Who is for Term Limits in the US congress? Who is against? Why?

i am 100% in favor of term limits, not because long term politicians are too powerful, but because long term politicians forget why they went to washington and start believing in their own self importance. get them all out, and keep new blood coming all the time. the "politicos" will then be forced to live in a world of their own decisions, so when they screw up, they have to suffer like the rest of us. right now they're insulated from all the crap, as though they're nobility. what a joke.

Blackcat,

Talk about a question with no answer. I see only one reason for not having term limits. Term limits = experience which equals = knowledge of how the system works & how you can work the system.

The federal government is quite the interworking group people/systems/representatives trying to get what they want. While much of this system has evolved over the years, just the fact that we're talking about the United States Legislative branch of government tells you Concerned Groups/Citizens, Lobbyists, Special Interest Groups, & tons of others will always be vying for the attention of those that establish laws in the United States.

On the flip side, term limits is a totally cool idea in my book….. Think about how we could consistently energize the Legislative branch with new ideas, CEO’s/CFO’s/COO’s/Presidents/VP’s and others who could bring their private industry experience & knowledge into the government sector. Awesome, man & think of the possibilities…

Of course, my book is based on theory & the way I think things should be. Screw career politicians, the retirement plans they vote on for themselves, the line items they stick on bills, & everything else that’s rotten about career politicians.

Then again……I suppose I’m a realist & right now I’m thinking the chances of politicians proposing/approving a bill that imposes term limits on themselves is probably just right around ZERO!

The current financial crisis showed that there are only a handful of people in Congress who understand complex issues. These few gained their expertise through years of listening to hearings in the Congress, and their knowledge should not be lost. The best term limits are those applied by an informed electorate.

Term limits in California have been a disaster. Without experienced lawmakers, the state is run by endless referendums. No one in Sacramento remembers how to come up with a budget.

I am more interested in limiting the influence of whoever sits in Congress. Implementing term limits would only change how lobbyists exerted influence. They would have less time to work with representatives, but I think that it would be naive to think that they had no influence. It's even possible that term limits would increase their influence. I think that a more potent tool for reigning in Congress would be to introduce on-demand "no confidence" votes. For an excellent article on how this works, see here [1]. I don't think that this is some kind of panacea. The only real limit to government is a population that carefully guards its liberty.

I've got mixed feelings on this. First, too many of these guys are hogs feeding at the taxpayers' food trough. They have been doing this so long they look at it as a right, and they get more and more removed from their constituents.

On the other hand, I hate to tell people they can't re-elect their senators or representative. But then again, we do have term limits on the president.

OK, I done convinced myself! 9 terms for congressmen and 3 for senators. 18 years is plenty. Maybe only 12 years...

The problem with term limits in congress is that it takes away political power from smaller states with fewer representatives in congress. A long term congressman from a small state can wield a lot of power and get more done for his or her state.

Term limits would switch congressional control to larger states like California and give less populated states like Wyoming like voice on Capital Hill.

Another downside to term limits is that congressional staffers would become all powerful. Instead of long term congressmen running Capital Hill, long term staffers, who are not elected by the voters, would run everything.

What really needs to be done is limit lobbyists and their political contributions.

I am for term limits, and everyone should be also.

On the GOP side, we have Senators and Congressmen who have been in for 45 years or more and have become corrupted by lobbyists and their own hunger for power.

On the Democratic side, we have Senators and Congressmen who have been in for 45 years or more and have become corrupted by lobbyists and their own hunger for power.

Rep. John Dingell (D-Michigan) has been in Congress for over 52 years! What could he possibly accomplish to help his state or the country, if he hasn't been able to do it in the first 50-something years of his career?

The long-term members of Congress on both sides are the ones who love the power, and you'll see the most corrupt voting records and lobbyist/money-influenced votes from them also. Unfortunately without term limits, most of them don't even have to worry about losing their job ever, so they don't really care if they vote in the interest of their constituents or not.

Think about it: If you're a Republican from West Texas, or a Democrat from San Francisco, you'll almost NEVER have to worry about losing to someone from the other party because you're from a district that is heavily biased to the left or right. A primary challenger is unlikely to defeat you either, because the Party (Dem or GOP) is usually more concerned with keeping a seat in Congress, so they're not going to give any funds or support to a new, unknown candidate. Essentially, if you're from a really red or blue district, and we don't have term limits, you can serve forever

I'm for them but I don't think they'll solve everything. If there are term limits then there is a revolving door - you serve six years and then go work for a lobbying firm. Granted, in another 4-6 years your buddies are out of Congress too and your value to a lobbying firm is over, but I think what is needed in the long run is spending reform.

I am totally for term limits especially since the majority of these old bas tards accept office and hold them til they die or are kicked out because of some career shattering scandal.

Yes! For sure!

Our government was supposed to be "part time" and I don't mean paid vacations. This country will continue to be run by gangsters and criminals until such time as term limits exist for all political offices. Including the Supreme Court.

America First. not last.

McCain/Palin '08