The longer they stay in office the more they are corrupted by power. money, and ego.
We have a presidential election every four years and a president has term limits. House of representatives, and the Senate need the same.
The argument they give ist they need experienced leaders and two and four years do not give them enough time to know the rules but I argue that the longer they are in office the less they are connected to the people they represent.
Experienced leaders are the problem. They show newbies the ropes to graft and corruption, and they impede the ability to influence of anyone that won't go along with their committee assignments. The practice of buying assignments to committees should also be stopped and the assignment to committees needs to be made free of corruption.
There need to be term limits on committee membership. If representatives know the exact deadline for their departure, I think they will be more prone to set up a cushy quid pro quo salaried position for their future. Maybe they all do it anyway.
Many businesses have no compete clauses for their employees that leave. Congress should be no different. There should be rules in place to keep them from taking industry jobs in areas they had influence over while in Congress. Those rules could come with a specified time limit after which they would be free to do as they please but that time limit should be at least five years.
Kek. That's probably longer than many of them have left on Earth. I asked Grok for the 10 oldest members of CONgress (Senate and House combined)...
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) Age: 91 (born September 17, 1933)
Chamber: Senate
Details: Longest-serving Republican senator, in office since 1981.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) Age: 87 (born June 13, 1937)
Chamber: House of Representatives (non-voting delegate)
Details: Represents the District of Columbia, in office since 1991.
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) Age: 87 (born December 31, 1937)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents Kentucky’s 5th district, in office since 1981.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Age: 83 (born September 8, 1941)
Chamber: Senate
Details: Independent senator caucusing with Democrats, in office since 2007.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Age: 83 (born February 20, 1942)
Chamber: Senate
Details: Former Senate Republican leader, in office since 1985, not seeking re-election in 2026.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) Age: 86 (born August 15, 1938)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents California’s 43rd district, in office since 1991.
( I thought she was at least 90)
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Age: 85 (born June 14, 1939)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents Maryland’s 5th district, in office since 1981.
Rep. James “Jim” Clyburn (D-SC) Age: 84 (born July 21, 1940)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents South Carolina’s 6th district, in office since 1993.
(I think he died this year)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Age: 84 (born March 26, 1940)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents California’s 11th district, former Speaker of the House, in office since 1987.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) Age: 81 (born May 3, 1943)
Chamber: Senate
Details: In office since 2009, announced re-election bid for 2026.
They will find ways to grift the system, make no mistake. But term limits limit the damage done. More sloppy, rushed work that has to be pushed through.
As a counter argument, this will do nothing. Instead of having Pelosi in there for 50 years, we'll have a never ending parade of forgettable names out into power by money brokers like Soros et al.
It won't be better, and it'll make money harder to track.
Yep. Do you think Aunt Nancy goes out and commiserate with her common man constituents? I don't. She's well insulated by her staff and they don't want her influenced by a bunch of pissed off voters.
Not only that but the original idea that serving in Congress and Senate was a real service. You came from whatever state, didn't live in the DC area because you had to go home, and didn't make a boatload of money while serving. I'd say most were good with four years because it was a sacrifice, and you did it for love of country.
And the people serving were, I imagine, happy to leave DC and go back to their normal jobs when their term was over. They were probably much better statesmen than the people in there currently.
The longer they stay in office the more they are corrupted by power. money, and ego.
We have a presidential election every four years and a president has term limits. House of representatives, and the Senate need the same.
The argument they give ist they need experienced leaders and two and four years do not give them enough time to know the rules but I argue that the longer they are in office the less they are connected to the people they represent.
Experienced leaders are the problem. They show newbies the ropes to graft and corruption, and they impede the ability to influence of anyone that won't go along with their committee assignments. The practice of buying assignments to committees should also be stopped and the assignment to committees needs to be made free of corruption.
There need to be term limits on committee membership. If representatives know the exact deadline for their departure, I think they will be more prone to set up a cushy quid pro quo salaried position for their future. Maybe they all do it anyway.
Many businesses have no compete clauses for their employees that leave. Congress should be no different. There should be rules in place to keep them from taking industry jobs in areas they had influence over while in Congress. Those rules could come with a specified time limit after which they would be free to do as they please but that time limit should be at least five years.
Kek. That's probably longer than many of them have left on Earth. I asked Grok for the 10 oldest members of CONgress (Senate and House combined)...
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) Age: 91 (born September 17, 1933)
Chamber: Senate
Details: Longest-serving Republican senator, in office since 1981.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) Age: 87 (born June 13, 1937)
Chamber: House of Representatives (non-voting delegate)
Details: Represents the District of Columbia, in office since 1991.
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) Age: 87 (born December 31, 1937)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents Kentucky’s 5th district, in office since 1981.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Age: 83 (born September 8, 1941)
Chamber: Senate
Details: Independent senator caucusing with Democrats, in office since 2007.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Age: 83 (born February 20, 1942)
Chamber: Senate
Details: Former Senate Republican leader, in office since 1985, not seeking re-election in 2026.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) Age: 86 (born August 15, 1938)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents California’s 43rd district, in office since 1991. ( I thought she was at least 90)
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Age: 85 (born June 14, 1939)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents Maryland’s 5th district, in office since 1981.
Rep. James “Jim” Clyburn (D-SC) Age: 84 (born July 21, 1940)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents South Carolina’s 6th district, in office since 1993. (I think he died this year)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Age: 84 (born March 26, 1940)
Chamber: House of Representatives
Details: Represents California’s 11th district, former Speaker of the House, in office since 1987.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) Age: 81 (born May 3, 1943)
Chamber: Senate
Details: In office since 2009, announced re-election bid for 2026.
They will find ways to grift the system, make no mistake. But term limits limit the damage done. More sloppy, rushed work that has to be pushed through.
It’s just like the movie, The Distinguished Gentleman starring Eddie Murphy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Distinguished_Gentleman
As a counter argument, this will do nothing. Instead of having Pelosi in there for 50 years, we'll have a never ending parade of forgettable names out into power by money brokers like Soros et al.
It won't be better, and it'll make money harder to track.
We have term limits here in Oklahoma, and it's working out great.
I don't know Oklahoma, but there's no one there already stealing elections, I presume.
https://okpolicy.org/term-limits/
We put it on the ballot directly.
Yep. Do you think Aunt Nancy goes out and commiserate with her common man constituents? I don't. She's well insulated by her staff and they don't want her influenced by a bunch of pissed off voters.
Here's are the buddies Aunt Nancy hangs out with:
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/FFFKGT/hard-alcohol-bottles-in-a-bar-FFFKGT.jpg
Demolish the current voting process period ! So simple. Go back to paper & hand counting.. It's like beating a dead horse 🤷
Not only that but the original idea that serving in Congress and Senate was a real service. You came from whatever state, didn't live in the DC area because you had to go home, and didn't make a boatload of money while serving. I'd say most were good with four years because it was a sacrifice, and you did it for love of country.
And the people serving were, I imagine, happy to leave DC and go back to their normal jobs when their term was over. They were probably much better statesmen than the people in there currently.