Terms Limits & Political Incumbency, (bumped)

Here's my own take on a possible 28th amendment: I hereby propose the following as the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the House of Representatives to more than four (4) consecutive, two (2) year terms to office.
2. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the United States Senate for more than two (2) consecutive, six (6) year terms of office.
3. No citizen of the United States shall receive any retirement benefits from serving in either the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate.
4. Congress shall not exempt itself from any laws of the United States of America, in whole or in part.
5. Congress shall be in session for a period of not less than 90 60 consecutive days in the Spring, and 90 60 consecutive days in the Summer Fall of each year. Each sitting of Congress may be extended by the President for a period not to exceed 30 15 days. The Spring session shall start on the first Monday of March. The Summer Fall session shall begin on the first Monday in August. An additional 15 day session to begin on the 2nd Monday of November shall may be called by the President if so deemed necessary by declaration of a national emergency and voted so by a 2/3rds majority of the sitting Congress and may not be extended. session may not be extended unless a period of National Emergency is formally declared by the President. {This section I think is necessary to basically force Congress to actually work...in the past decade they generally only spend 2 1/2 days per week actually working in Washington, DC. Most often only from Tues afternoon to Thurs afternoon!}

UPDATE: 11-16-2010: I added the underlined part and changed it from 45 days to 15 to limit damage that a lame duck Congress could do...and on

UPDATE: On Thanksgiving Day, I altered the the length of the sessions to 60 days, as I've come to the conclusion that having a "full-time" legislature, since that gives them far too much time to screw around with the country. Because, by having a full-time, year round legislative assembly, they ten to pass all sorts of crap that isn't necessary and merely becomes a way to spend/waste the people's money on useless and uncessary crap. Additionally, by mandating that a Fall session is to start in August, it would force Congress to actually work harder, as it limits the amount of time an incumbent would be able to actively campaign prior to each election day.

Ruling Class Disease...

Recently the NY Post reported on Barney Frank's acting out when he was denied a senior citizen's discount because he didn't have the requisite county issued senior's ID card. 

Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank caused a scene when he demanded a $1 senior discount on his ferry fare to Fire Island's popular gay haunt, The Pines, last Friday. Frank was turned down by ticket clerks at the dock in Sayville because he didn't have the required Suffolk County Senior Citizens ID. A witness reports, "Frank made such a drama over the senior rate that I contemplated offering him the dollar to cool down the situation." Frank made news last year when he was spotted looking uncomfortable around a bevy of topless, well-built men at the Pines Annual Ascension Beach Party. Frank's spokesperson confirmed to Page Six that his partner, James Ready, asked the ticket office for a regular ticket for himself and a senior ticket for Frank, "but was turned down because Frank didn't have a resident ID."

It seems that our "ruling elite" has become so wrapped up in their perq's that they get irate when the little people deny what they believe is their "right."   They get so wrapped upn in the belief that they "are important, and you're and ignorant swine for not recognizing me."  When you include many politicians avoiding taxes (John Kerry's yacht, Tim Geithner's tax avoidance until appointed to high office...) a patter begins to emerge.  In the article America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution Angelo M. Codevilla says,

Never has there been so little diversity within America's upper crust...until our own time America's upper crust was a mixture of people who had gained prominence in a variety of ways, who drew their money and status from different sources and were not predictably of one mind on any given matter...Today's ruling class, from Boston to San Diego, was formed by an educational system that exposed them to the same ideas and gave them remarkably uniform guidance, as well as tastes and habits. These amount to a social canon of judgments about good and evil, complete with secular sacred history, sins (against minorities and the environment), and saints. Using the right words and avoiding the wrong ones when referring to such matters -- speaking the "in" language -- serves as a badge of identity. Regardless of what business or profession they are in, their road up included government channels and government money because, as government has grown, its boundary with the rest of American life has become indistinct.

There's a great deal of truth in that passage and therein lies the problem.  Those who now run the country in Washington, have forgotten what is important to "flyover country"...and those issues aren't the ones that are important in the capital. 

I have a very good friend who is intimately involved in politics.  While he is a great admirer of the Tea Party movement, he does, often, decry the "amatuerishness" of many of the first time candidates.  An excellent example of this is the GOP nominee in Nevada who seems hell bent on losing the race BECAUSE she's not a professional politician.  For many of us who are only now becoming actively involved in politics, this isn't necessarily a drawback.  Too many of the "political class" have begun to demand privileges for "serving us."  Forgetting that they SERVE us...not we them.

For this reason, I have come to the conclusion that regularly changing our Congressmen and Senators is an excellent idea.  I'm not certain that term limits are the answer either, because they would  raise the importance of the "professional staffers" of the various committees as well as the congressional office  staff.  However, I'm not opposed to a constitutional amendment limiting duration of office tenures either.  After all, we limit the number of consecutive terms a President may serve,

Amendment 22 - Presidential Term Limits. Ratified 2/27/1951

1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

Though, I think that limiting the number of terms in a lifetime isn't the answer here.  I think it would have been better to have worded it to say "two consecutive terms...".  So, perhaps we should so limit the amount of time any particular Congressman or Senator may serve in Washington...but that might not stop the problem either...so...what are your suggestions, please feel free to comment and offer up suggestions.

Terms Limits & Political Incumbency

I don't know where this came from.  The friend who sent it to me isn't sure of it's provenance either.  BUT!  I did take the time to confirm all of the facts that it contains.  They are to my knowledge a fairly accurate depiction of reality. 

Politicians are staying in Congress longer and longer, but in an election year with a noticeably anti-incumbent mood, some Washington outsiders are challenging the idea of making a career out of public service.

"We need folks coming in from the outside who have paid taxes and created jobs and lived under the regulations that these career politicians have created," said Jim Rutledge, a Republican attorney running to unseat Maryland Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who has 33 years in Congress between the House and Senate.
Rutledge is typical of the outsiders running this year, who know statistics are not in their favor.

Between 1789 and 2002, 13.9 percent of House members and 21.9 percent of senators served 12 years or more, according to the Congressional Research Service.

In today's Congress, 42.9 percent of House members and 45 percent of senators have been in office for 12 years or more, according to data compiled by the authors of the textbook "Congress and Its Members."

Term limits supporters, who think 12 years in Congress is plenty, say those numbers have an easy explanation.

"The powers of incumbency in this country are so great that it is nearly impossible to unseat an incumbent, barring death, indictment, scandal or retirement," said Philip Blumel, a Florida financial planner and president of the advocacy group U.S. Term Limits.

In 2008, 94 percent of incumbents were re-elected to the House and 83 percent were re-elected to the Senate, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Term-limits advocates argue that limiting lawmakers' time in office would help clean up some of Washington's worst practices and rejuvenate a democratic process gone stagnant with incumbency. The basic argument is this: Open seats draw the most attention, resources and debate, so why not build them into the system by forcing people to leave office after they've done their time?

Republican state Sen. Andy Harris is perhaps the most high-profile Maryland candidate speaking out on the term-limits issue.

"I believe that the American public should have a say on this issue through a constitutional amendment," Harris said in an e-mail. "Congress has evolved into an insulated institution where power is wielded by a few to benefit themselves and their special interest friends. A discussion of congressional term limits is timely and would benefit the entire country."

Harris is running against Rep. Frank Kratovil, D-Stevensville, the only one of Maryland's nine incumbents running for re-election this year with serious competition. The other incumbents, while never completely safe, face unknown novices and underfunded challengers.

However, longtime Maryland incumbents have lost their seats not so long ago.

Kratovil and Harris are battling in a district that just ousted an incumbent. Former Rep. Wayne Gilchrest was beaten by Harris in the 2008 GOP primary after holding the seat for almost 18 years.

Reps. Donna Edwards, D-Fort Washington, and Chris Van Hollen, D-Kensington, got into their respective offices by defeating longtime incumbents Albert Wynn, a Democrat, and Connie Morella, a Republican.

Curtis Gans, the director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University, said term limits are a terrible idea because they take power away from the people. In a term-limited legislature, Gans said, power would fall to unelected staff and lobbyists who would keep their jobs while elected officials rotated out.

Term limits would also restrict people with the most experience and ability from serving in Congress and would contribute to the election of extreme, polarizing candidates, Gans said.

"Incumbents ought to get the benefit of the doubt if they perform honorably," said Gans. "If they're not incompetent, they ought to be staying in office."

In Maryland, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, and Mikulski draw most of the criticism from term-limits supporters. Like Mikulski, Hoyer has been in Congress for about three decades.

U.S. Term Limits' Blumel said that some Republicans are embracing term limits simply because their party isn't currently in control or they're newcomers running for office for the first time, but popular support for the issue doesn't fall along party lines.

"It's really not so much a left-right issue as it is a people versus power issue," said Blumel.

"There's a big interest in it right now. There's a big anti-incumbent mood," he said. "If the Congress was truly representative, we'd already have this done."

Here's my own take on a possible 28th amendment:  I hereby propose the following as the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the House of Representatives to more than four (4) consecutive, two (2) year terms to office.
2. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the United States Senate for more than two (2) consecutive, six (6) year terms of office.
3. No citizen of the United States shall receive any retirement benefits from serving in either the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate.
4. Congress shall not exempt itself from any laws of the United States of America, in whole or in part.
5. Congress shall be in session for a period of not less than 90 60 consecutive days in the Spring, and 90 60 consecutive days in the Summer Fall of each year. Each sitting of Congress may be extended by the President for a period not to exceed 30 15 days. The Spring session shall start on the first Monday of March. The Summer Fall session shall begin on the first Monday in August. An additional 15 day session to begin on the 2nd Monday of November shall be called by the President if so deemed necessary by declaration of a national emergency, this session may not be extended unless a period of National Emergency is formally declared by the President. {This section I think is necessary to basically force Congress to actually work...in the past decade they generally only spend 2 1/2 days per week actually working in Washington, DC. Most often only from Tues afternoon to Thurs afternoon!}

UPDATE:  11-16-2010:  I added the underlined part and changed it from 45 days to 15 to limit damage that a lame duck Congress could do...and on

UPDATE:  On Thanksgiving Day, I altered the the length of the sessions to 60 days, as I've come to the conclusion that having a "full-time" legislature, since that gives them far too much time to screw around with the country.  Because, by having a full-time, year round legislative assembly, they ten to pass all sorts of crap that isn't necessary and merely becomes a way to spend/waste the people's money on useless and uncessary crap.  Additionally, by mandating that a Fall session is to start in August, it would force Congress to actually work harder, as it limits the amount of time an incumbent would be able to actively campaign prior  to each election day.

The GOP Needs New Leadership

It's well past time to clean house in the GOP leadership, both that which is elected, and appointed to the RNC. They have all lost touch with reality inside the beltway. That mentality led to the loss of the "permanent majority" in 2006 and further losses in 2008. It's time to break out the brooms and bring in some new people who haven't lost sight of what the GOP is supposed to stand for. We are NOT democratic lite, we stand for smaller, more efficient government (no that's not redundant idiocy--government CAN be made more efficient if it's run as a business), a stronger more responsible foreign policy (Teddy Roosevelt was right--speak softly and carry a big stick), eliminating those government departments that have become Federal Jobs programs--Education (give the money saved as proportional block grants to the states) for example.

In other words offer this country a genuine alternative to what the socialist now in control of the the Legislative and Executive branches of our government are offering, not just a watered down "Dem-Lite". We are NOT socialists by history, there is a reason why our forefathers came to this country. Was it not to for those who had a choice, but to escape the disasters that Europe, Africa, Asia and Central/South America have become? Or was it merely to turn America into the mirror image of the rest of the world. If the rest of the world despises us so much, why then, do they desire in such huge numbers to come here?

Our elected leaders have come to care more about remaining in office and passing out financial favours to their campaign donors than about what is good for the country. It's well past time to pass an amendment that limits the number of terms in office ANY Representative, Delegate or Senator can hold. It's time to limit the number of days per year that Congress sits in session. Their endless sessions produce huge bills that no one can genuinely comprehend until after they are enacted and the disaster that they are can be fully realized.

The men and women who founded this country never envisioned that we would have a class of professional politicians. Even a quick reading of the Federalist Papers, by James Madison, et al, gives a sense that their intention was that new men and women would come forward every few years to SERVE in Congress, then return home to their businesses and farms, not life-long tenures. Most of the men and women serving in the present Congress have never actually worked outside of politics in their lives.

It's time to sweep them away and bring in new leadership who actually can comprehend what running a business really means. Because running the government has become a means to an end...larger budgets and more people sucking on Uncle Sam's hind tit is not the answer. Throw the bums out.

A Simple Proposal

I hereby propose the following as the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the House of Representatives to more than four (4) consecutive, two (2) year terms to office.

2. No citizen of the United States shall be elected to the United States Senate for more than two (2) consecutive, six (6) year terms of office.

3. No citizen of the United States shall receive any retirement benefits from serving in either the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate.

4. Congress shall not exempt itself from any laws of the United States of America, in whole or in part.

Comments please...?