Congressional Term Limits

Why does it seem like the Right is moving farther right and the Left is moving farther left? Yet Presidential elections always and consistently show that the most moderate person gets nominated for their party and the person who appeals best to both sides (and is, therefore, the most moderate appearing of the two candidates) is the one who gets elected. It used to be true in Congressional elections as well, but now seems to be the person who talks the loudest or has some sort of name recognition gets elected.

I firmly believe that America has about 10-15% radical Right people, 10-15% radical Left people, and between 70-80% of the people are moderate. They may be moderately Right/Conservative or moderately Left/Liberal, but each side has some things they can agree with from the "other side" and this vast majority of mostly moderate people can calmly sit down at a table together and come up with compromises and solutions. Yet the rhetoric in Congress between the parties, as well as between the Legislative and Executive branches of the government is venomous and full of rancor, and it is only getting worse.

Have you noticed, however, that every time you hear of a filibuster in Congress, or an impasse between Congressmen or Senators, or problems between the Legislative and Executive branches, it is always the same few people each time? Out of the 535 people in Congress, I consistently see the same 10-15 from both sides arguing, filibustering, on TV, and making the rounds on talk shows. It seems like they have been in  office so long that they have risen to positions of power and now rule the roost like it is an oligarchy.

Originally, for the first 100 to 150 years of our nation, most of the lawmakers served one term. Few served two and it was exceptionally rare to serve more than that. Only two people served for 30 or more years prior to the early 1900s. Since the 1950s, the number of people serving for 30+ years has grown by leaps and bounds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_United_States_Congress_by_longevity_of_service

People should not spend 30 years in public office, let alone 40 or 50 years!

There are many web sites that are pushing for Congressional term limits. There are many polls that show that people want term limits. Many state and local legislatures have or are introducing term limits. There are many similar suggestions on the "We the People" portion of WhiteHouse.gov.

I've already suggested my solutions to this problem. By creating more turn-over in these important offices, we can get more varied viewpoints and we force the lawmakers to live under the laws they make. We also minimize some of the damage that PACs and lobbyists can do, as they can't build up long-term relationships with people by supplementing their (already too high) Congressional war-chests or salaries.

In the end, I think that term limits can effectively build a better Congress, can cut down on corruption, and will help the country reach consensus and compromise on many important issues that, today, are at a complete stand-still.

#revolution