Congressional term limits

When federal lawmakers fail to do their jobs properly, the end result is an out-of-control budget like ours and one that is only good for a few months at a time.

Important decisions on social issues also get postponed indefinitely because politicians do not want to make any decisions that might upset their major funders and donors.

I’ve only seen one presidential candidate ever rise above the need for funders and donors to bankroll his campaign and he’s currently residing in the White House now.

Every other federal political candidate in the United States, it seems, must secure more than $1 million in campaign contributions and is therefore beholden to their funders and donors.

The revelation in recent years that members of Congress spend at least one day a week seeking political donations from a call-center across the street from their Washington, D.C. offices demonstrates the powerful hold that political donations have on federal office holders.

The simple answer to our federal government’s problems is term limits for them all. 

Term limits for federal lawmakers would ensure that elected officials do not outstay their welcome and make a long career out of politics.

In addition to term limits, all federal lawmakers should also be barred for life from going back to Washington, D.C. after their term of office is over to lobby Congress.

Here’s some more reasons for term limits for federal elected positions:

*No one person should have too much power for too long.

*Term limits open the opportunity for third party candidates.

*No one should focus more on keeping an elective job, and a certain level of  power, than representing the public, which is the job itself.

*Term limits seem to decrease the chance of corruption, and corporate influence buying, allowing people to serve for the sake of being leaders and good citizens.

*Term limits keep fresh ideas and perspectives in public offices.

*Doing the work of the people should be a service, not a job or long-term career.

*Term limits give more young people opportunities to serve. Currently, the average age of U.S. representatives is 57 while the average age for U.S. senators is 61.

*If the focus of our government leaders was solely on doing good, and not ever on preserving their elective position as a career, then we’d be better off as a nation.

*If Congress wasn’t so dysfunctional and actually was doing positive, non-partisan things for the country, we wouldn’t need term limits.

*Finally, we simply need term limits because the current system is no longer working.