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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAs I sit at home reading a variety of publications, I am trying to think of something positive that could come out of this whole ordeal. What occurred to me is perhaps the politicians could learn to work together and simply represent the country as they were elected to do. Will this be politics as usual once this is over? I fear so.
Deep down, my view is that we should fire every single politician in Washington. I personally have a few honorable exceptions in mind. However, it is best to keep everyone on their toes. This is called the ballot box—or elections. But how is that working out for us? Congress has a 17% approval rating and an impressive penchant for getting almost nothing meaningful done. However, they do know how to turn out 2,300-page bills which many don’t even bother to read! Unfortunately, these bills impact our lives on a major scale. Even as I write, politics is playing a role in current requests that are critical for this country. This is inexcusable. I want to be clear—both parties play this game. Thanks to the perks of incumbency, the decks are stacked against potential challengers.
Therefore, like many of us, I am in favor of term limits. The issue of congressional term limits has to be enacted through a constitutional amendment. Our representatives in Congress would have to vote to limit their own careers. There are some younger congressional members who are in favor of term limits. According to The Hill, a new system would have to be grandfathered in so it would not apply to any sitting members of Congress, except for the freshman class.
So where do we go from here? The ballot box is a good place to start.
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Daniel Spitzberg
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I have long felt that term limits should be enacted. While some in Congress do worthwhile work, many spend too much of their time and franking privileges to ensure they remain in office. Many in the districts do not vote or just vote for the incumbent. Automatic! This should stop. Congress often opines about accountability elsewhere, but where is accountability for their actions, or lack thereof, the those they represent.
Apathy of the US voter is why we don’t have term limits every 2 & 6 years for the Congress. A less engaged population would be the result of term limits not a more engaged and educated population. if you understand how DC works you would realize that the “Aides” Congressman hire virtually run DC and the Congressman are the conduit to vote accordingly. Congressman have NO idea how to navigate the halls of Congress physically or procedurally. And Congressional Aides don’t not get re-elected they just rehired to serve the next victim. What we need is money limits and give Congress XXX dollars a year to run their offices and if they take 1 penny of goods and service that you and I pay full freight they are terminated and replaced immediately, and prosecuted if criminal activity is involved. The DC Aides will not be setting up meetings with high level lobbyist donors and getting a commission on the side to do so. Think people it is not bad people elected to congress, it is the pedaling of influence that is the problem