutional Convention, but that’s another story for another time.)
What I would like to suggest at this time is that it is possible to make the concept of a Congressional Term Limits Amendment (CTLA) so very much LESS threatening to the current members of Congress that a great many more of them would be amenable to the idea. Especially because a majority of the populace are in favor of it, members of Congress might even think it would enhance their reelection chances if they voted in favor of CTLA! (For being so noble and statesmanlike, of course!)
My proposal for the wording of the amendment is as follows:
Excepting current incumbents of both houses indefinitely, as long as they are reelected successively, Members of the Senate shall serve a maximum of twelve years (two terms), and Members of the House shall serve a maximum of six years (three terms). Fractional terms not included herein.
I know that the glaring objection will be that this will enable some “old bulls” to hang on for a long time. But the major redeeming feature is that it removes the principal (unspoken) objection that virtually every member of Congress would have: the limiting of HIS OWN reelection. Thus the logjam would be broken, and the process of creating a “citizen Congress” in place of a “professional politician” congress will have begun.
I would appreciate comments,
Yours truly, Nelson Walker, Saratoga, California nels96@pacbell.net
Given the way the Congress (on both sides of the aisle) has been behaving lately, it is becoming increasingly clear that nobody up there gives a damn what the American people think of their behavior: pork barrel bills out the gazoo, unprincipled blocking of Federal judges, callous obstruction of school reform in the face of extraordinary declines in American student proficiency vs the world, kowtowing to every special interest you can think of, etc,etc, etc. No matter whether you are conservative, liberal, or independent, it is certain that you are becoming more aware that Congress is growing more arrogant every day, responsive only to the focussed special interests who give them the most campaign support, not to the general unfocussed population of taxpayers, many of whom vote unthinkingly by name recognition.
As the years go by, and as the percentage of successful reelection of incumbents rises, it becomes ever more unlikely that Congress will ever be party to, or even be vulnerable to, the proposing of an amendment to limit Congressional terms.
And with so few states in the past few years adopting statewide term limits, it will be a very long time before 38 states will have the necessary mindset (based on their own term limits) to force Congress to call for a Convention for Proposing Amemndments as required by the Constitution. (I know some people are terrified by the prospect of a Constitutional Convention, but that’s another story for another time.)
What I would like to suggest at this time is that it is possible to make the concept of a Congressional Term Limits Amendment (CTLA) so very much LESS threatening to the current members of Congress that a great many more of them would be amenable to the idea. Especially because a majority of the populace are in favor of it, members of Congress might even think it would enhance their reelection chances if they voted in favor of CTLA! (For being so noble and statesmanlike, of course!)
My proposal for the wording of the amendment is as follows:
Excepting current incumbents of both houses indefinitely, as long as they are reelected successively, Members of the Senate shall serve a maximum of twelve years (two terms), and Members of the House shall serve a maximum of six years (three terms). Fractional terms not included herein.
I know that the glaring objection will be that this will enable some “old bulls” to hang on for a long time. But the major redeeming feature is that it removes the principal (unspoken) objection that virtually every member of Congress would have: the limiting of HIS OWN reelection. Thus the logjam would be broken, and the process of creating a “citizen Congress” in place of a “professional politician” congress will have begun.
I would appreciate comments,
Yours truly, Nelson Walker, Saratoga, California nels96@pacbell.net