Saturday, July 23, 2011

Reduce Political Gridlock with Term Limits

Politics is a dirty business. It was so even back in the days of the Founding Fathers. But I can't imagine what is going on in Washington now over the national debt is what the founders had in mind when they created this nation. The Republicans in the House have painted themselves into a corner. They made promises to the Tea Party knuckleheads that they cannot keep. Some of them wish they could be released from that corner but they also see that if they do what's right, they may no be reelected. So they do what's best for themselves instead of what they know is best for the country.

There is one very simple solution to political messes like this and it can be summed up in two short words: term limits.

Here is a proposal for a Constitutional amendment. First, limit the term of the office of president to one, six-year term. Some say that six years is too long for a really bad president to be in office. So, along with the six-year term, allow for a mid-term disapproval vote. In this election, if 60 percent of the voters dislike the way the president is doing his job, they could vote him out. If they do, the vice-president would then become president and a special election would be scheduled to replace him.

The the congressional representatives, limit them to a single six-year term, but stagger the elections so that members will begin their term every two years. That way there will always be a majority in the House that are not rookies. This is currently the way the senate is elected. And, for the senate, its members would be elected in the same way as now, except that they would be restricted to one term.

For those who want to serve for more than a single term, the law could allow them to run again after setting out for one election cycle. That's two years. This would also apply to the president.

With no hope of getting reelected without setting out for at least two years, there would be far less political grandstanding. The president and Congress would not have to stand firm on a bad promise because they would have nothing to lose politically.

1 comment:

+mf said...

I agree with term limits, but I think you are being much too kind with your "sit out for two years and you can run again." I'll have none of that. They need to know that what they do now can have absolutely no effect on potential reelection - because there is no chance for reelection ever.

I've honestly been saying the same thing for years. Career politicians are a HUGE part of what's wrong.