The Pros And Cons On Congressional Term Limits
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Politics and Activism

The Pros And Cons On Congressional Term Limits

Do you think our Congress needs term limits?

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The Pros And Cons On Congressional Term Limits
Lawrence Jackson

In government, term limits have always been widely debated ever since the first official government formed in Ancient Greece and Rome. In the nicest terms, why would someone from the United States care about how long a Congressman can maintain his position? Are 'we the people' too ignorant to care enough about our representatives in Congress when we could vote for a president? Realistically people are mainly keeping up with presidential debates and criticizing what the president does when they should start trying to keep up with who they are electing to the Senate. The Legislative and Judicial Branch are the most powerful branches in opinion and probably without opinion, because the two branches can stop any new bill the president tries to pass unless both the president and congress are mainly the same political party. As an example, the first presidential term, President Obama (Democrat) had a Senate with mostly Democrats until his second term where the Republicans fought to be in the Senate to stop Obama from passing any more new bills. Although the president does have his presidential power to pass things without Congress or the Courts on the occasion, the president is not allowed to abuse his powers like that. Each new president uses his presidential power at least once to put in something in effect that seems most beneficial to the country. Should Congress, just like the President, have a term limit or not? In my article, I would like to properly display the pros and cons of term limits.

Even though there are more pros than cons, the cons in this debate make some valid points onto which one could maybe consider extending the term limits. One of the main concerns is the term limits end a good leaders chance to keep improving the government (balancedpolitics.org). Even if the Congressman deserved to stay in office, no matter how outstanding his work is; there are fresh new, young minds out there who could do just as good of a job as that Congressman in the current position. For example, a political science major wants to go into politics and if the term limit was extended for Congressman; it would be harder to maintain the public opinion in the favor of te aspiring politicians favor. If the term limit became longer, politicians would be scared because they would have a harder time getting in Congress. With that being said, the unemployment rate would increase because political science majors would have to go out and find a new job more than likely.

The second concern is each and every new job, one has to learn to adjust and follow by the means of doing things or the procedures done (balancedpolitics.org). You know what I say, who cares if a new Congressman has to adjust working in the House or Senate. It does not take more than a year to get used to the procedures and rules. If it did take a full year, well they still have five more years to go and make a difference. A third concern is that Congressmen have special connections that would be lost when they finish up their term (balancedpolitics.org). If this is a concern, I do not even know why America’s government is still successful. Once one starts becoming a politician, before becoming a Congressman; one should already start making connections. How can one survive with an opinion without connections before serving a term in Congress? The final con is in the last term of a Congressman, the peoples’ will is disregarded because the politician does not have to face the electorate after that year (balancedpolitics.org). Sure I will admit this is true, but all politicians do this because they cannot be stopped for some of their decisions. In the eyes of a politician, bills that are to be passed are rejected will be answered truthfully in their eyes. Now that the cons have been discussed, pros can take a stand and prove why we do not need to change the Congressional terms.

The pros are more in number here, but one must understand that it is not always the case. Pros are only more in favor because the cons have not received a chance. One of the first statements is irrelevant for this stance because anyone can tell people that the government is a failure and in need of fresh new ideas (balancedpolitics.org). Honestly, this is the dumbest statement I have ever read. Passing bills in Congress is an extremely long process. Congress must introduce a new bill to the floor and if Congress approves then the bill moves to the Supreme Court and finally it goes to the President. Some bills take years to pass because it has to be perfect with a happy medium. If the Supreme Court rejects the bill, the court officials will send it back to Congress with revisions and then both Houses must debate on the newly made bill with their revisions. This process normally takes at least a year or more to pass. The second reason why people think Congressional terms are to be extended is that campaign contributors can make it super difficult for new politicians to get their foot in the door (balancedpolitics.org). Well if one wants to be in politics, one has to fight hard and campaign like they have never campaigned before. Life is not fair and we observe new politicians who do not make it which I would like to reference to Darwin's term natural selection as survival of the fittest. The politicians who are really good will make it to the top and the ones below them will perish in the world of politics.

Third, politicians cannot focus on personal interests and direct government spending for that; since they are in office indefinitely (balancedpolitics.org). Correction, politicians are not in government forever; only Supreme Court Justices get terms for life. The fourth point is that if there were not term limits, older politicians would call seniority rule and dictate everything in politics. Now, this may be possible thinking because that happens everywhere; however, it is impossible to overrule every single Congressman in Congress. Politicians in Congress vote to make changes to the government, not individually. Making a decision is a group decision in America’s government. The fifth point is that the Senate is filled with Senators who only listen to the people and they do not fulfill the job the way their degree fits them to be (balancedpolitics.org). The sixth point is that the longer a Congressman is in government, the Congressman can exploit the government to gain for personal interests (balancedpolitics.org). This statement is only an assumption, U.S. citizens do not actually know how politicians do things; it has not been proven valid. The last point states that in the last term of the politician, he/she will only make decisions that will build up their legacy (balancedpolitics.org). In certain aspects this is true but they have the previous five years to make a difference that does not build up their legacy. Also, did one of the previous pros mention that Congressman only does what is in their personal interest only and disregard the people who elected him. If this is true, would not following what the people said and pushing for something they want to leave a legacy for them instead of working for their own best interest?

The government, realizing after taking two courses now, is not exactly for everyone. If people have a problem with how many years Congressman are serving in terms, then why has government not changed it yet? One of the reasons is from ill informed citizens and the ignorance of not knowing how to form lobbyist groups and support certain citizens. I believe a government course should be properly taught in middle school and sophomore year in high school. Senior year should not be the time to make students take government because they need more time to realize that the president is not the only important person in government. Students need to realize that, the citizens of the United States are the ones who elect their Senators in Congress and it matters a lot who is elected into office.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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