Its Time For Term limits On Congress

Why is it that President Trump has a term limit on his power but Nancy Pelosi doesn’t. I thought we had equal branches of government?

Congress has a stunning yet not surprising approval rating of 12% according to realclearpolitics That 12% approval rating means that more people believe in bigfoot 14% and UFOs 34% (according to datapolls) than approve of the work of Congress. In a country that is so divided on literally everything we are all united in our absolute hatred of congress. The absolute hatred of congress mostly stems from their stubbornness and their out of touchness when it comes to the work of the people they serve.

The average age of someone in the senate is 62 years old and the average age in the house in 57. Now I am not age-ist and the purpose of this proposal is not meant to stem from age-ism but from the fact that the american people want new and yes younger leadership. There are members of congress that have been in congress for decades and decades because congress doesn’t have any term limits, unlike the president. That means you can run and run until the day you die, and that has happened many times. From corruption to gridlock , we need term limits now more than ever.

I began to get an interest in this subject when I began listening to legal arguments of the separations of power and the court system and that Congress is an equal branch of government of the executive branch. The fact that bothered me about the equal branch of government point is the fact that the head of the executive branch the president has a term limit on his presidency yet congress and equach brank to the president does not.

The only reasonable solution to solve this congress gridlock and in some cases corruption is to limit it, limiting both representatives and senators to two terms just like the president who is an “equal” branch.

I believe that term limits will ultimately increase voter turnout. “When you live in a district where you know what the outcome of a vote will be before you cast a ballot, then any opposition is largely symbolic. Although there are local elections where voters can have influence on both sides of the aisle, that is not always the case for Congressional elections. Fewer seats are up-for-grabs each year than ever before according to data gathered by Rasmussen Reports. People are moving toward communities where there are like-minded people as their neighbors, which helps to polarize the national election map. Term limits would create circumstances where voting would be necessary because you wouldn’t know the status of the election.” (Chief 2020)

Now the power to make such a change and put up a bill like this must come from the house leadership of either party, minorly leader kevin mccarthy you are the best hope to make this happen. Now more than even the republicn party wants a change in government to route out the establishment from both parties. Political it is very popular in the rebublican party and both parties frankly, but as you know talk is just that talk when it comes down to doing it, its difficult.

Now the opposition to this bill and possible amendment and lets just call it the “Congressional term act” is primarily establishment lobbyists from both parties. You see the ramifications of this happening could shake up the balance of power and those in power, if we had a two term limit now over half of congress would be able to re-run so they would be a oppison to it too. My response to that point and it’s a pretty good point is that in the eyes of the public it is politically bad to come out against term limits, because it is so popular on both sides now in the environment that we are in. It’s important to use public opinion against those that use their own eego ad justifican to not support term limits. Another opposing point in term limits is that Term limits would force good politicians to retire from Congress. Congress as a who has a pretty bad approval rating but when look at district was for example the difficulty of our senator mike lee he has an approval rating of 78% and I think it’s fair to say i the eyes of their conscience they look at them congressman of woman as loyal servant to the country. So forcing them into retirement local wise wouldn’t be popular, is the opposing point. Another opposing point to term limits is that newly elected officials would still defer power to more experienced lawmakers.

“Even if term limits on Congress were to receive implementation tomorrow, the freshmen members of each elected class would still likely defer to the more experienced lawmakers when composing legislation, passing laws, or learning how things operate. Even if there are only 1–2 terms of service under the belt of someone else, that is more experience than a freshman representative would have. This deference would still consolidate the power in those who have the most experience in making laws, but it would be less experience than we have now since we’d be forcing career politicians out of office.”(Chief, 2020)

As leader of the house even though you are the minority essibistly I would say it is important to keep your members popular in their districts and ensure their reelection and reelection of members running against incumbents from the other party, but it is also important to keep that party together as a whole. As your party because more populaist it is not wise to be on the opposing side of change.

We went through some of the most im my opinion valid points against term limits and I counter a couple of them but here are some points in favor of term limits on congress. Term limits is the best way to stop political corruption. “Politicians have less time to get “dirty” when there are term limits in place. Although someone could be elected while under the influence of special interests, most would start from the very beginning, not knowing how to influence the governing body for their personal gain. Most newly elected officials are skeptical of lobbying groups and undue pressure for specific legislation, which would give American society an extra level of resilience against unwanted rules and regulations.” (Chief 2020)

Politicality especially now this is a very valid point and a view shared by many in your party, with a nearly two month shut down that happened last year to even recently with members of the senate in both parties selling stocks right before the coronavirus exploded in america. People link corruption with congress more than anything else in government according many repucliacn in your party. Term limits will stifle that corruption or potential curruping and will satisfy the base of your party as well, very good policaly.

Another favorable point of the passage of term limits is everyone elected to congress could have influence on our government. “Congress currently functions more like a union than they do a legislative body when handing out specific assignments. It works on a system of seniority that benefits the leadership group with powerful posts, leaving the rest of the newly elected officials to scramble for positions on desired committees instead. That structure encourages specific districts or states to keep voting the same person into office because their power equates to local economic influences. By instituting term limits on Senators and Representatives, we would have these politicians spending less time trying to get their foot in the door, allowing them to govern like they were elected to do by their state or district.” As you know minority leader McCarthy house members with more experience tend to be incharge of most committees in both the house and senate. With the passage of term limits freshman members would have a better opportunity to have an influence on our government and even run a committee. As times and change and technology growns and our culture even changes it is better in our county to have people in our government come from these newer cultures and more diverse backgrounds and I believe that’s what your party wants especially the young. Politically the need for new leadership is wanted on both sides of the alsie so would benefit you politically absolutely. The last favorable point Mr. minority leader for term limits is the effect term limits have on lobbying and political games.

“Anyone can lobby the government at any time. If you are dissatisfied with the way that your elected officials are behaving, then you can write a letter to them which conveys your feelings. The problem with our current system of lobbying is that the people and businesses which have the most money get to have the highest levels of influence in the government. When lobbying actions take place, then there is a specific goal to that behavior. The effort is to create an outcome which is favorable to the business or the individual that wouldn’t be available to them otherwise. It is not unusual for these requests to be contrary to what the rest of the American people want, which is why their influence can be so harmful. Term limits could help to stop this behavior.” (Chief 2020) In terms of political games meaning for example the 1rst Coronavirus relief bill, lobbyists put several unrealed stuff in the package so when it failed because republican didn’t want to fund that the bill failed and made it seem as though they didn’t support aid to small business and ect.

“Congress passes a lot of bills that include stipulations for various actions, activities, or funding requests that have nothing to do with what the actual legislation is supposed to cover. The Credit CARD (Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure) Act of 2009 is one of many examples of this issue. The legislation implemented new rules that govern credit card companies which sought to reduce fraud, seek help with mortgages, and improve the clarity of information given to consumers. This legislation also contained an unrelated provision which allows visitors to national parks and wildlife refuges to carry loaded weapons if they are otherwise allowed to possess a firearm. By implementing term limits on Congress, the goal would be to stop these bills that aren’t “clean” by encouraging ethical behavior.” (Chief 2020)

In conclusion Mr minority leader research shows that politically pushing a term limits bill on congress would be of great benefit to you, your party and our country as a whole. I laid out the opposing point to term limits and counter them as well, I believe however if you pures this as I hope you do while politically good it term of the support you get and many of those whom you lead in house, lobbying from special interest groups will be vicious. It will take courage and ultimately will change the politics in our country for good.