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Would you support term limits for Congress?

Would you support term limits for Congress? (Details in post)


  • Total voters
    36

Ockham

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Question:

A 2012 Presidential candidate (could be (R) or (D)) during the general election campaign and says they will push for and institute Congressional term limits:



House of Representatives: No more than 6 consecutive terms and not more than 10 total terms per person (20 years total)

Senate: No more than 2 consecutive terms and not more than 3 total terms per person (18 years total)
 
Works for me, but good luck passing it since too many seem to support term limits for other people's politicians, but not their own. If more citizens pushed their Congressmen to establish term limits, we might see a Constitutional Amendment, but we need more support to do it.

Term limits in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Homesteading" in Congress, made possible by reelection rates that approached 100% by the end of the 20th century, brought about a popular insurgency known as the "term-limits movement". The elections of 1990-94 saw the adoption of term limits for state legislatures in almost every state where citizens had the power of the initiative. In addition 23 states limited service in their delegation to Congress, with the general formula being three terms [six years] in the U.S. House and two terms [twelve years] in the U.S. Senate.

As they pertain to Congress, these laws are no longer enforceable, however, as a result of lawsuits filed by term limits foes including ousted Speaker of the House Tom Foley. In 1995 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned congressional term limits.[20]

Where rotation in the legislative branch has withstood court challenges, term limits continue to garner popular support. As of 2002, U.S. Term Limits found that in the 17 states where state legislators served in rotation, public support for term limits ranged from 60 to 78 percent.[21]

There are a few groups on the Web seeking to do this,but I do not know how good they are:

http://www.termlimits.org/

Citizens for Term Limits > why

Term Limits Arguments Pro and con
 
Question:

A 2012 Presidential candidate (could be (R) or (D)) during the general election campaign and says they will push for and institute Congressional term limits:



House of Representatives: No more than 6 consecutive terms and not more than 10 total terms per person (20 years total)

Senate: No more than 2 consecutive terms and not more than 3 total terms per person (18 years total)

If this were coupled with no jobs in any industry in which the congress person was a committee member on for life, then yes.

Otherwise, what is the point? Bribery will still happen.
 
Question:

A 2012 Presidential candidate (could be (R) or (D)) during the general election campaign and says they will push for and institute Congressional term limits:



House of Representatives: No more than 6 consecutive terms and not more than 10 total terms per person (20 years total)

Senate: No more than 2 consecutive terms and not more than 3 total terms per person (18 years total)

Yes, I support term limits - I think presidential limits and Congressional limits should match (2 of 4) . . . just alternate the years they rotate out.
 
Otherwise, what is the point? Bribery will still happen.
That's like saying "Why have bank guards? Bank robberies will still happen." It would cut down on the influence of special interests by taking away a Congressional representative's incentive to constantly seek reelection. Take away the overriding concern to be reelected and they will have more time to focus upon doing their duty for their state and the nation.
 
We have term limits. They are called periodic elections.
 
Maybe equal term limits for all, but only if the House term is increased to four years and the Senate term is decreased to 4 years.
The 2 year House term is ridiculous ! And I still say this even with the House being contaminated with all the tea baggers.
 
That's like saying "Why have bank guards? Bank robberies will still happen." It would cut down on the influence of special interests by taking away a Congressional representative's incentive to constantly seek reelection. Take away the overriding concern to be reelected and they will have more time to focus upon doing their duty for their state and the nation.

Only on their last term, which is better than nothing, I will admit.

However, fund raising for the next election isn't the only place corruption happens. A good number of congress gets well paid industry lobbying or other jobs that are created for them as a result of favors during the time in office. Look for this practice to increase as these people will see a greater pressure to pack their golden parachutes.

So, I expect a net gain from term limits to be 0, because it only changes incentives but does not eliminate them.
 
We have term limits. They are called periodic elections.


And, hopefully, you know this does not work. Maybe with absolute election reform it could; but we also need to have much, much more public interest...and this is a problem...
 
And, hopefully, you know this does not work. Maybe with absolute election reform it could; but we also need to have much, much more public interest...and this is a problem...

The last election certainly shows that it does. And I would agree that we need some election reform. But imposed term limits from above.... nope. Don't take away my right to vote for who I want to represent me in Congress.
 
We have term limits. They are called periodic elections.

Exactly. As much as I really wanted to vote for root beer...

It's a copout. It's the parties saying to the electorate "You're obviously not smart enough to choose." Usually the people in favor of term limits are the party that has something to gain.

If you dislike your current representation in Congress, get active. At the very least, vote for someone else. Term limits is just the 2 parties keeping you out of the process.
 
The last election certainly shows that it does. And I would agree that we need some election reform. But imposed term limits from above.... nope. Don't take away my right to vote for who I want to represent me in Congress.

Election reform would also help some of the problems term limits is seeking to correct. Again, it is up to "We,the People" to demand it in order to see it happen. Congressmen are reluctant to hamstring themselves unless forced to do so.
 
I would actually go for a far smaller term maximum, but I'd support term limits over all. In theory, it seems a legislator would have more inclination to be honest if they know their days are quite assuredly numbered. And even if they aren't, we avoid the lifelong politician with multiple lobbyist connections, ethics issues from corporate gifting and freebies, and that "screw the people, this is what I'm doing" mentality that seems to come with extended exposure to power.
 
Question:

A 2012 Presidential candidate (could be (R) or (D)) during the general election campaign and says they will push for and institute Congressional term limits:

House of Representatives: No more than 6 consecutive terms and not more than 10 total terms per person (20 years total)

Senate: No more than 2 consecutive terms and not more than 3 total terms per person (18 years total)

Yes, I would support term limits...although I think the limits you have proposed are far too generous. I'd probably limit it to 3 terms in the House and 1 term in the Senate. Ideally, people would be there long enough to learn how to be effective legislators, but not so long that they were corrupted by the system. And they would be able to follow their own judgment more, and follow the polls/money/party leadership less.
 
I would like to see a 2 term limit across the board. I would remove the post position benefits such as health care. If you really are here to "serve the people" then you wouldn't mind.
 
You know: I don't think 2 years is long enough to alter anything or accomplish anything - I think our current process encourages hasty decisions and poorly planned efforts . . . everyone worries about 'hurry hurry' and not at all about 'lets figure out a good solution'

But maybe extra time won't solve that at all - they'll just have more time to hurry hurry and do nothing.
 
I would actually go for a far smaller term maximum, but I'd support term limits over all. In theory, it seems a legislator would have more inclination to be honest if they know their days are quite assuredly numbered. And even if they aren't, we avoid the lifelong politician with multiple lobbyist connections, ethics issues from corporate gifting and freebies, and that "screw the people, this is what I'm doing" mentality that seems to come with extended exposure to power.

Yes !!!! I agree lesser term limits....2 terms max
 
Question:

A 2012 Presidential candidate (could be (R) or (D)) during the general election campaign and says they will push for and institute Congressional term limits:



House of Representatives: No more than 6 consecutive terms and not more than 10 total terms per person (20 years total)

Senate: No more than 2 consecutive terms and not more than 3 total terms per person (18 years total)

I support term limits. 2 term limits all the way from city council to the president regardless of how short that office is and one term for appointed officials per person. This will make sure no one is in long enough to make a career out of it.

I also think benefits should be cut off once a person leaves office. They should get no retirement, or any other benefits paid for by tax payers once they leave office.
 
I Support:

(1) open primaries - the more potential candidates the better - and without regard to party affiliations.

(2) Add "None Of The Above" to all election ballots.

(3) make campaign contributions only legal by individuals - no corporations, PACs, etc.

I believe term limits would discourage people to vote.

Thanks
 
What megaprogman said.

I would add that the underlying cause is that American people lack the vigor, focus, and critical impartiality to actively challenge the excesses of the two-party system. You can't legislate around problems affecting the country's spirit, because the purpose of any law can always be subverted, circumnavigated, and otherwise manipulated as long as politicians have the cunning and desire to do so. The only way to stop that from happening is for the entire people to say, "No."
 
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I would actually go for a far smaller term maximum, but I'd support term limits over all. In theory, it seems a legislator would have more inclination to be honest if they know their days are quite assuredly numbered. And even if they aren't, we avoid the lifelong politician with multiple lobbyist connections, ethics issues from corporate gifting and freebies, and that "screw the people, this is what I'm doing" mentality that seems to come with extended exposure to power.

I'm much tougher. Not only do I want to severely limit how many consecutive terms anyone can have in office, I want to limit how many terms they can serve in *ANY* political office, period. It'll stop people from moving from one office to the next to the next as they hit their term limit ceiling. Career politicians need to be stopped. Make these people work in the private sector. It's clear most of them are so totally out of touch because they never have to do it.

Kick these idiots out of office and make them deal with reality.
 
I voted no. For a couple reasons. First, politicians only have to try to do what the people want them to do so long as they have elections ahead of them. If they have term limits, that means more of the time your representative would be in a position where they didn't give a rat's ass what you think.

Second, being effective as an elected representative is hard. Doing it well requires assembling a large number of very smart people who you trust completely to cover all the policy areas, getting a clear understanding of how to get things moved through the system, working out the right way to approach issues, developing a very broad understanding of policy youself, etc. Generally speaking, representatives that have been there a long time are a lot more effective than newbies.

That said, I do think that the massive advantage that incumbency gives you in an election is a big problem. Term limits would help a lot with that. But there are other ways to help with that. Campaign funding for political challengers in primaries for example might be a better way to tackle that. No sure.
 
Question:

A 2012 Presidential candidate (could be (R) or (D)) during the general election campaign and says they will push for and institute Congressional term limits:



House of Representatives: No more than 6 consecutive terms and not more than 10 total terms per person (20 years total)

Senate: No more than 2 consecutive terms and not more than 3 total terms per person (18 years total)

No, I won't. I'm not fond of rules that take our job away from us. We can limit anyone by simply voting them out of office. If we're not willing to turn out, to pay attention, no rule is going to save us. We need fewer gimicks, and more old fashion paying attention and doing our job.


:coffeepap
 
Oh HELL yes!
 
Absolutely not. I should be able to vote for who I choose, regardless of how long he has served in office. Telling me I can't vote for an effective legislator because he has been around for 6 whole years is a terrible idea.

Here is a silly idea: don't like a politician, vote them out.
 
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