A Case Against Term Limits

As divided as our country is, support for term limits is extremely popular on both sides of the aisle. An NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll has found that 67% of those polled are in favor of term limits. But are term limits truly democratic?

Undemocratic

Certainly we can all agree that there are plenty of terrible politicians in the United States that don't deserve to be reelected. But there is no need for term limit laws because we already have term limits: they are called elections. Putting a limit on the amount of terms a politician can hold office is simply undemocratic. It effectively binds the hands of the people. It implies the people are not responsible or well informed enough to make the best decisions for themselves.

Most of us can say we are proud of at least some of the politicians for which we have voted. Imagine this politician had been forced out due to term limits and you were faced with awful choices in the next election. Would you still support term limits?

The most effective politicians have rarely been on the political scene for short periods of time. The politicians that get the most done are the ones with the most practice and the largest networks, developed over time.

You may assume there would be a high correlation between term limit support and the congressional turnover rate. But there is not. On average only about 5%-10% of congress people are replaced every two years. Of those, the majority are simply retiring or moving up in politics, or are from moderate districts that switch representative relatively often.

The truth is: this 67% is not interested in changing their representation, but the representation of other districts.

Unconstitutional

On a federal level, term limits are unconstitutional. The constitution clearly lays out the requirements for being a congress person. Interpreting this specific list to imply term limits would be impossible. The only way to make this unconstitutional proposition a law, would be through the amendment process. And let's be honest: that's never going to happen. Congress people may vote for term limits on other branches of government (see the 22^nd Amendment), but they will never vote to cut their own career short.

The states are not allowed to impose term limits on congress people either, as decided in a case involving my former representative Tom Foley (WA-5). But they are allowed to impose these terms on state politicians- something I would strongly urge you to oppose.

Trust the People

If you are not happy with your representative (whether it be at the executive level or legislative, federal, state or local) then don't vote for them. If you feel you are voting for the lesser of two evils every few years, then get involved in the primary process and help nominate better candidates. If you feel like the primary election is a race to the bottom, then convince somebody to run that you think would do a better job- or run yourself. But don't tie the people's hands, because you'll just end up tying yours as well. Trust the people.