Beto Was Right - We need Term Limits For All Government Positions From The Supreme Court on Down

[liskddksil]

Murkowski, Alexander, and Collins put on a show like the Met's biggest divas couldn't top. The Chief Justice was nothing more than a potted plant except for admonishing "both sides". Moscow Mitch and his Minions - enough said. They've all been there too damn long. Yes, sensible term limits means some Dems would also move on to, but this Government is completely and utterly broken and we need major changes from the top down.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mollyhensleyclancy/beto-orourke-term-limits-voting-rights

[DonaldsRump]

1. The hypocrisy of the Rethugs knows no bounds...

Remember in 1994 that's all we heard from the Rethugs: term limits, term limits, term limits. When they took the House and Senate that year, all that pretense was dropped, and I've not heard it in years. It was fine to advocate for term limits when they weren't in power, but when they were, they dropped it.

I think it is time we get term limits. We need some fresh ideas and folks in elected office, and ASAP.

After that, the electoral college should be closely examined, if not eliminated.

[wryter2000]

11. And how do you plan to get rid of the electoral college?

We're just getting enough states to pass the ERA.

[DonaldsRump]

15. I have no plans to do so...do you?

It's just a thought.

[Polly Hennessey]

2. Yes, we need term limits.

I see no other way to rid ourselves of these people. There comes a point where they are there to enrich themselves or bask in their positions of power. I know we would lose Democrats but the current system is too dangerous.

[LonePirate]

3. I disagree. Term limits move knowledge from elected officals to lobbyists who are around forever.

Last edited Sat Feb 1, 2020, 01:02 AM - Edit history (1)

[liskddksil]

6. Let's reform campaign finance as well

Term limits were just one facet of Beto's plan to reform our Democracy.

[crickets]

7. Thank you!

When people talk about term limits they forget that the same machete that lops out the representatives they don't like will also take those they do.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/01/18/five-reasons-to-oppose-congressional-term-limits/

Because term limits have never existed on the federal level, political scientists have studied states’ and foreign governments’ experiences with term limits to project what effects the measure would have on Congress. These studies regularly find that many of the corruptive, ‘swampy,’ influences advocates contend would be curtailed by instituting term limits are, in fact, exacerbated by their implementation.

Calls for term limits also fail to take into account all the other people in the governmental gears around elected officials who have no such limits. As mentioned - lobbyists.

https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2016/10/18/13323842/trump-term-limits

"Legislative oversight is the venue of specialists. A term-limited legislature tends to be populated by generalists, who lack the accumulated knowledge to exercise oversight effectively, if they even recognize it as their responsibility."

Term limits also strengthen the power of lobbyists and interest groups for the same reason. In term-limited states, lawmakers and their staff have less time to build up expertise, since they are there for a limited time. But like the executive agencies of the state government, lobbyists and interest groups are also there year after year. They are the true repeat players building long-term relationships and the true keepers of the institutional knowledge. This gives them power.

It's a nice fantasy that what Washington needs is a bunch of good old-fashioned common sense — common sense that can only come from people who aren't "career politicians." But the machinery of government is now incredibly complex. And the more we cling to the fantasy of electing uncorrupted political neophytes as saviors, the more we empower the lobbyists and bureaucrats who can accumulate a lifetime of experience and knowledge.

And my final argument against term limits:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi

Nancy Patricia Pelosi (/pəˈloʊsi/; née D'Alesandro; born March 26, 1940) is an American Democratic Party politician serving as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since January 2019. She is the first woman in U.S. history to hold this position. As such, and having first been elected to Congress in 1987, Pelosi is the highest-ranking female elected official in United States history.[2] As Speaker of the House, she is second in the presidential line of succession, immediately after the vice president.[3]

As of 2019, Pelosi is in her 17th term as a congresswoman.

And thank all the gods great and small for that.



eta apologies for the wall o' text - apparently I feel pretty strongly about this and kinda got carried away.

[Bettie]

14. Once someone has been in congress, they should never be permitted

to lobby congress in any paid capacity.

[LonePirate]

18. I would be OK with that reform.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Now name some Democrats you'd like to term-limit out.

[liskddksil]

5. All of them when these rules get put into effect.

[marybourg]

8. Bad cases (and this is the worst)

make bad laws.

[wryter2000]

9. No, no, no

Nancy Pelosi would not have been in the House. I imagine Adam Schiff wouldn't have been, either. No Barbara Lee. No Maxine Waters. No Jerome Nadler. Just no.

[PBC_Democrat]

10. Term Limits are definetly a double-sided tool ...

What if we limited CONSECUTIVE terms?

This would force incumbents to re-apply for their job after someone else gets to make an impact.

[dalton99a]

12. Trump's judges should be thrown out. It is fucked up.

[Archae]

13. Term limits will NOT stop corruption.

In fact in some offices it'll cause things to be far worse.

It's the unlimited MONEY that needs to be curbed.

"Dark money"

All the bribes...I mean campaign contributions Trump's lawyers handed out.

The right-wing "churches" flush with money they are using for political purposes.

[crickets]

16. +1

[LiberalBrooke]

21. I agree, it is the money that is the problem, not term limits.

Term limits would have kept Pelosi out too. Big money is the problem. Limit dark money and the ability to slide into a lobbying position after serving in Congress would address the issue directly.

[Xolodno]

17. Not a good idea.

Just moves those in charge to behind the scenes and make them king makers and high powered lobbyist who dictate legislation to the new and naive legislator.

The better thing to do is reform the electoral college and make it more representative.

The one that gets a lot of attention is apportion the Representative delegates based on how their district voted. Then the two Senator delegates go to the person who wins the popular vote of the state.

This won't get rid of battle ground states...but it will shift those battles to more purple states for the purpose of the Senator delegates. And states that get completely ignored during the election, such as Oregon, Washington and California will suddenly have some importance in the purple districts.

Of course the flip side of this, you have some heavily gerrymandered states with no intention of being fair. So they automatically write themselves out of the election. Then of course, there could be the opposite problem, campaigns bring in a lot of money for the local area, so you could see states gerrymander everything they can to purple for the increased infusion of cash.

[tinrobot]

19. I do think the Supreme Court does not need to be lifetime.

One suggestion was 18 years per justice - staggered so a new justice is nominated every two years.

That might end the practice of nominating incredibly young justices and hoping they'll serve for 30-40 years.

[nini]

20. No

Experience is necessary. Being new doesn’t mean you’re competent and not evil like those assholes.