Terms Limits

Originally, our elected officials had the discipline to impose term-limits on themselves. They realized they were elected to serve the people and not make politics their career.

That began to change as political power led politicians to gain wealth and prestige. By the turn of the 20th century, the wealthiest Americans and most powerful businesses began to exert their influence and corruption in government grew.

Why do we need Term Limits?

Today, members of Congress enjoy a powerful advantage of incumbency, which prevents new voices from being elected into government. Not only do incumbent politicians get taxpayer money to communicate with their district, they also can tap into their staff to volunteer time for the campaign.

Those candidates seeking re-election have access to large pool of donors - connections made during the politicians time overseeing legislative initiatives - which often places them financially far ahead of challenges who need to raise over $250,000 to have a chance at winning.

The lack of term limits and change-over also means that many of our politicians are older. The average age of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives is 58. And the average age of a U.S. Senator is 63. Many of these politicians have serve across decades - limiting their perspective to older ideas and making them less willing to change policies that are no longer effective.

Another reason for term limits is to reduce the political power-plays that occur within parties. If candidates are only in office for a limit time, positions in leadership are more likely to be earned based on skill, ideas and management, whereas today - they are mainly based on age / seniority. What's more, without leadership determined by seniority and power consolidated with a few in a party's leadership, members of Congress will have more flexibility to vote with the best interests of their district in mind - and not based on their political future.