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Should members of Congress have term limits
Roles of the house and senate
Significance of us congress
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Recommended: Should members of Congress have term limits
Our country’s founding Fathers never intended politics to become a lifetime career for any individual. Everyday citizens, who knew first hand our problems, would serve Congress for certain amount of time. When their time was up, they would return to their communities and live under the laws they agreed upon. Today, the term Career Politician is used to describe what happens in Congress. There are no boundaries that say a member of Congress can only serve a certain amount of terms. Congress members stay in office for years because of the pay increases, health benefits, and the overwhelming power. Today’s Generation believes that Members of the House should be limited to three two year terms and Senators limited to two six year terms. Term limits are rules restricting the number of terms an elected official can serve in a given office. In the United States, our President is the only elected federal official who has a limit placed on his term. Members of Congress do not operate under term limits and can run for reelection as many times as they like. It is not clearly understood that term limits is an old concept. This dates back at least to 1851, when the Indiana state constitution demanded them for every elected county office. Benjamin Franklin summed up the guidelines for term limits over two centuries ago as, “In free …show more content…
Do we need a reminder that long-term politicians with lots of experience in Washington have divine Americans with trillions in debt and a federal government that absorbs more and more from our wallets year after year? It says a lot that virtually every group that supports more government power and wealth redistribution opposes term limits. When they buy a lawmaker, they want him to stay bought and stick around a while. Term limits are reality checks. Term limits minimize Members' incentives for reelection related pork-barrel legislation. Term limits would restore respect for
Gordon S. Wood delves into Benjamin Franklin’s philosophical, political, and personal legacies in the biography, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. The book travels through Franklin’s experiments, his travels in Europe, and his role in the American revolution. The book begins when Franklin retires from business and becomes a gentleman. It was when he became a gentleman, it allowed him to analyze the world around him. “Indeed, he could not drink a cup of tea without wondering why the tea leaves at the bottom gathered in way rather than another,” a quote from Edmund S. Morgan’s book, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin spent a great deal of time in Britain before returning to America. When he returned, he threw himself into the American revolution, which sent him to France. After he accomplished his duties in France, he returned back home to America where he ran for public office.
Benjamin Franklin’s ethics helped convey to the audience that they were not just listening to another representative's opinion in the room. His “diplomatic skills”(43) in this speech helped make the delegates listen and take his view into consideration. Such a reputation can make people ponder and contemplate his words and meanings. Franklin does not approach the debate with unfair reasoning or a lack of knowledge. In fact, he mentions “when you assemble a number of men...you inevitably assemble with those men and all their prejudices...”(43) showing that he is aware of other people’s opinions and thoughts. He uses the other delegates opinions to attempt a compromise.
Power, Money, Political Party, and Career are four principle factors that influence the way Congress votes. These factors can weigh heavy upon a congress man or woman when choosing what they believe is the right vote. Whether the vote benefits who they are voting on for or if selfish reasons are jeopardizing their vote which has been criticized by many taxing paying citizen who want the money to go into programs, services, and projects to improve the nation. Congress votes should always benefit the country as a whole, not certain people.
This paper also seeks to compare the autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and Fredrick Douglas. In an e...
In conclusion, Congressional representatives should be limited to serving two terms. Limiting the terms of career politicians will promote fresh ideas and reduce the possibility of decisions being made for self-interest. It is in our Country’s best interest that our legislator’s decisions are equitable and that compromises are not made to ensure their own or their parties stay in office.
Congress has helped develop the Presidency as we know it today. This is because Congress argues over proposals and legislation proposed by the President. They are a major determent in whether bills turn into laws. But it’s not easy. One reason for this is because there are many powerful groups out there who argue about what should be discussed such as air pollution with the EPA or jobs.
According to Linz, term limits in presidentialism force a president to serve a country for a fixed period of time
By giving life tenure to appointed officials, the founding fathers protected them from political pressure. But, by taking away the accountability of these officials, the framers actually produced a perfect opportunity for krytocracy, a government ruled by judges. When a justice, or anyone for that matter, is secured with a job for life, there is not enough incentive motivating him to perform to the best of his ability. If the lifelong term was changed to say, 8 or 12 years, the justices would be more likely to keep the people’s interests in mind and to represent the public instead of being driven by their own selfish concerns. If the judges’ terms were limited, it would allow their actions to be reviewed, analyzed and determined right or wrong by the people. It would kee...
There is a movement sweeping the United States that state legislatures, by virtue of the Tenth Amendment, have the constitutional power to establish a new qualification for federal office, specifically, a restriction on the number of terms their congressional delegations may serve in Washington. The legal battleground covers two sections of the Constitution. Proponents of term limits will highlight Article I, Section 4, which they say gives each state the authority to prescribe the "time, place and manner" of congressional elections, therefore delegating to the local level the rules of who gets to run. Opponents will counter that such an interpretation of the Constitution is much too broad. They will also point out that the exclusive qualifications for members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are explicitly set forth in Article I, Sections 2 and 3 - members of Congress must be at least 25 years old and citizens of the U.S. for at least seven years; Senators must be at least 30 years old and citizens for at least nine years; both Senators and Representatives must be residents in the state. Plainly, they reiterate, there is no reference to term limits. Opponents of term limits argue that Americans have always had the power to turn incumbents out of office - by voting. It's not that simple, says Cleta Deatherage Mitchell, the general counsel for the Term Limits Legal "Incumbents have such enormous advantages that it makes the whole notion of competitive elections a mockery," she says. "It almost takes a national temper tantrum to dislodge incumbents". Meanwhile, Hill points to the existence of one federal-term limit - the two terms of the President. "The nation has survived, indeed flourished," she...
Benjamin Franklin was a very prominent figure in shaping our nation. Many people look at him as a role model or just as an amazing individual. He had his faults just like every human being had, and he shouldn’t be discredited because of a few minor glitches to his character. As being the only person that had signed The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Treaty of Paris, this immediately separates him from all others. One of the things that he wrote about in Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings, was trying to be the ideal person, and even made a list of virtues to live by. His virtues were very important to his lifestyle, and he followed them to a great extent.
One of the most persuasive arguments for term limits is the very real possibility that a president in office long enough can appoint the entire Supreme Court and much of the federal judiciary in general, thus jeopardizing the independence of the judicial branch and influencing the political direction of the country for much longer than any tenure he could have (Cronin 2015, 87). President Franklin Roosevelt was actually successful in appointing all nine justices of the Supreme Court during his tenure, and although unsuccessful, he had attempted to pack the court with his own justices in his second term. Presidential appointment power has also grown beyond the judiciary to include many executive agencies that have wide-reaching and greatly unchecked
The government has always intrigued me, with the many different agencies. One part that I have always wanted to see what happens on the inside is the different congressional offices. If you are a part of a congressional office, you get to help bring change in our world. In serving the people, you help individuals feel as though their voices are heard. In an AP Seminar project, we learned about different perspectives; that project lead me to realizing how many perspectives about a broad range of topics exist in our world. Being a state’s congressman/ woman means you bring all of those perspectives together, to adhere to the wants of that state. I believe it is very important that a voice is given to the voiceless, which is exactly what congress has the ability to do. I believe in our current political climate, that it is important for younger generations, like mine, to be involved in the government, so that in the future they can play an active role in democracy. I want to fully learn how different parts of the government work, and to know how they function, you have to be a part of them, or be taught by someone who is. I want to be a future leader in America, just like Girls Scouts has taught me to be, anything I want to be.
When I decided to run for Congress in 2014 I wanted to make a difference and improve the quality of life in my community. I’ve met so many amazing people while running for office, it was truly one of the best experiences I have had in my life. After my election, I wanted to relax and get back in the classroom to teach my students. I stayed away from politics for the most part but I always kept a close eye to what was going on in local and national politics. I was elated to see my good friend Joe Gale win a stunning victory in the Montgomery county commissioner’s race and seeing David Oh re-elected to City council at large. On the other hand, I’m troubled to see how divisive and angry American politics have become in the last year. In my opinion,
A good representative doesn’t look at their job as just a salary. “During the early Congresses, being a senator or representative was a part-time occupation” (Davidson, Oleszek, Lee, & Schickler, 2015, 35). Today, a good representative spends more time working with other elected officials to rectify the issues that all people are hindered by. Although, many people do not believe that members of congress are in session for a sufficient amount of time to figure out solutions to the issues that affect