by Carmen Polvere

Created on: June 05, 2010   Last Updated: June 06, 2010

I had the privilege to vote in my first election in 1974 and liked the idea of voting for a congressman who had been in office since 1959. I liked even better having the chance to vote for him. Imposing term limits on office holders is a form of disenfranchisement which has no place in a democracy. Americans are perfectly capable of deciding who they want to represent them without any help term limit legislation.

An elected representative who has made a career in public service and is doing a good job should not forced into early retirement depriving his or her constituents of solid representation. With term limits, voters have no choice. How democratic is that?

Cable news on 24/7 and internet bloggers have given American voters tremendous insight on how their representatives perform. In addition, we have C-Span which allows us to watch our legislature in action. It doesn’t get any better.

Long gone are the days of machine politics when an organization can re-elect someone doing a poor job year after year. Today, the slightest hint of malfeasance will have the voters up in arms and send the scoundrel packing.

The most outrageous example of term limits is the 22nd Amendment, which limits Presidents to only two consecutive terms in office. Proposed in 1947 and ratified in 1951, this amendment has deprived Americans of voting for president Clinton and President George W. Bush had they chosen to run again.

Both were in good health at the end of their second terms. President Clinton was 54 years old when he left office and President Bush was 62. Whether voters would have chosen either for a third term is open for debate, but thanks to the 22nd Amendment, there’s not even a conversation.

As American voters grow increasingly dissatisfied with government waste and inefficiency there are calls to run government more like a business. How is America going to attract the best in business toward public service career if there is going to be a restriction on their length of service? 

Without a term limit, an elected official knows they have to do a good job to get re-elected. Where’s the incentive in the last term to perform above expectations? There really isn’t any. When it comes to the length of service for elected officials it should be left in the hands of the voters, at the ballot box, where it belongs.

   

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