Monday, July 03, 2006
About Term Limits, etc.
Various writers are now beginning to express doubt in print about the wisdom of term limits for elected officials, especially the term limits in California. Here a member of the Assembly (lower house of the legislature) can serve a total of six years in one lifetime. A member of the Senate is limited to eight years total, as are all the other State elected officials: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Treasurer, Controller, Secretary of State, Insurance Commissioner, and Superintendant of Public Instruction. It is said that California's term limits are the most restrictive of any in the Nation.
The stated object of term limits, as I recall, was to get rid of the class of professional office holders. Persons elected to office would be able to serve for only a limited time. Then they would have to return to their previous careers and live under the laws and regulations they had enacted. However, term limits in California have not got rid of the professional politicians. Theas worthies now plan to play musical chairs. In the coming election, the State Treasurer hopes to become Governor; the Attorney General hopes to become Treasurer; the Insurance Commissioner and Lieutenant Governor plan to switch jobs; a former Governor is running for Attorney General.
Another goal of term limits, that of achieving a legislature of "citizens" rather than professional politicians, has also not been reached. Instead, we see that staff assistants to incumbents run for the incumbents' positions when they are termed out. People with no previous political experience have no chance - or very little chance - of being elected to the State Legislature.
In case my own bias is not yet clear to you, I opposed term limits when they were proposed and I still think they are a bad idea. I see nothing wrong with professional politicians enacting our laws and the regulations that government imposes on us. It is just as logical for professional politicians to practice the art of politics as for professional medical doctors to practice the art of medicine.
One of the best and most honorable professional politicians I ever knew was for many years the Congressman who represented my district in the House of Representatives. He used to say that "The first duty of a politician is to get elected. His second duty is to get reelected." I've thought about that saying for several years. I would like to add something to it: "In addition to getting elected and reelected, a politician should try to achieve something that will be a permanent blessing to the people of this nation."
Of course, I'm an idealist. To me a national system that provides good health care to every resident is a permanent blessing. I greatly admire any politician who tries to achieve that. Another permanent blessing is a national portable pension system, funded by a non-profit organization to which employers and employees contribute. Workers retired from General Motors or United Airlines should not lose their pensions just because the company has come upon hard times.
What do my ideals have to do with term limits? For one thing, I think that terms limits of only six or eight years do not give the elected representative enough time to achieve any of my permanent blessings. You can see from my objection that I am not a conservative. Conservatives liked term limits because they do not have in mind any permanent blessings that can be achieved only through action by government. Their permanent blessings are things that individuals achieve for themselves. There's nothing wrong with individuals achieving wonderful things through their own efforts. However, I think there is something more that we can be doing or aspiring to than simply taking care of ourselves. We should take care of others, too.
The stated object of term limits, as I recall, was to get rid of the class of professional office holders. Persons elected to office would be able to serve for only a limited time. Then they would have to return to their previous careers and live under the laws and regulations they had enacted. However, term limits in California have not got rid of the professional politicians. Theas worthies now plan to play musical chairs. In the coming election, the State Treasurer hopes to become Governor; the Attorney General hopes to become Treasurer; the Insurance Commissioner and Lieutenant Governor plan to switch jobs; a former Governor is running for Attorney General.
Another goal of term limits, that of achieving a legislature of "citizens" rather than professional politicians, has also not been reached. Instead, we see that staff assistants to incumbents run for the incumbents' positions when they are termed out. People with no previous political experience have no chance - or very little chance - of being elected to the State Legislature.
In case my own bias is not yet clear to you, I opposed term limits when they were proposed and I still think they are a bad idea. I see nothing wrong with professional politicians enacting our laws and the regulations that government imposes on us. It is just as logical for professional politicians to practice the art of politics as for professional medical doctors to practice the art of medicine.
One of the best and most honorable professional politicians I ever knew was for many years the Congressman who represented my district in the House of Representatives. He used to say that "The first duty of a politician is to get elected. His second duty is to get reelected." I've thought about that saying for several years. I would like to add something to it: "In addition to getting elected and reelected, a politician should try to achieve something that will be a permanent blessing to the people of this nation."
Of course, I'm an idealist. To me a national system that provides good health care to every resident is a permanent blessing. I greatly admire any politician who tries to achieve that. Another permanent blessing is a national portable pension system, funded by a non-profit organization to which employers and employees contribute. Workers retired from General Motors or United Airlines should not lose their pensions just because the company has come upon hard times.
What do my ideals have to do with term limits? For one thing, I think that terms limits of only six or eight years do not give the elected representative enough time to achieve any of my permanent blessings. You can see from my objection that I am not a conservative. Conservatives liked term limits because they do not have in mind any permanent blessings that can be achieved only through action by government. Their permanent blessings are things that individuals achieve for themselves. There's nothing wrong with individuals achieving wonderful things through their own efforts. However, I think there is something more that we can be doing or aspiring to than simply taking care of ourselves. We should take care of others, too.
