If we have term limits on the Presidents office. Why not have them on Congressman and Senators?

Question

The past excuse was that those jobs were hard to learn ( how the government works) Ok, that in mind. Give them a ten year term limit. Five years to learn it , five years to get something done and then your gone. You can run for higher office, but you can't remain in the same position for life. We had a Congressman that was in office untill he was 90!!!! Half the time he did'nt even know what he voting on. Now that's insane. This would give ''We the people'' our government back or that least a good start.

Answer 1

How hard could it possibly be to be in congress, it does not require intelligence and the only apparent requirement is that you will sell your soul to the highest bidder to be elected,

With the current group in congress I do not think you will ever get them to put an amendment up, this has been tried several times by the repubs and the dems have killed each time. For you partisans go look up before you start yelling at me, the dems want control in the congress for life. This was written last year so the numbers have changed, for the worse and you can bet in the very near future congress will be run by 99% incumbents, corruption will be more rampant than today, and our country will be on the verge of bankruptcy because of multi-term congressmen. So vote against whoever has two terms or more under their belt, do this for two or three elections, make it known why you voted for them and tell them America wants a two term limit amendment.

The real problem in America is stupidity, special interest and/or laziness of the voter. How does a person who takes bribes on video, laughs about the ineptness of the FBI and puts $100K in a freezer get elected 8 times? And then the Senate leaders yell and scream about separation of powers. Yes they are right, it is about their power and even if it is against the law, you will not thwart their power.

You have career politicians running the government, not citizen legislators. Many accuse the career corporate CEO of only working for themselves, not the stockholders. Career politicians are NO different and they seem to think they are above the law and expect preferential treatment. If the only issue to remaining in power is to obtain cash, buy some votes with special interests and have the media spotlight, then the incumbent has it easy, all at your expense.

In the Senate there are:
44 Dems averaging 20.8 years in Congress
55 Reps averaging 16.1 years in Congress

these numbers begin to make it look like career politicians are in control, who have lost touch with you the citizen and are more entrenched in their own careers.

For the Senate, if you were to use two terms or 12 years in Congress as a term limit
25 Dems would need to leave and 25 Reps would need to leave.
Those Dems are averaging 27.1 years in Congress
Those Reps averaging 24.0 years.

80% of Dems in the Senate have been there more than 12 years
58% of Repubs have.

46% of Dems in the House have been there more than 12 years
32% of Repubs have.

Ben Franklin said of congress, "They are of the People, and return again to mix with the People, having no more durable preeminence than the different Grains of Sand in an Hourglass. Such an Assembly cannot easily become dangerous to Liberty. They are the Servants of the People, sent together to do the People's Business, and promote the public Welfare; their Powers must be sufficient, or their Duties cannot be performed. They have no profitable Appointments, but a mere Payment of daily Wages, such as are scarcely equivalent to their Expences; so that, having no Chance for great Places, and enormous Salaries or Pensions, as in some Countries, there is no triguing or bribing for Elections"

If you like the current political system continue voting along partisan lines. If however you are tired of the corrupt ways of elections and would like to see Franklins words be true again, vote for change.

Our country is being run by career politicians who for the most part appear to have lost touch with what you want, and are focused on what they want.

You can change this NOW.
1. Quit your partisan sniping, it is childish and only serves to remove the focus from the real problem in America.
2. Enlist your friends and family in the fight and ask them, if they agree about Congress to do the same.
3. Vote against the person who has 12 or more combined years in Congress
4. This will require in many instances you having to vote for someone outside of your normal party, but you are a patriot and you can do what is right.

Show congress in this next election that we the people are running things in this country, not career politicians. And we are going to do what is right.

I will end now with a favorite quote of mine.

“If a legislator is "safe" from competition, or if he represents groups with the same economic and political beliefs, he does not have to change his ideas or respond to the needs of the broader population. He can rest content with a mediocre, absentee performance knowing he will be returned to office. And as he is returned year after year the seniority system gives him immense control over people from other parts of the country whose views he need not heed at all.” -Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Decisions for a Decade

Answer 2

There happen to be a (very, very) few congresspersons who have always and continue to do as good a job as they can (in a corrupt system), and do NOT become corrupt. Term limits aren't going to suddenly make people be intelligent voters. And that's the answer, that people not vote when they don't know what they're voting for (leave it blank and move on), and, if they want to vote, that they inform themselves of their choices, and think clearly and deeply about what they want. The corruption would just move around a little, it wouldn't go away. The money would still rule, there'd just be less accountability, as it wouldn't reside in (sort of) elected officials. As to the argument "they'd have to buy a new politician every few years" I say, they're the only ones who can afford to. The problem wouldn't go away. Overturning the absurd ruling that "money is speech" and therefore only those with money have the right to control all our lives -- now THAT would be a solution. Equal time for all candidates.

Answer 3

No one senator or representative holds nearly the power of the President; I think that experience in a representative is a positive thing, for the most part. There is a means of getting people out of office who no longer serve the interests of their constituents - it's called "voting," and it works very well, as quite a few of those folks found out last November.

Answer 4

Because the people from the individual states vote for senators and congressman. The President is appointed by the electorate college who. The electorate college members are appointed by the president. That is why it is hard to defeat an incumbent president.

Answer 5

We directly elect our congressmen.

If their time is up, and we dont like them, then vote them out. Simple.

A term limit on congress is not necessary because one man does not control a giant amount of power. A congressman is ONE man/woman in a large pool of them. They don't have as much pull, as a single person, as the president.

Answer 6

Because congressmen are the people who vote on that stuff. They're never going to vote to limit their own terms. The only reason the President is limited to two terms is because FDR's opposing party voted on the limit as soon as they controlled Congress again.

Answer 7

I agree, there should be term limits for Congress. The only problem is, Congress has to vote on it. Can we say job security?

Answer 8

Because the people who would have to vote that into law aren't going to willingly limit their career options.