Congressional Term Limits, Again

Articles

Nelson Walker

Congressional Term Limits, Again
Feb 16, 2004

I fully understand Ken Hughes’ disagreement (12/2/04) with the proposal that a Congressional Term Limits Amendment(CTLA) be worded to exempt current incumbents, (he calls it a ‘Golden Parachute’). It is the most frequent objection I have received from respondents I have talked to. But it is flatly wrongheaded.

(For those who have not seen the proposal, it starts with the phrase ‘Excepting current incumbents of both houses indefinitely, as long as they are reelected successively, the terms... etc,etc’)

However, what is not understandable is why those objectors don’t realize that their claim “voting is the best term limit” is totally self-defeating and flies in the face of history. On the one hand they say that Term Limits will never happen because the legislators will never allow it (which incidentally is the best reason in favor), and on the other hand, they say that the voters should be more responsible and not vote for legislators who have served too long. How do we get the voters to be ‘more responsible’? How do we define too long? How can we reduce the built-in resistance of the legislators? Nobody has provided any answers to those questions. So I stick to my proposal.

The suggested rewording of the constitutional amendment at least removes the objection that all the legislators would have, that is, the amendment would not apply to them, and their jobs would not be at risk. Thus they would be more amenable to voting for it, making themselves seem more statesmanlike and patriotic, if enough public opinion were marshalled in favor of it.

Trying to educate voters to not vote to reelect legislators with whom they have become familiar is obviously an exercise in futility, especially in the absence of gross malfeasance, and maybe not even then.

The proposal avoids dealing with voter reeducation, but addresses the resistance of the legislators, and therefore is a plausible and constructive action toward getting something done.

One obvious objection to the proposal is that it would take too long to get to a really term limited Congress. Not so. By my calculation, considering only very few open seats and very few unsuccessful reelections every two years, in 20 years, over half of both houses would be term limited. The remaining seats would probably turn over more quickly thereafter.

Of course nothing happens without money. Up to the present time, excepting the Republican abortive, half-hearted attempt in 1995’s Contract With America, there has not been a real grass roots effort to move Congressional Term Limits. In any case, no deep pockets conservatives (nor small change conservatives, for that matter) would want to bankroll an effort that had NO chance to buck Congress’s objections to cancelling their own meal ticket. However, with the reworded amendment containing the exemption clause, the perception that Congress would object would be substantially diminished, and money support would be more likely.

I believe that if enough web postings (and other venues like talk shows and maverick columnists) were done on the pros and cons of a Congressional Term Limits Amendment (CTLA), including the probable effectiveness of the exemption clause in the amendment, it would begin to look more feasible, and the dollars would start trickling in. The Dems have such as Soros who is using his own money ‘on principle’ to defeat Bush. I am sure there are some Conservatives (and possibly Liberals and Independents!) who might do the same for term limits, as long as it has a reasonable chance of succeeding. I also believe that CTLA has a deep built-in support in the American people (16states already have statewide term limits) and it would take only a nominal shove to get it rolling nationwide, in spite of massive resistance from a variety of special interests whose current connections and privileges would be disturbed.

Which brings me back to Ken Hughes, who though he believes in term limits, disagrees with the exemption of current incumbents. Well Ken, why don’t you make a counter proposal? And for all the readers out there, how about joining me and Ken and make this a broader dialogue with a few more ideas to break down the resistance of the ‘old bulls’ in Congress?

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