Term limits would bring a new perspective to Congress

There is no doubt in my mind that Congress is nothing more than a good ol’-boy’s network. In fact, if you truly give it some thought, Congress has evolved into an informal union that functions with an unwritten contract. It uses a seniority system that allows long-term Congressmen to control newly elected legislators to behave like the well-established incumbents they replace. In order to protect their budding careers, freshman and sophomore members of the legislative branch quickly learn that they must align themselves with senior members, even if they oppose the positions of these super-seniority officials. Additionally, this informal union is not required to negotiate pay raises with the people they represent. They just negotiate raises among themselves and vote for an increase, as they deem appropriate.

As I see it, we have an uncontrollable Congress, which is overwhelmingly populated with millionaires and near-millionaires that live in their own little world. Just last year, the Center for Responsive Politics found that 60% of Senate freshman and 40% of House freshman are worth $1 million or more.

Two critical concerns, the lack of passing a balanced budget and uncontrollable entitlement spending over the past years, should tell us just how out-of-touch with reality these elected officials are with the needs and concerns of America.

Without passing into law term limits for both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, this situation will only grow worse over time. So, I applaud the efforts of Sen. Jim DeMint, R-SC for authoring a Constitutional Amendment (SJR 11) to limit congressional terms.

“Senator DeMint is taking an important first-step toward moving the term limits issue to center stage in the congressional debate. At a time when Congress is suffering from near single digit approval ratings, the time has never been more right to pass a term-limits constitutional amendment,” says Phil Blumel, U.S. Term Limits president, which is a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy organization that promotes term limits at all levels of government. SJR 11 limits Senate terms of office to two 6-year terms and the House of Representatives to three 2-year terms. To date, the bill has ten co-sponsors.

While I think passage of this constitutional amendment is vital to the country’s future, I’m also a realist and don’t give it much of a chance to get through both the House and Senate. The good ol’ boy network will see to it. There is just too much at stake, especially in terms of self-interest.

Take for example, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-OH. He has represented the 10th District of Ohio for 15 years but recently lost his bid for re-election on Super Tuesday. Born and raised in Ohio, Kucinich is now seriously considering establishing residency in the state of Washington where he still has time to get on the November ballot to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives.

This is either an extreme case of feeling a need to serve his country or an extreme case of trying to protect his self-interest. You be the judge, and when you make your decision, perhaps you will more fully understand the importance of term-limits.

tgrasson@gie.net