Alan S. Chartock: The state needs term limits
We need term limits in state government. If the people of New York state had the choice of limiting the number of years that a legislator was eligible to serve, they would do it in a New York second. When New York City voters had that choice they passed both term limits and public campaign financing.
We all know that the level of corruption in the Legislature, both legal and illegal, is a product of arrogance. Some of these office holders literally think they can do whatever they want and get away with it. You’ve got to figure that for every time one of these miscreants is busted, they have gotten away with the same thing or worse in the past. Even if the legislator doesn’t actually break the law, we know that one way or another, favors are exchanged for campaign cash. We often call this “providing access.” You get access if you give cash to campaigns or to businesses. No money, no access. Come on, let’s see this for what it is.
Needless to say, some of these bottom feeders quake their boots when they hear the words term limits. They argue that we Americans have the right to elect whomever we want to elect. That is a powerful argument. Unfortunately, the system is so tainted by money that it would be naïve to believe that people really get a choice. That’s why people want term limits even though it is axiomatic that everyone loves their legislator and hates the rest of the pool. The whole rotten system is populated by players who depend on one another to stay in office. Gov. Andrew Cuomo promised to clean up Albany but in order to get his agenda passed, he has to play ball with the Legislature. It turns out that we have to rely on federal prosecutors to do the heavy lifting.
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