Obama Says He’ll Be In Office 8-10 More Years- “Chavez Complex”

The “Greying” of Congress

      Rep. John Murtha, the colorful and controversial Democrat from western Pennsylvania, underwent gallbladder surgery last week, and today, has been readmitted to the hospital, in the intensive care unit. Murtha will be 78 in June. There is no indication yet as to what the present situation is, but it is obviously quite serious.

      Everyone wishes John Murtha a speedy recovery, but it highlights the “greying” of our Congress, and the added need to revisit the idea of term limits. When Frankin Roosevelt was elected at the onset of the Depression, and then re-elected three more times, many began to see the possibility of a Presidency that, over time in the hands of one person, could evolve into something else. That was why Washington chose to retire to Mt. Vernon after two terms in office, and it was that viewpoint that led to the adoption of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution so soon after Roosevelt’s death.

       Yet our Representatives and our Senators do not have the same limitations. Joe Biden was elected when Nixon was President. Chris Dodd has decided NOT to seek a sixth term in the Senate. Ted Kennedy had served since 1962. Robert Byrd was elected to the House of Representatives in 1952, and has served in the Senate since 1959. Rep. John Dingell, at 83, has been elected to his seat 26 times. Arlen Specter will be 80 next week.

     This was not what our forefathers could have envisioned, particularly under the banner of “By the People, for the People, of the People“. What sense of the “real world” do these career politicians have, being within the confines of the Beltway for decades? The legislation that they forge has an impact on the daily lives of average Americans, yet these legislators have not worked in the private sector to understand the impact of their legislation. This is not to say that the work done by these Congressmen and Senators is not beneficial to the country. But there is a great deal of disconnect between Washington and their constituents, as the ObamaCare legislation has shown.

       The greying of our Congress is not new (Strom Thurmond and Claude Pepper come to mind), and there is benefit to the counsel of theiir generation. But at the same time, as Ted Kennedy’s illness showed, the representation of the constituency takes a back seat to the politics of a legacy. The only method to correct this is term limits.

Constitutional Change: Term Limits are a Good Place to Start

Senator introduces Constitutional amendment requiring term limits

By Jordan Fabian

A Republican senator on Tuesday introduced a Constitutional amendment that would mandate term limits for all federal lawmakers.

Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) amendment would limit House members to three terms and senators to two terms. Every lawmaker then could serve no longer than six years in Congress. DeMint said term limits are a reaction to the influence of special interest groups on Capitol Hill, corruption, high federal deficits, and a Democratic agenda he says will increase the size of government.

“Americans know real change in Washington will never happen until we end the era of permanent politicians,” said DeMint in a statement. “As long as members have the chance to spend their lives in Washington, their interests will always skew toward…amassing their own power.”

 

Two thirds of the House and Senate as well as three quarters of the states would need to vote for DeMint’s amendment for it to become a part of the Constitution.

Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) cosponsored the bill. Coburn has long supported term limits. He retired from the House in 2000 after being elected in 1994, pledging only to serve three consecutive terms.

for full story: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/67189-senator-introduces-constitutional-amendment-requiring-term-limits

Orrin Hatch Proposal to Change Presidential Eligibility

“As John Dean discussed in his column last week, there is currently an effort to alter the Constitution to permit foreign-born U.S. citizens to become candidates for the Presidency”

 

“Some people who are skeptical about Senator Hatch’s proposal (and even some who are supportive) have suggested that, at a minimum, any amendment of this kind enacted today should not become operative for a long period of time so that the amendment would not affect individuals like Schwarzenegger and Granholm”

http://writ.lp.findlaw.com/amar/20041015.html

Note from JAMES: Given what is required to pass an amendment, I don’t think this one, if it were to make it to the point of being submitted to the states for ratification, would ever see its way to passage as Constitutionally required. I’ just sayin….

“Politics Isn’t Fun Anymore”: Career Politicians Opting Out

     The Tea Party’s have called for their resignations, across the board.

     A website has launched a campaign to “send them pink slips” to let all of our Legislators know that the American public is at a high level of dissatisfaction with their work.

     The health care reform is going to have a struggle from all sides: the left is blasting the President for selling them out, the Unions are on the attack, etc.

     So, career politicians are opting to establish their own term limits, leaving office before the end of their terms. Yesterday, Congressman Robert Wexler (D-Fl), resigned unexpectedly, to, as he said, take a better paying position with a think tank on Mideast issues. This, of course, from a Democratic Congressman, who is Jewish, who has allowed Obama to remain unchallenged in throwing Israel under the bus.

For the story on Politicians Leaving Public Service:

http://news.aol.com/article/many-lawmakers-opt-to-leave-before-term/718078

Note: Florida’s Gov. Charlie Crist, a US Senate candidate, has asked the Florida Supreme Court to emplanel a grand jury to examine the growing political corruption in South Florida (like it is centered in one area), so there is speculation that Wexler was concerned with this issue. After all, he was a Florida Congressman who didn’t live in Florida, using his in-laws address as his physical Florida address.