The only way to clean out Congress is TERM LIMITS!

[Horse with no Name]

Or better yet...term LIMIT!
Give them ONE term to do the business of the people.
The bad ones far outnumber the good ones that used to be worth saving.
We need the Liebermans, Nelsons', Baucus's, etc GONE! GONE! GONE!
Too many sessions have passed with the Ralph Hall's, Boehners, Hoyer's, etc. Even at the expense of my hero, Lloyd Doggett.
Even if it costs us a Kennedy or a Kerry.
Too many IOU's extended in the campaign cash. The whole place is filthy!
Term limits, term limits, term limits!

[DJ13]

1. I would prefer publicly financed elections to get rid of the corp bribes

Term limits wouldnt address the influence of corporate money.

[Orsino]

39. +1

Money = dirt, in this context. Separate our reps from corporate money, and they'll no longer be working so directly for the corporations.

[MADem]

2. Newt Gingrich? Is that YOU?

HORRIBLE idea. If people like their Kerry, their Kennedy, their Wellstone, their Kucinich, or what-have-you, it's not for YOU or anyone else to tell them who they can return to Congress.

If you don't like "IOUs" then you need to fix campaign finance. Don't try to tell us we can't have our choice of representative.

[Alameda]

6. 100% agree with you. It takes more than one term to learn.

If they are not doing the job, let them get voted out! Term limits, no way.

[spanone]

3. who's gonna vote for that? congress?? good luck

[dhpgetsit]

4. We have term limits.

They are called elections.

What we really need is to get corporate lobbying out of Washington and corporate money out of the elections.

[DefenseLawyer]

5. Can't agree with you there.

I prefer elections. Term limits are anti-democratic. Level the playing field, yes, but people should be able to vote for the person they want.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

7. Term limits already exist -

it's called a "vote."

Just what I want - a continuing bunch of amateurs, newbies, and clueless elected officials running our country.

It's sort of like saying I want my surgeon never to have operated on anyone before so that I can be sure his hands are clean....................

[jobycom]

8. Most fascist, pro-corporate, anti-democratic suggestion ever.

Term limits favor the candidates with enough corporate backing to run without having to prove themselves. Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad idea. We'd see a shift from lawyers as Congresspeople to mid-level corporate managers holding all the seats in Congress. Hell, the networks would probably start putting the corporate logo instead of the D or R before their names.

[Horse with no Name]

10. What we have doesn't seem to be working for the people

Or do you think it is?
The ONLY ones with guaranteed insurance are the ones who don't want us to have the same. Who is paying their salary?
We only pay a small portion of it--the rest comes from the lobbyists.
And I will try not to take offense to being called a fascist--because I am a lot further to left than you are.:)

[jobycom]

23. I think you can replace a weak system with one far worse

The one we have favors people with money. Every possible system with no exception including any you can think of will favor people with money. Welcome to the planet. After that, you do what you can.

The current system gives us people like Lloyd Doggett, Dennis Kucinich, Sheila Jackson Lee, and a bunch of really good legislators who we can generally trust, in addition to the complete business shills they have to battle. So it isn't completely flawed. Now, throw them out after two years, and replace them with the latest candidate who can win corporate funding, TAKE AWAY THEIR REQUIREMENT TO EVER FACE A VOTER AGAIN, and we got no chance.

And I didn't call you fascist, I called term limits fascist.

[Horse with no Name]

25. Points taken.

I guess I am just frustrated that if we don't get something GOOD and WORTHWHILE done now, it will be years before we get another chance.
Thanks for the clarification.:hug:

[Old and In the Way]

9. No Sale

If you don't like the job your Congressperson is doing...vote him/her out. If my Congressperson is doing a good job for me, why can't I choose to reward by returning them to Congress? If you start limiting terms, the real power becomes the unaccountable bureaucrats that maintain the continuity of government.

We heard this song in the 90's from the Republicans...my Senator, Sue Collins ran on term limts. She promised 2 terms - she's now on her 3rd. Funny how the idea always comes back when Republicans are out of power.

[Horse with no Name]

11. No sale.

I'm not even CLOSE to being a republican. Try again.
More than 1/3 of the Democrats in Washington ARE republicans though.
How do you fix that?
I'm DISGUSTED that with a Democratic President, House of Representatives, AND Senate we cannot even get DADT or DOMA overturned, let alone healthcare for the entire country.
That tells me that the insurance lobby pays better than we do.

[Old and In the Way]

41. How do you fix it?

Educate the voters in the districts that have problem Reps/Sens. Get better Democrats to run in those primaries. Don't make the problem worse by throwing out all of the ones who are doing a good job of supporting Democratic progressive values. If enough of an effort is made to target Blue Dog Dems in 2010, the rest might get with the program.

[Hippo_Tron]

12. Term Limits mean lobbyists write every law

The amount of control they have now is bad enough because of their bribes. But if you have a congress that has not only been bribed but has no ability to acquire any institutional memory. They will turn to lobbyists to write every law rather than some because they won't be able to acquire the experience necessary to do it themselves.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

13. wouldn't they just become lobbyists that much sooner?

how does limiting terms stop them from serving their corporate masters if they have been bought
and paid for?

[niceypoo]

14. Campaign finance reform is a better way to clean it out

[Horse with no Name]

16. In our dreams!

I don't suppose we will get that either.:(

[Arkana]

15. I've always thought that Congressmen should be limited to three or four terms

and Senators to two.

[glinda]

17. No. No. No. Fix the political funding system.

[donheld]

18. 100% k & U

[JackDragna]

19. Term limits are bad for liberals/Democrats.

Generally, Republicans are much better at fundraising than we are, due to their close ties with wealthy individuals and corporations. The only way a Democratic candidate usually ends up on even footing is by being an incumbent. Republicans know this, which is why they push for term limits.

[Horse with no Name]

24. Good points.

This, I did not know.
I do know, however, that we got some REALLLLLY rotten apples in the barrel.
I don't know if we can get them out soon enough not to rot the entire barrel.
So much for simple solutions, eh?

[TreasonousBastard]

20. And what guarantee is there that...

after destroying one concept of democracy by denying people a vote for the candidate of their choice..

the new ones will be any better?

[demosincebirth]

21. Term limits is whats wrong with California.

[JI7]

22. Term Limits have ruined California, probably the biggest indirect reason for the mess we are in

[mkultra]

26. i would prefer a flamethrower.

theoretically speaking, of course.

[Davis_X_Machina]

27. Term limits aren't actually term limits...

...but special automatic anti-incumbent votes that people can cast without even voting, or registering, and all from the comfort of their own homes.

It's the electoral version of the Sham-Wow!

[Garbo 2004]

28. Yeah, like it's worked so well in California...what a great idea. Not. nt

[Hekate]

29. It's really effed up California: the only ones with enough experience to run things are LOBBYISTS.

Every elected official is essentially a freshman, and as soon as they start to learn the ropes well, they're out. There aren't any term limits for lobbyists, in case you hadn't noticed.

The US Constitution provides a handy way of throwing the bums out: the ballot box. Use it.

Hekate

[aquart]

30. Absolutely not.

I don't even want to imagine who will seize control without a seniority system.

What we want is a flat four-month limit to Congressional campaigns. Six months for Senate. Year for presidency. It's less in Britain but they have less territory to cover. Anyone who starts so much as a day early is out...and that includes TV reporters.

[cali]

31. now there's a brain dead suggestion. One 2 year term? Fucking absurd.

One six year term? less absurd but still silly. And hands off MY fucking state. If I want to keep voting for Bernie and Pat and Peter, I damn well will.

[Forkboy]

32. Term limits are totally anti-democratic. They take away choices.

I'm glad that I've been able to vote for Kennedy and Kerry over and over again. And until someone better comes along, a tall order, I want to keep that right to keep for voting for them (though I realize I may not get that chance again for Kennedy). With term limits both would have been long gone, a true loss for Massachusetts and the country. Term limits are a lazy approach to democracy, a supposed quick fix for the unhappiness you rightfully feel. But it's just throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

[BlooInBloo]

33. It's always amusing when DUers advocate for further restrictions on their own right to vote.

[Th1onein]

35. For once, I agree with you, BlooInBloo.

nt

[BlooInBloo]

38. (sigh) Was bound to happen sooner or later.

:P

[Th1onein]

40. LOL

nt

[ThomWV]

34. If there was a "Term Limit" for elected officials in short order professional Staffers would rule

Then their unelected staff's would rule the world.

[Tesha]

36. Ahh, I see Democrats hold power again so suddenly, term limits are back in vogue.

Funny how they were completely MIA during the Bush years!

Tesha

[Obamanaut]

37. Agreed! Some say the idea of limits is absurd, but there must

have been some reason for establishing the current lengths of elected service at 2 and 6 years for the DC people.

It just became easier for vote for "the name you know" every time, reducing the need for actual study of candidates. And the DC people know this, and revel in, and fill their pockets for an entire career (for some it is two or three careers - they stay as long as they can breathe.)

Farmers and gardeners rotate their crops and fields for a good yield - we should do the same with congresspeople, but we don't.

[derby378]

42. Term limits get rid of the good along with the bad

The Republicans hawked term limits in 1994, but once they took over Congress, most of them dropped any discussion of term limits really quick. The only reason Kay Bailey Hutchison is leaving the Senate seat she held since 1995 is because she thinks she can defeat Rick Perry in the TX Republican gubernatorial primary and then steamroll over her Democratic opponent.