1951 was the year we amended the constitution to limit the President to two terms. 1951, not that long ago.
The only serious opponents of term limits are incumbent politicians and the special interests, particularly labor unions, that support them. The people who have something to lose. If the case was actually about 'public service' than the pols who sit in the cushy jobs getting nothing done term after term would have no objection to term limits. Dick Durbin, the Senator of the broken socialist state of Illinois has been in congress since 1996 (he is still one of the newer members) and has no tangible accomplishments. His biggest success has been his ability to remain in congress, raking a great salary and an amazing load of perks that comes with the job. An even more shocking example is Danny Davis. A career Chicago machine pol (he could work in the public sector without the influence and power he has amassed rom his time in politics) he can also count his greatest achievement remaining in office. (as a side note, his 'Doctorate Degree is from an online school where he does not rate a place on their 'Faces of Distinction - Alumni' page) Having lived in Illinois for the entire term of both of these examples, Illinois is in worse shape now then when they were elected. Term limits would have saved Illinois the generational incompetence of these two men and the enormous waste of money they both represent.
Sitting congressional representative have compared the term limits movement to Nazism. Yep not popular with the club members. Special interests know term limits will hurt them, as well as cost them even more money (it is cheaper to buy votes over time than it is to break in new members of congress every 12 years or so). The major contributors to an anti-term limits campaign include Chrysler Corporation, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Southern California Edison Company, Kellogg Company, and USX Corporation. Large, federally regulated businesses. Also note that the Teamsters, the United Auto Workers, teachers unions, and the AFL-CIO, who spend millions controlling democrat votes in congress. Term limits would also go a long way towards neutering Highly paid lobbyists who steer millions into to coffers of 'reelection campaigns' in exchange for special treatment for their clients. Note that this is not you or me, actual tax paying citizens. We are the suckers in this scheme. There has to be a sucker. Term limits that would force lobbyists to relearn the priorities of new Members and make arguments on the merits, not on the strength of personal connections. The number of lobbing groups has grown from less than 5,000 in 1956 to over 22,000 today as special interests power and inflence has grown and shown real results for groups with deep pockets.
Term limits are needed at all levels of government. This is a simple fact. However, because of the large electoral advantages wielded by incumbents, the historically low rate of turnover, the greater threat from special interests, and the unique power that federal legislators hold, it is especially important to apply term limits to Congress. Term limits counterbalance incumbent advantages. Congressional term limits are a necessary to correct the imbalance which hamstrings all challengers and aid incumbents. Every House Member receives nearly a million dollars per year to pay for franked (free) mail, staff salaries, office and travel expenses. While campaigning, incumbents continue to receive salaries over $130,000 a year, with many, many extra benefits; which dwarf the income of most challengers (imagine looking for a new job, full time, while expecting to be paid for your current job; that is the reality of incumbents). An army of congressional staffers do 'volunteer' work during campaign season; makes sense, they are working to protect their jobs. The power of the franked mailing permits each Member to send thinly disguised reelection propaganda to every residence in his district several times per term. The money allotted to each incumbent for franking alone, over $160,000 per year, is higher than the average challenger's total campaign expenditures. State legislators, who recognize the benefits to their state from long-term congressional incumbency, redraw election districts (gerrymandering, very popular in Illinois) to maximize incumbents' reelection prospects. Crazily, both the House and the Senate have authorized taxpayer-funded lawyers to intervene in term limits litigation. We are paying with tax dollars to prevent term limit legislation. Bizarre. When all of these advantages are added up, name recognition, media access, and higher political contributions, it is no wonder that incumbents lose so rarely. It certainly is not because they are getting any meaningful work done. Despite increasing complaints about how hard the work in Congress is , they all sure seem to want to stay. Who wouldn't, paid handsomely, great perks, and no accountability. Sounds pretty great to me. Term limits ensure congressional turnover.
The turnover rate for House incumbents who attempt reelection is below 10%. This is in shocking contrast to the first century of America's government. In the nineteenth century, the average turnover in each new Congress was over 45 percent, and this ensured a continual influx of Members free from the institutional biases that long-term incumbency brings. Today, however, there is little or no turnover among those who set Congress's agenda: the committee chairmen and other members of the Democratic leadership. In the House of Representatives, for instance, the average job tenure is ten years. However, the principal leaders (the committee chairmen, speaker, majority leader, and whip) have served an average of twenty-seven years -- which means that the average member of this group has been in the House since the Johnson Administration. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. For every congressional election in the last twenty years, incumbents running for reelection in the House of Representatives have been returned to office at rates averaging higher than 90%. THis is sounding less and less like democracy. Term limits would end such entrenchment and concentration of power. There is a very real danger that Congressmen will become enmeshed in a culture that is overfamiliar with the federal government and insulated from the communities they ostensibly represent. Public sentiment in favor of term limits is likely influenced by the fear that Congressmen will become captured by this alien federal culture, as well as by frustration with the watered-down representation that we all get from incumbents of all political stripes routinely getting reelected. Term limits are a reality check providing inescapable, bracing reminders of what life in the real world is like. After former Senator George McGovern tried (and failed) to succeed in small business after spending eighteen years in Congress, he observed: "I wish I had known a little more about the problems of the private sector.... I have to pay taxes, meet a payroll -- I wish I had a better sense of what it took to do that when I was in Washington." Ensuring that Members eventually are exposed to life outside of Congress should inculcate a more sophisticated understanding of the logic and the limits of federal regulation. Term limits minimize Members incentives for reelection-related "pork- barrel" legislation. As government needlessly grows larger, legislative careerism has become more prominent in Congress. Because long-tenured Congressmen have increasing power over the fate of federal projects due to the seniority system, senior members of both parties now routinely campaign by stressing their ability to bring federal projects to their home districts rather than by explaining their views on the important issues of the day. When Members express their preferences in committee assignments, they are aware of the electoral impact of federal spending directed at their districts. After the 1992 elections, so many freshman Congressmen chose the Public Works and Transportation Committee that new seats had to be created, making Public Works the largest committee in Congress. Term limits, by eliminating incentives for careerism, would curb reelection-oriented federal spending which is targeted to particular districts but contributes little to the general welfare of the country. Long-term officeholders, less vulnerable because of a well-honed reelection machine fueled by public resources, come gradually to identify their interests more and more with those of the federal government. They work for each other, not for us, the people who elected them. There is a strong correlation between length of legislative service and votes in favor of more public expenditures. Longer-serving Congressmen are also more hostile generally to other fiscally conservative measures, such as a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, Term limits would push numerous other congressional votes in a more fiscally conservative direction.
Term limits would restore respect for Congress by arresting the decline of congressional legitimacy, ensuring that Members would be more truly representative of their communities, and would renew American citizenship by writing into law the principles that people can govern themselves -- and that this representation falls within the competence of any reasonably interested and well-educated citizen. The objection that long service is essential to understanding the complex legislative process says far more about the current congressional system than it does about the concept of term limits.
At the heart of it. the best way to correct our government is to bring in legislators with fresh outlooks, new ideas, and better incentives. Term limits are the only realistic way to change the culture of legislative careerism in Congress -- a culture that undermines the public interest. Kick the bums out, as they say.
(information in this post has been gleaned from multiple sources. The interweb rules)
Friday, November 18, 2011
My Rules
We all have ideas on what kind of country we would like America to be. I wanted to collect some of mine here (I have a tendency to think, comment, and then forget what I said). Also, to have some fun.
Words and deeds...just some words and deeds of a powerful and famous person.
“From the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor….”
“There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and B****k O***a Jr. was born.” (O***a was born in 1961 and the Selma march was in 1965)
“I've now been in 57 states, I think, one left to go.”
“….when you spread the wealth around, I think it’s good for everybody.”
“If they [his daughters] make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
“My father served in World War II, and when he came home, he got the services that he needed.” (At the end of WWII, O***a’s father was 10 years old.)
O***a suggested that we need Arabic translators in Afghanistan, where they don’t speak Arabic.
“Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?...I mean, they're charging a lot of money for this stuff,” in comments to a crowd in Iowa, where there are no Whole Foods.
“Well let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's.”
“Israel is an ally of ours. It is the most important ally we have in the region, and there is no doubt that we would act forcefully and appropriately on any attack against Iran, nuclear or otherwise.”
"If I talked to Iran, I'm going to tell them, 'You should develop a nuclear weapon...'"
"It was also interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. There's a lot of -- I don't know what the term is in Austrian..." (There is no Austrian language).
“There are some structural issues with our economy where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM. You don’t go to a bank teller."
"We’re the country that built the Intercontinental Railroad”
"The Qaddafi regime is over. Gbagbo, Ben Ali, Mubarak are no longer in power. Osama bin Laden is gone, and the idea that change could only come through violence has been buried with him."
"You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change.”
"Asking a Billionaire to Pay the Same Tax Rate as a Jew - as a Janitor."
April 22, 2009: O***a flies to and from Iowa, making two trips on Air Force One and four trips on Marine One, burning at least 9,000 gallons of fuel on the 800-mile-plus cross-country excursion. He makes the trip so he can plant a single tree and deliver a speech on the importance of using alternative energy.
March 19, 2009: During a taping of a popular TV talk show, HE comments on his poor bowling skills, "It's like -- it was like Special Olympics or something," O***a says.
March 6, 2009: During a visit to Washington, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown presents O***a with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President, a thoughtful gift, considering the desk in the Oval Office was crafted from wood from the warship's sister ship, HMS Resolute. O***a's gift to Brown is Twenty-five incorrectly formatted DVDs of American movies.
April 1, 2009: During a visit to Buckingham Palace, QE2 presents O***a with a silver framed photo of her and Prince Andrew. O***a gives the queen -- an iPod featuring 40 Broadway show tunes. The queen already own an iPod.
June 4, 2009: Speaking at Cairo University, O***a delivers a speech that threatens to destabilize US relations with Israel. The president apologizes for American transgressions around the world, yet fails to ask Muslim states to hold their "extremists" accountable for their global terrorist actions. O***a mentions 9/11, but only to explain the American responses it provoked. Finally, the president emphasizes how America has acted "contrary to our ideals" in the past, refusing to acknowledge the steep level of American generosity and its long history of fighting for freedom around the world.
May 30, 2009: O***a arranges "a date night" in New York City, which includes dinner at a fancy Manhattan restaurant and a Broadway show. Travel is paid for by U.S. taxpayers, us. The cost of the date is estimated to be anywhere from $23,000 to $40,000. It last a total of six hours.
May 8, 2007 O***a: "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed." 12 people died, not 10,000.
May 17, 2008. O***a: “When Kennedy met with (Soviet leader Nikita) Khrushchev, we were on the brink of nuclear war."
John Kennedy met Khrushchev in Vienna on June 4, 1961. The Cuban Missile Crisis, to which O***a refers, took place in October, 1962, sixteen months after the two leaders met.
June 22, 2007. O***a: "The public will have 5 days to look at every bill that lands on my desk"
A frequently broken promise.
August 7, 2007 O***a: "I would immediately call the president of Mexico, the president of Canada, to try to amend NAFTA…. Canada has a Prime Minister, not a President.
November 15, 2007. O***a: Lobbyists “will not work in my White House.”
Numerous lobbyists have and do work in the White House.
December 20, 2007 O***a: "The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. As Commander-in-Chief, the President does have a duty to protect and defend the United States. In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent."
On March 19, 2011, President Obama unilaterally ordered military attacks on Libya, a nation that had not recently attacked or threatened the United States, without any approval by the US Congress.
2008: In his debates with them, Senator O***a attacked Senator H. Clinton and J. Edwards for forcing people to buy health insurance in their health plans, saying his plan didn’t do so.
March, 2010: O***aCare requires people to buy health insurance or be fined.
2008. Obama’s Tax Plan: “Eliminating Capital Gains Taxes for Entrepreneurs and Investors in Small Business.”
HA. This and many other promises in the plan haven’t been attempted. And won’t be.
January 21, 2008: O***a said here and many times the healthcare reform debate would not be held behind closed doors. O****Care almost all meetings were closed to reporters and the public.
April 11, 2008 O***a: “We should close Guantanamo and restore Habeas Corpus.”
January 22, 2009 “O***a Signs Order to Close Guantanamo in a Year”
As of now, he has restored military trials at Guantanamo.
May 18, 2008 O***a: "Iran, Cuba, Venezuela? These countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose any serious threat to us,"
May 19, 2008 O***a: "I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.”
One day, years, why quibble.
May 26, 2008 O***a: "I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps,". The Red Army liberated Auschwitz.
July 9, 2008. O***a: “Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English — they’ll learn English — you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about, how can your child become bilingual? We should have every child speaking more than one language.”
O***a, who speaks only English, was running for President. Interestingly, the sitting President at the time, speaks English and Spanish.
October 7, 2008. O***a: “I am cutting more than I’m spending. So it will be a net spending cut.”
O***a has produced the highest budgets and deficits in history.
January 6, 2009. O***a: “We are going to ban all earmarks, the process by which individual members insert pet projects without review." His first spending bill contained 9,000 earmarks.
February 24, 2009. O***a: “And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.” The first functioning automobile is credited to Karl Benz of Germany in 1885.
April 14, 2009: O***a says he is “resolved to halt the rise of privacy”. He meant “piracy”.
May 26, 2009. O***a: "They (Supreme Court Justices) are charged with the vital task of applying principles put to paper more than twenty centuries ago."
The Constitution the judges interpret was written just over two centuries ago. He was also law school lecturer.
July 23, 2009: "I'm always worried about using the word 'victory,' because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur," O***a told ABC News. Emperor Hirohito did not surrender to MacArthur. Other representatives of the Japanese military and government signed the surrender.
February 4, 2010. O***a Reads Word "Corpsman" as "Corpse Man" twice.
There are more...
Good times.
Words and deeds...just some words and deeds of a powerful and famous person.
“From the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor….”
“There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and B****k O***a Jr. was born.” (O***a was born in 1961 and the Selma march was in 1965)
“I've now been in 57 states, I think, one left to go.”
“….when you spread the wealth around, I think it’s good for everybody.”
“If they [his daughters] make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
“My father served in World War II, and when he came home, he got the services that he needed.” (At the end of WWII, O***a’s father was 10 years old.)
O***a suggested that we need Arabic translators in Afghanistan, where they don’t speak Arabic.
“Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?...I mean, they're charging a lot of money for this stuff,” in comments to a crowd in Iowa, where there are no Whole Foods.
“Well let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's.”
“Israel is an ally of ours. It is the most important ally we have in the region, and there is no doubt that we would act forcefully and appropriately on any attack against Iran, nuclear or otherwise.”
"If I talked to Iran, I'm going to tell them, 'You should develop a nuclear weapon...'"
"It was also interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. There's a lot of -- I don't know what the term is in Austrian..." (There is no Austrian language).
“There are some structural issues with our economy where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM. You don’t go to a bank teller."
"We’re the country that built the Intercontinental Railroad”
"The Qaddafi regime is over. Gbagbo, Ben Ali, Mubarak are no longer in power. Osama bin Laden is gone, and the idea that change could only come through violence has been buried with him."
"You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change.”
"Asking a Billionaire to Pay the Same Tax Rate as a Jew - as a Janitor."
April 22, 2009: O***a flies to and from Iowa, making two trips on Air Force One and four trips on Marine One, burning at least 9,000 gallons of fuel on the 800-mile-plus cross-country excursion. He makes the trip so he can plant a single tree and deliver a speech on the importance of using alternative energy.
March 19, 2009: During a taping of a popular TV talk show, HE comments on his poor bowling skills, "It's like -- it was like Special Olympics or something," O***a says.
March 6, 2009: During a visit to Washington, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown presents O***a with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President, a thoughtful gift, considering the desk in the Oval Office was crafted from wood from the warship's sister ship, HMS Resolute. O***a's gift to Brown is Twenty-five incorrectly formatted DVDs of American movies.
April 1, 2009: During a visit to Buckingham Palace, QE2 presents O***a with a silver framed photo of her and Prince Andrew. O***a gives the queen -- an iPod featuring 40 Broadway show tunes. The queen already own an iPod.
June 4, 2009: Speaking at Cairo University, O***a delivers a speech that threatens to destabilize US relations with Israel. The president apologizes for American transgressions around the world, yet fails to ask Muslim states to hold their "extremists" accountable for their global terrorist actions. O***a mentions 9/11, but only to explain the American responses it provoked. Finally, the president emphasizes how America has acted "contrary to our ideals" in the past, refusing to acknowledge the steep level of American generosity and its long history of fighting for freedom around the world.
May 30, 2009: O***a arranges "a date night" in New York City, which includes dinner at a fancy Manhattan restaurant and a Broadway show. Travel is paid for by U.S. taxpayers, us. The cost of the date is estimated to be anywhere from $23,000 to $40,000. It last a total of six hours.
May 8, 2007 O***a: "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed." 12 people died, not 10,000.
May 17, 2008. O***a: “When Kennedy met with (Soviet leader Nikita) Khrushchev, we were on the brink of nuclear war."
John Kennedy met Khrushchev in Vienna on June 4, 1961. The Cuban Missile Crisis, to which O***a refers, took place in October, 1962, sixteen months after the two leaders met.
June 22, 2007. O***a: "The public will have 5 days to look at every bill that lands on my desk"
A frequently broken promise.
August 7, 2007 O***a: "I would immediately call the president of Mexico, the president of Canada, to try to amend NAFTA…. Canada has a Prime Minister, not a President.
November 15, 2007. O***a: Lobbyists “will not work in my White House.”
Numerous lobbyists have and do work in the White House.
December 20, 2007 O***a: "The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. As Commander-in-Chief, the President does have a duty to protect and defend the United States. In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent."
On March 19, 2011, President Obama unilaterally ordered military attacks on Libya, a nation that had not recently attacked or threatened the United States, without any approval by the US Congress.
2008: In his debates with them, Senator O***a attacked Senator H. Clinton and J. Edwards for forcing people to buy health insurance in their health plans, saying his plan didn’t do so.
March, 2010: O***aCare requires people to buy health insurance or be fined.
2008. Obama’s Tax Plan: “Eliminating Capital Gains Taxes for Entrepreneurs and Investors in Small Business.”
HA. This and many other promises in the plan haven’t been attempted. And won’t be.
January 21, 2008: O***a said here and many times the healthcare reform debate would not be held behind closed doors. O****Care almost all meetings were closed to reporters and the public.
April 11, 2008 O***a: “We should close Guantanamo and restore Habeas Corpus.”
January 22, 2009 “O***a Signs Order to Close Guantanamo in a Year”
As of now, he has restored military trials at Guantanamo.
May 18, 2008 O***a: "Iran, Cuba, Venezuela? These countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose any serious threat to us,"
May 19, 2008 O***a: "I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.”
One day, years, why quibble.
May 26, 2008 O***a: "I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps,". The Red Army liberated Auschwitz.
July 9, 2008. O***a: “Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English — they’ll learn English — you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about, how can your child become bilingual? We should have every child speaking more than one language.”
O***a, who speaks only English, was running for President. Interestingly, the sitting President at the time, speaks English and Spanish.
October 7, 2008. O***a: “I am cutting more than I’m spending. So it will be a net spending cut.”
O***a has produced the highest budgets and deficits in history.
January 6, 2009. O***a: “We are going to ban all earmarks, the process by which individual members insert pet projects without review." His first spending bill contained 9,000 earmarks.
February 24, 2009. O***a: “And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.” The first functioning automobile is credited to Karl Benz of Germany in 1885.
April 14, 2009: O***a says he is “resolved to halt the rise of privacy”. He meant “piracy”.
May 26, 2009. O***a: "They (Supreme Court Justices) are charged with the vital task of applying principles put to paper more than twenty centuries ago."
The Constitution the judges interpret was written just over two centuries ago. He was also law school lecturer.
July 23, 2009: "I'm always worried about using the word 'victory,' because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur," O***a told ABC News. Emperor Hirohito did not surrender to MacArthur. Other representatives of the Japanese military and government signed the surrender.
February 4, 2010. O***a Reads Word "Corpsman" as "Corpse Man" twice.
There are more...
Good times.
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