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dmaestro
18-Jan-13, 20:32
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 More Democracy Needed...
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Poll: 75 percent want Hill term limits
Term limits received bipartisan support in the Gallup survey. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO
By KATIE GLUECK | 1/18/13
Three out of four Americans support term limits for members of Congress, a new poll finds.
According to a Gallup survey posted Friday, 75 percent of adults nationwide back term limits for members of the House and the Senate, while 21 percent say they would vote against term limits. Term limits received bipartisan support in the poll: Republicans would back such a measure 82 percent-15 percent; independents would do so 79 percent-17 percent and Democrats favored term limits 65 percent-29 percent, even as most incumbents won their races again in November, Gallup noted.
This survey comes at a time when many Americans have a negative opinion of the Hill. Gallup reported on Jan. 11 that Congress had an approval rating of just 14 percent.
The poll also found that 63 percent of those surveyed would end the Electoral College, while 29 percent would not support abolishing the institution. There was little split along party lines for this question: Republicans support doing away with the Electoral College 61 percent-30 percent; Democrats say the same, 66 percent-30 percent; as do independents, 63 percent-29 percent.
The survey of 1,013 adults in the United States was conducted Jan. 8-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Read more: www.politico.com
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... if there were term limits, some say that lobbyists would have even more clout since legislators would be less able to make good decisions about complicated or technical subjects and would be more vulnerable to the lure of making their mark in a shorter period of time.
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dmaestro
18-Jan-13, 22:43
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I would agree up to a point. I would say for starters at most 3-4 terms as a Senator or 9-12 terms in the House is a maximum. Not that radical for sure, but even that is no more than 16-24 years. At some point experience reaches a plateau in terms of value and as a practical matter seniority in terms of years does not equate with effectiveness, yet seniority is what matters in DC. Boehner has been there 22 years, Pelosi over 25 years, Reid 35 years, McConnell 37 years. Time to plan the transition IMO, so they are more concerned with their legacy than dying in office. Byrd served over 50 years!
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... and there is little incentive for lawmakers to take up this issue about term limits with (as usual) so many other more important issues at stake. It would take a much larger and louder public outcry to get their attention ... I don't see any "trigger" to make that happen ... yet.
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I have advocated for a single term limits, for all offices. There are enough good people in the country to make intelligent, honest decisions that are well informed. It doesn't take that long to learn what's going on and how things get done. There would be a transition period where the outgoing assists the incoming person learn what is "in-progress" and its history
I believe the Founders expected a person would "do his duty" and return to their home after a short tour.
This would prevent there being an elite government above and beyond the common citizen.
This would prevent fund raising for reelection campaign problems.
This would prevent long term influence by lobbyists.
One term to do your duty and then be out and home, back to a real career. No more lifetime, elite positions with huge salaries and benefits. Government gets the same rules as we get and we get the same benefits as government gets.
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Softy ...
... that may be a little to idealistic in today's age. There is value for some wisdom and talent to stay on board more than one two year term in the House, for example ... and the Reps simply can't depend upon staff for that kind of acumen. IMHO.
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