Incumbents Beware: Term Limits Resurrected by Disaffected Voters

Term limits supporters, who think 12 years in Congress is plenty, say those numbers have an easy explanation.

"The powers of incumbency in this country are so great that it is nearly impossible to unseat an incumbent, barring death, indictment, scandal or retirement," said Philip Blumel, a Florida financial planner and president of the advocacy group U.S. Term Limits.

In 2008, 94 percent of incumbents were re-elected to the House and 83 percent were re-elected to the Senate, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Turning public anger into political reform

First, term limits (which, by the way, would require a constitutional amendment) are undemocratic, yes, but they’re republican like our Constitution. That is, like so many provisions in the Constitution, they are a correction to our democracy designed to bring out the people’s better judgment, and to guard them against manipulation by political gamers. Gerrymandering has, to a large extent, made a farce out of popular election. This is a method of redrawing the boundaries of a congressional district in a way that maximizes the likelihood that an incumbent or his or her party will remain in power. In essence, the people get to choose the politicians only after the politicians have first chosen the people who will choose them. Do you see a problem?

Voters don't want fourth term for Bloomberg

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have won a third term, but a poll released Tuesday found that voters don’t want him around for a fourth.

The 68-year-old mayor has not expressed any interest in running for another term in 2013.

The Quinnipiac University survey found 58 percent of respondents said they would not vote for Bloomberg if he ran again, while 22 percent would.

“New Yorkers gave Mayor Mike a third term but now they say, ’Enough is enough,’” said Maurice Carroll, director of the university’s polling institute.

A Bloomberg spokesman had no comment...

U.S. House Cleaning

As analysts continue to draw comparisons between the Republican Revolution in 1994 and brewing discontent with Democrats going into this year's midterm elections, here's another parallel to ponder: term limits.

Though seldom acknowledged by the Republican Party establishment, calls for term-limiting politicians have been a consistent undercurrent of the tea party movement. Activists are tired of professional politicians opening the barnyard door for special interests to feed at the stimulus trough -- and equally tired of those incumbents spending half-a-century doing it. Short of voting the bums out, they see term limits as the next best option.

Give Congress the Boot to Save Our Great Country: Caroline Baum

Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, introduced a “Term Limits for All” constitutional amendment in November. The amendment, co-sponsored by Senators Tom Coburn, Kay Bailey Hutchison and Sam Brownback, Republicans of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, respectively, would limit every House member to three terms and every Senator to two. Only with an end to the “era of permanent politicians” will real change come to Washington, DeMint said.

The last big push for term limits came from the party in power. When the Republican class of ‘94 swept into Washington, taking control of both houses of Congress, enacting term limits was high on their priority list. Twenty-three states had already term-limited their congressional delegations via referenda or their state legislatures, according to Philip Blumel, president of U.S. Term Limits...

Expiration dates

RALEIGH--Two Republican contenders for the 2nd District U.S. House seat now held by seven-term incumbent Democrat Bob Etheridge have made a financial commitment to term limits. If either wins, and tries to serve more than three terms, he'll have to make a six-figure donation to charity.

GOP challengers Frank Deatrich and Todd Gailas are the most recent North Carolina congressional candidates to take a bonded term limits pledge.

Expiration dates

What has become painfully apparent is that the check voters provide each election year -- i.e., voting the bums in or out -- is no longer adequate. The system is broken and stacked against voters, who are demoralized by the extremes of both parties and dropping party affiliation in droves to join the ocean of the disenfranchised.

Approval ratings for Congress, never high to begin with, are at an all-time low.Read the full story

Ariz. Senate Votes To Refer Term Limits To Ballot

From NBC's Pete Williams
Wyoming political sources say Gov. Dave Freudenthal will announce today that he will not run for a third term.

The two-term Democrat is hugely popular, winning re-election in 2006 by the largest margin in state history. His high approval ratings are especially surprising in a staunchly Republican state.Read the full story

Ariz. Senate Votes To Refer Term Limits To Ballot

PHOENIX -- After helping persuade Arizona voters to adopt term limits for lawmakers in 1992, Sen. Carolyn Allen is convinced she made a mistake, one that she is now trying to reverse.

Her resolution asking voters to repeal the law limiting legislators to four terms in office passed the state Senate Monday on an 18-11 vote. It now goes to the House.

Arizona's term limits allow legislators four consecutive two-year terms before they have to either leave the Legislature or run for the other chamber.

Supporters of term limits say incumbents are typically re-elected easily, so term-limits force turnover in office and require the legislature to continually renew itself. Read the full story