Constition Ammendment XXVIII What Do You Think?

Anybody want to go beyond posting comments?

Proposed Amendment XXVIII

Provision to Extend the Representative term duration to four (4) years and limit the number of terms that an individual may hold the Office of Representative to three (3)

The provisions of Article I Section 2 shall remain in effect until the enactment date of this amendment which shall be the third day of January in the first year that is divisible by four (4) with a remainder of three (3) following ratification of this amendment. Beginning on the enactment date Paragraph 1 of Article I Section 2 shall be struck and replaced as follows:
• The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every fourth year by the people of the several states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.
• No person shall be elected to the office of Representative more than thrice, and no person who has held the office of Representative for more than thirty (30) months of a term to which some other person was elected Representative shall be elected to the office of Representative more than twice. Any person holding the office of Representative for eight or more years upon ratification of this amendment by the States may be elected to one additional term with the limitation that it must be the term commencing on the enactment date

Provision to limit the number of terms that an individual may hold the Office of Senator to two (2)

The provisions of Article 1 Section 3 shall remain in effect until the enactment date of this amendment. Beginning on the enactment date the following provision shall be added to Article 1 Section 3:
• No person shall be elected to the office of Senator more than twice, and no person who has held the office of Senator for more than four years of a term to which some other person was elected Senator shall be elected to the office of Senator more than once. Any person holding the office of Senator for twelve (12) or more years upon ratification of this amendment by the States may be elected to one additional term with the limitation that it must be the term immediately following completion of Senator’s current term

Provision to limit the election campaign duration for President / Vice President, Senator, and Representative

Elections for the offices of President / Vice-President, Senator, or Representative shall be held on the first Tuesday of November of the last year of the respective term of office. The election campaign start date shall be the first Tuesday in April of the election year. No state shall establish a nomination cutoff date earlier than the first Tuesday of August.
No person shall engage in any election campaign activity prior to the election start date including but not limited to
• Announcing candidacy for nomination or office
• Advertising by signs, mail, electronic communications of any and all kinds, or any other means
• Soliciting monetary or non-monetary contributions or future commitments for such assistance
• Circulating ballot qualification petitions
• Holding any rally, convention, or other election organizing meeting or fund raising activity either open to the public or by invitation
No organization, political party, or individual shall engage in any election campaign activity as set forth in the proceeding provision either in support of or opposition to a third party prior to the election start date.
No organization or state shall hold any primary election, caucus, or convention for the purpose of determining a nominee for office before one month following the election campaign start date.
There shall be a panel of three judges to adjudicate grievances that it deems reasonable regarding adherence to these provisions. The panel shall be appointed by the Chief Justice on the first Tuesday in November one year before the election. The panel shall assess monetary penalties as it deems commensurate with its findings. The panel shall sit for one year and appointments shall be for one year. No grievance may be filed after the first Tuesday of August and all findings shall be announced no later than one week before the election day.

Disagree. It makes it harder to vote out bad reps. because the term length is doubled. I don't think the congressmen who are getting voted in term after term are a problem. They tend to be very well liked people like Ron Paul.

I use to be in favor of term limits until I realized that people need a certain amount of time to really learn thier jobs then more time to get comfortable doing it then more time getting good at it. HOw much time more than 2 - 6.

What if the amendment read that all term limits were now 6 years and there was a max of 2 or maybe 3. Politicians spend most of their time getting ready for the next election especially if their term is only 2 years. This way they MIGHT get around to getting somethng else done.

I would definitely support term limits. But I think even your restrictions are too long. It should be two 4-year terms for representatives and one 6-year term for senators IMO. And the House can be divided into two different classes like the Senate, so that we're electing half of our representatives every two years.

Voltaire X said:

Disagree. It makes it harder to vote out bad reps. because the term length is doubled. I don't think the congressmen who are getting voted in term after term are a problem. They tend to be very well liked people like Ron Paul.

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Generally the most corrupt, wheeling-and-dealing, partisanship-promoting representatives are those who have been there the longest. The freshmen aren't nearly as bad. Maybe they aren't exactly Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but they tend to be a lot more open-minded and willing to actually solve problems than the career politicians who have long forgotten why they entered politics in the first place.

wolfman24 said:

I use to be in favor of term limits until I realized that people need a certain amount of time to really learn thier jobs then more time to get comfortable doing it then more time getting good at it. HOw much time more than 2 - 6.

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I don't see much evidence that freshmen legislators are less capable of crafting a good bill than are more experienced legislators. And at the federal level, generally they all have a staff that helps them with the actual bill-writing anyway.

I was generally okay with this until I got to the junk at the end about the campaign restrictions. Unnecessary and undesirable. A restriction of free speech. Requires another level of bureaucracy.

There is an interesting essay that uses Mr Smith Goes to Washington as its starting point in the book The Wind of Hope (Amazon). It is an essay about how graft that was once unacceptable is now called "negotiation" when crafting and passing legislation. It suggests an interesting action that the President can take (namely commit to veto any bill longer than 50 pages) to eliminate the opportunity to hide things in legislation.

Now caucuses and elections start nearly a year before national election day and campaigning for the primary elections and caucuses starts a year before that. The cycle of very active campaigning and advertising is two years long. A great deal of money must be raised to initiate the primary campaign advertising and a very large staff must be built to execute the primary campaigns. The organization and fund raising must occur during the year before the launch so the entire process of running for President has a three year duration if you are not an incumbent President. A candidate must create a significant election business and be full time dedicated to that business for three years. Only people who are very well connected in the aristocracy so that they are capable of enormous primary campaign financing have a chance. The move to open up choice by opening nomination to public selection has actually reduced choice and further entrenched the Party.
The move to primary elections has also created an environment of never ending election campaigning. If a Presidential term is four years and the opposition candidates must start organizing at least three years in advance of the next election, then the President is facing opposing campaigning as he finishes his first year. The House of Representatives election cycle is two years so positioning for the next election never ends. Today, there is never a time when election consideration takes a back seat to doing the work of governing.

Anything over one term is inherently flawed. They can't make the tough decisions. They have to solicit money constantly. Their attention has much more time occupied by re-election than by governing.

Really, I think that it should be an 8-10 year term with a recall election at mid-term if the people demand it.

Of course, at this point I should invoke the Unicorn since it will be easier to find a Unicorn than to get any change in the cushy good old boy present structure.

I would support term limits of two terms for each house of congress, just as we have for presidents.

Surely there are Unicorns running with Saskwatch and he has been recorded on video. In 1986 I wrote a little newsletter. I suggested some "crazy" ideas in it. The second issue prompted 50 people from all over the nation to hold a meeting. They incorporated a society. It has met for 26 consecutive years, has about 500 members in the US, Europe, Japan, and China, has published national technical standards.... Looking back at the result, the crazy ideas were sort of correct and sort of wrong but they prompted others to think, improve on the seed, organize, and accomplish concrete things. I am looking for people that want to make my "wrong" idea right - people who know in their heart that Alexis de Tocqueville's image of a democracy of sheep is not an acceptable vision for our posterity - PEOPLE THAT WON'T RUN AWAY FROM MICE

I am absolutely in favor if increasing duration of terms. Representatives are in perpetual campaign mode. I disagree with term limits for federal elected representatives but am fine if states want to limit theirs.