by Kenneth Boser II

Created on: September 12, 2007   Last Updated: March 19, 2008

The term limit proposal, defining a specific number of terms (usually 2) that a Congressman or a Senator can serve as bound by a state, is both short-sighted and ignorant of the fact that limits to the length of term that such a Representative may hold, is in fact, already in place.

Sure, there are cases where term limits could be applied; we like to believe that one case fits all, so that some don't feel the wretched desire to monopolize government. Case in point, the Kennedys. But, the people of Massachusetts just keep electing Ol' Ted to the same Senator position he's held for almost 4 decades. His tenure has darned near wrecked the state of Massachusetts.

On the reverse side, there's Strom Thurmond. When Strom was elected in 1958, (he had been appointed in 1956 by the then governor), he worked to bring an attitude of what was Segregationist South Carolina into a working cooperation between races within his state, and stood firm on a limited government ideal that not many others from either side of the aisle has shared.

Congressmen have terms of two years. Senators have terms of six years. When your Senator doesn't represent your interests, or if your Congressman doesn't seem to care about your desire for limited and un-intrusive government, there's always an election that can change that.

No amount of term limits will eschew politicians from enabling career-mindedness at the expense of the taxpayer, but voting can change the number of times that politician will get elected.

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