Bill introduced to limit congressional terms

[Hazcat]

Here is the way it SHOULD be.

You have to serve three terms to get retirement benefits but you cannot serve the terms consecutively. AND three terms is the limit.

[ericire12]

Eric, I am once again impressed with your keen skill at debate. The strategy of "I don't like what I hear and might lose so don't engage" is always a winner. The fact is that in this case I do tend to agree with you (through no fault of your own) I just think the counter arguments are serious and valid and need to be considered. Do we want a Congress of newbies? Do we want to lose the ability to re-elect a rep who has given good service? There is nothing "academic" about those questions. They are simply commonsense concerns.
FQ13 who thinks if we are going to ammend the Constitution adding a recall provision for Congress  would be more useful
PS Eric, by dismissing academics, you are dismissing folks who spend their lives studying a subject and might possibly know a thing or two about it. Just sayin'.

Boy you really are an idiot. You just cant seem to understand that you are pretty darn close to arriving at the point where you are not even worth acknowledging anymore.

Re: PS ------------------------> Its a little concept known as "Knowledge vs wisdom". Having your nose in a book and being isolated to a classroom for years on end gives you ZERO first hand knowledge about the subject that you are studying. The only thing it gives you is knowledge about what someone else wants you to think about the subject. You are drowning in your own pompous arrogance.  

[tombogan03884]

Boy you really are an idiot. You just cant seem to understand that you are pretty darn close to arriving at the point where you are not even worth acknowledging anymore.

Re: PS ------------------------> Its a little concept known as "Knowledge vs wisdom". Having your nose in a book and being isolated to a classroom for years on end gives you ZERO first hand knowledge about the subject that you are studying. The only thing it gives you is knowledge about what someone else wants you to think about the subject. You are drowning in your own pompous arrogance.  

You forgot eyestrain.

[fightingquaker13]

Boy you really are an idiot. You just cant seem to understand that you are pretty darn close to arriving at the point where you are not even worth acknowledging anymore.

Re: PS ------------------------> Its a little concept known as "Knowledge vs wisdom". Having your nose in a book and being isolated to a classroom for years on end gives you ZERO first hand knowledge about the subject that you are studying. The only thing it gives you is knowledge about what someone else wants you to think about the subject. You are drowning in your own pompous arrogance.  

You're right Eric, the PS was a bit out of line. I apologize. Thing is though, that the reasons we DON'T have term limits in the Constitution are valid. Yes, times have changed and the Founders would be appalled at today's circumstances. BUT, I am by nature, study, and experience skeptical of simple solutions to complex problems. Term limits may be a silver bullet, but I want to measure twice and cut once before I pass it. If this statement offends, I apologize.
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

FQ, the reason we don't have term limit in the Constitution is because the Founding Fathers all had REAL careers they needed to tend to, and could not conceive of someone actually spending their lifetime living on the stipend that was intended for their "pay".

[Sponsor]

[JC5123]

You're right Eric, the PS was a bit out of line. I apologize. Thing is though, that the reasons we DON'T have term limits in the Constitution are valid. Yes, times have changed and the Founders would be appalled at today's circumstances. BUT, I am by nature, study, and experience skeptical of simple solutions to complex problems. Term limits may be a silver bullet, but I want to measure twice and cut once before I pass it. If this statement offends, I apologize.
FQ13

Gee, in MY EXPERIENCE (information learned through application, not theory) the simple solutions are most generally the best. That's not to say that the simple solution is always the easiest, but it will be the one that works.

And I must also disagree with Haz on this too. There should be NO retirement benefits. No matter how long you serve. Get out of Washington and go find a REAL job. Learn to live like the rest of us "common folk" and then MAYBE you might have the required intelligence to govern.

[fightingquaker13]

Gee, in MY EXPERIENCE (information learned through application, not theory) the simple solutions are most generally the best. That's not to say that the simple solution is always the easiest, but it will be the one that works.

And I must also disagree with Haz on this too. There should be NO retirement benefits. No matter how long you serve. Get out of Washington and go find a REAL job. Learn to live like the rest of us "common folk" and then MAYBE you might have the required intelligence to govern.

First, I agree with your second point. Elective office shouldn't be a career track and there should be no pension. Save or pound sand. As far as the first point goes, I beg to differ. The simple solution often ignores the underlying cause. The "Pass a law and the problem is solved" syndrom is the problem of the liberals. They ignore human nature. Careerism with pols is a huge problem. However, the desire of private interests to game the system for their own benefit is a constant. That will never change, no matter how many laws are passed. Federalists 10 and 51, put into practice with the system of checks and balances in the Constitution, went a long way towards fixing this, but not far enough. I am not opposed to term limits, but I do think a recall is the way to go, it lets us hold them directly accountable.
FQ13

[tt11758]

The "Pass a law throw some money at itand the problem is solved" syndrom is the problem of the liberals.
FQ13

Your statement has been corrected for accuracy.

My only concern with your recall proposal is that we already have that, it's called an election.  The problem is that while most people think congress sucks, they think their own representative is pretty darned good.  Which is one of the big reasons that the advantage always goes to the incumbent.

Let's do term limits and let things progress the way the founders intended.

[JC5123]

First, I agree with your second point. Elective office shouldn't be a career track and there should be no pension. Save or pound sand. As far as the first point goes, I beg to differ. The simple solution often ignores the underlying cause. The "Pass a law and the problem is solved" syndrom is the problem of the liberals. They ignore human nature. Careerism with pols is a huge problem. However, the desire of private interests to game the system for their own benefit is a constant. That will never change, no matter how many laws are passed. Federalists 10 and 51, put into practice with the system of checks and balances in the Constitution, went a long way towards fixing this, but not far enough. I am not opposed to term limits, but I do think a recall is the way to go, it lets us hold them directly accountable.
FQ13

Not to burst your problem solving bubble here, but we DO have a recall. Or did you forget how Kalifornia got the Governator?

[fightingquaker13]

Not to burst your problem solving bubble here, but we DO have a recall. Or did you forget how Kalifornia got the Governator?

No bubble to burst. No single solution is perfect. That's sort of been the point of my posts. I distrust silver bullets that seem to solve our problems at a stroke. However, I will say that Arnie is a damn sight better than Davis and a whole lot more entertaining. But there is no recall for federal office and there should be for the House and Senate.
FQ13