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One of the principal arguments in favor
of term limits is to reduce corruption in Congress. Term limits will
attract a different sort of politician: one who is more interested in
promoting the welfare of his or her country rather than in pursuing a
lifelong career. Our proposed amendment limits members of the House
to three two-year terms, and members of the Senate to two six-year
terms. No one would be allowed to serve in Congress, either as a
Senator or a Representative for more than a total of 16 years.
Members of Congress would start their time in Congress knowing that
their time is limited. There will be less incentive to pander to
lobbyists and special interests in exchange for campaign
contributions, because members of Congress will only be able to run
two or three times, and will thus have less need to build up large
campaign war chests. Lobbyists create their influence by building up
long-term relationships with politicians. Term limits will create
higher turnover in Congress, and will thus decrease the influence of
lobbyists by making it harder to build those long-term relationships.
Additionally, term limits will change the way people think about
Congress. Turnover in Congress will become the norm, and voters will
thus be less attached to the incumbents, since they change more
often. This will make it easier to vote corrupt incumbent politicians
out of office.
Term limits are needed to bring both
Republicans and Democrats in line. Corruption in office is a
bipartisan affair—Democrats and Republicans have been equally
guilty. Recent news story help illustrate this. Commentator Victor
Davis Hansen summarizes
some of the recent allegations of corruption against Democratic
Representative Charles Rangel of New York:
Currently, Rangel
is under investigation by two House subcommittees for illegally
holding four rent-stabilized apartments in New York and not
disclosing more than $75,000 in income from a rental villa he owns.
He also took free Caribbean trips paid for by corporate cronies and
used his congressional letterhead to press for money for the City
College of New York's new educational center, which bears his name.
Rangel also
acknowledged that he improperly listed his assets, as required by
law, and failed to report additional checking accounts valued between
$250,000 and $500,000 — princely sums acquired on a congressional
salary.
. . .Rangel is
the head of the Ways and Means Committee that writes the nation's
income tax policy. The politician, who for generations has urged
higher taxes, has chronically schemed to avoid paying them.
Republicans have been just as guilty of
corruption as Democrats. The Associated Press reports
that
An attorney in the
federal corruption case of a lobbyist says former [Republican] U.S.
Rep. Ernest Istook collected money from lobbyists and then asked them
what projects they wanted in a major spending bill.
Not surprisingly, Representative Istook
denies the claim and “says he based his decisions on merit and on
requests from members of Congress, not on contributions.” The
attorney involved in the case states that “the actions weren't
illegal.”
There are dozens more stories just like
these two. It's time that we held our Representatives and Senators
more accountable. Term limits is a great way to start.
Tags: Term Limits
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