Kick out career politicians

Congress likes to bicker; it is in their nature. The legislative process is meant to be arduous, strenuous and it is designed this way to encourage better law. In this day and age, however, there has been a lack of effective, beneficial legislation coming out of Congress.

Yet we keep seeing some of the same old politicians, yammering from across the aisle in their hover-rounds. The 111th Congress has the oldest average age of virtually any in the nation’s history (57.2 years for the House, 63.1 for Senators), according to the Congressional Research Service report on Congress.

Currently congressmen and congresswomen can serve for as many terms as they can get elected. While it might seem a great hurdle, after about two terms in the Senate or five terms in the House of Representatives, name recognition takes over. After more than a decade of politicking, as long as a congressman doesn’t fall into a scandal, he can beat pretty much anyone in an election because he has a solid political backing and tons of campaign money.

No one can run against senior congressman unless the opposition has support from another political party (out of two) with financial backing. Unless you are someone like Ross Perot, with millions of dollars in your own accounts, you are trying to drive on a Nascar raceway with a bumper car.

Under these conditions, experienced senators have no need to do anything. If the economy is doing well and they bring back plenty of pork to their contributors, then they can get re-elected. This is highlighted by the gigantic flip to a Democrat majority in Congress, when Republican fiscal policy caused the economy to mudslide shortly before the last election.

Ironically this is inconsequential in the larger sense because most of the people who run for office are – former politicians. It’s a sweet life when you can vote for your own pay raise, can’t be arrested, have the cheapest and best insurance in the country, and people will pay you thousands of dollars on the lecture circuit when you retire.

So what do we do? It is called an Article V constitutional convention. State delegations band together and can propose constitutional amendments. The proposals could include the institution of a two-term limit for the Senate, and a five-term limit for the House, a cut in pay with a cap for future salaries, and no more pensions for lawmakers. Currently every single representative and senator makes at least $169,300 a year, with speakers making $188,000 annually according to Congress’ Web site. Public servants should be invested in the process of creating and improving the equity of law, not getting paid six figures in two terms. They should also be making their money through the success of their other profession, which is predominately law.

If members of Congress had term limits they would be more hard pressed to compromise (reduce partisanship), propose effective law (not bloated pork and earmarks), and would have a lower mean age. This would catch-up the learning curve Congress has on the accelerating pace of technology law, as well as provide younger would-be senators a chance to challenge older, better known politicians.

With more opportunities for non-incumbent elections the cost of campaigning would drop because there would be more contenders. More contenders would encourage more debate on the issues, which leads to better policy.

Congress is hobbling right now because it needs a wheelchair. In the world of instant communication, mass social networking and manifold expansions of information we need a legislative body that can engage the new millennium properly. That means a shorter, more effective term of service, and bowing out gracefully.