Should there be term limits for Senators, Congresspeople, Judicial and Supreme Court Justices?
If there is ever a time to explore constitutional amendments in regard to term limits, now may be the time. The division between Republicans and Democrats has become untenable in the landscape of politics in our country today. There are currently 16 states with term limits in place for state legislators (*) and 37 states have term limits for governors (**). The sad reality of all members of both the house and senate is they spend 85-90% of their time talking with donors soliciting the dollars necessary to get themselves and their party re-elected, that is all they care about, staying in office and in their minds in power. They have bent the narrative of who they serve, the citizens who voted them in their current posts, into a game of if we lose then we can’t get anything done. The reality is, they no longer are concerned about the voters, their only concerns are pleasing the large donors and super PAC’s interests. (The topic of campaign reform and eliminating PAC’s will be another discussion)
I don’t believe the founders and authors of our Constitution envisioned or wanted career politicians. (even though many were themselves) Rather, they wanted people who were truly and genuinely, in the most basic definition, interested in serving their country and resolving the issues of their neighbors and fellow citizens. Most of the early legislators of our country had businesses, farms, and other trades they needed to oversee and operate to provide for their families. In our current political system, that is no longer the case, it seems people enter politics for financial gain instead of serving the people in their respective constituency.
I don’t want to ever try and dissuade anyone from pursuing a path in politics, in fact, I believe there is a logical way to go about it. If all states had legislative term limits, let’s say a person decides they have a passion or calling to serve. They enter and win a local race for city council. They then want to serve a greater number, they campaign and win a seat in their state legislature, the term limits for state legislators varies by state, (a rough estimate of the average is 10 years). So why not them campaign for a seat in the US legislature and the term limit there is 12 years total combined. (could be as a Representative in the house or a Senator, or combination of both as some states have similar limits) You now can have that career in politics. I would also argue there should be a mandatory age limit where a politician is prevented from running for office or re-election if they have reached the age of 70.
There are a lot of other things in the soup with a proposal like this, (retirement pay, health benefits etc) but I’m sure there are opportunities to solve the fiscal issues in a more beneficial budget friendly impact than we currently have.
I’m R. Simon Kent and that is My View from the Cheap Seats.
*As of January 1, 2024, the number of states with legislative term limits is 16. They are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
**Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Indiana, Wyoming, Oregon, Montana, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME
It is unfortunate that the alphabet generations, Gen X, Y, Z and soon Gen Alpha, do not know about the history of the US being involved in undeclared wars across the globe. The administrations civil rights abuse of anyone in this country who was from any ethnicity, and in most cases from another country, other than white. There were protests against the administration at the time, as the people of this country expressed their disapproval as afforded under the 1st amendment of the Constitution.
Yet, here we are some 53 years after the Vietnam Conflict, (war was never formally declared by congress) and 62 years after the Civil Rights Act was signed into law and nothing has changed.
The United States continually engages in armed conflicts without the approval of congress. There is ethnic, gender, religious, political, age discrimination, and worse, rampant racism throughout the United States. Think back to when there were National Guard units sent to places like Chicago, Kent State University, Berkely, and others, killing and wounding innocent American citizens for no reason other than they were exercising their right to freedom of speech and expression afforded under the 1st Amendment of our Constitution. There are songs from that era long ago that still ring true today. While some may not agree with this, the peaceful protests and opposition to that conflict, the civil rights atrocities, and many since, had an impact on the political leaders. As a nation and world, I can only hope people will find ways to gather peacefully and let the political pundits know this is not acceptable.
I recently sat down and watched a couple movies that I feel can put my point into proper perspective:
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
“The Cover Up”
“All the President’s Men”
“Spotlight”
While watching them, the theme of this article kept hitting me in the head. Let me know if you agree.
Another thought crossed my brain, perhaps we need to dust off the meaningful songs from the past and begin finding the way to move them into the streaming airways of today. One song that can easily have a couple words changed to fit right into the headlines today is by Country Joe and the Fish at Woodstock in 1969. These are the lyrics with a few edits, and this is no attempt to take away or replace any copyrights from the original artist:
“Well come on all of you big strong men, Uncle Sam needs your help again,
he got himself in a terrible jam, way over yonder in Iran,
put down your books and pick up a gun, we're gonna have a whole lotta fun.
CHORUS
and its 1,2,3 what are we fightin for?
don't ask me i don't give a damn, the next stop is in Iran,
and its 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates. Well there ain’t no time to wonder why...WHOPEE we're all gonna die.
now come on wall street don't be slow, why man this's war a-go-go,
there's plenty good money to be made, supplyin' the army with the tools of the trade,
just hope and pray that when they drop the bomb, they drop it in Iran and not the USA.
now come on mothers throughout the land, pack your boys off to Iran,
come on fathers don't hesitate, send your sons off before its too late,
be the first one on your block, to have your boy come home in a box
I believe these songs may illustrate my point:
“Vietnam Song” by Country Joe McDonald and the Fish: Country Joe & the Fish - VietNam Song - Live Woodstock 1969 - Full HD Video
“Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire: Eve Of Destruction
“Ohio” by Crosby Stills Nash and Young: Ohio (2017 Remaster)
“For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield: Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (Official Audio)
*Please take a listen, the links are from the artists YouTube pages, so please like and subscribe to their page and support them when you listen to these.
I’m R. Simon Kent and that is My View from the Cheap Seats.