Single-term limits for President, Senators, maybe House members?

[Coltdriver]

I advocate a single term in any elected office once in the life time of the elected person.

Once.

Never again.

Just one elected term per lifetime per person.

It would change our country and end the problem of our government being owned by people beholden to monied interests.

 

[LawDog]

Twelve year term limits.

That's three four-year terms for the President, two six-year terms for Senators, and six two-year runs for Congresscritters. In other words, "See ya, Teddy! Don't let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you!"

Senators should be chosen by votes of the State legislatures. One Senator chosen by a majority vote of the State Senate (or equivalent), and one Senator chosen by a majority vote of the State House of Representatives (or equivalent). All voting shall take place no later than October 15 of the election year, staggered so that no State elects both Senators the same year.

In the event of a tie, the Governor of the State shall cast the tie-breaking vote.

The Federal Representatives shall be voted on, as is done now, however the ballots shall not have the names of the candidates printed on them. Each voter shall receive a number of blank three-by-five cards. On one, write in the name of the guy you'd like to be President. On another, put the name of the guy whom you'd like to represent you in the Federal House of Reps. Write legibly, please, and remember that spelling counts.

What? You say that if the names of the candidates aren't pre-printed, people won't know who to vote for?

GOOD!

Instead of an Electoral College, the first duty of the newly-elected Representatives shall be to convene where each Rep. shall cast a vote that reflects which Presidential candidate the voters in his/her District voted for.

None of this 'voting conscience' crap either. If you're a Libertarian, but the majority of voters in your District voted for a Repub, then you represent your District and cast your vote for the Republican candidate.

The Presidential candidate with the majority of votes becomes President. The candidate with the second-highest number of votes becomes Vice-President.

In the unlikely event that a tie occurs in the House, then each State Governor shall add to the vote the name of the single candidate who got the majority of votes in their State.

LawDog

 

[Severian]

I believe the CSA's Constitution had it so that the President is elected for one 6-year term. That way the first four years aren't focused on reelection. I'm not sure about the senators and congressmen.

"If the South would've won, we'd have it made..." --Hank Jr.


p.s. No offence to those easily offended.

 

[Waitone]

I'm bigtime in the minority here, but I oppose term limits(although I sometimes benefit from them - Laura Baird, Gilda Jacobs, etc).

Yea, me too. Right up until I learned that the political parties have done such a fine job at the state level of gerrymandering the district so that 95%+ of all congressional elections are non-competitive. Fact of the matter is one of the threats made against freethinkers by the party is their district can be giggered to make the candidate face real competition.

Once again we have the ruling class vs the taxpaying class. Since the ruling class has bored in like a tick on a coon dog, the taxpaying class has no choice but to pull out he needlenose pliers, grab those suckers by the butt and pull 'em out. Seems to me term limits is an appropriate response to the actions of the Incumbent Party.

 

[Geoff Timm]

Since my father told me about my grandfather and great grand father hashing this out after Sunday dinner back in the 1920s, I figure it's been talked to death.

I would propose the following improvements, IT WILL SAVE THE CHILDREN(TM) :barf:

President two terms, four years popular election.

Senator one term, six years, appointment by the states, (Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear) Senator sworn "...to protect the consititution and the rights of states and citizens against all enemies foreign and domestic." Two senators per state.

Congress, one term three years, total members of the House 999. Minimum 5 congresspersons per state, rest of total (749) apportioned by population.

No person shall be eligible to hold public office unless they have been out of public office, to enclude employment by a government agency or any private or public organization, corporation or entity receiving money from the Federal Govenment, for at least twice the time spent in the previous office.

Lawyers are recognized as having a special relationship with the judicial branch of Government, therefore cannot hold public elective office outside the Judicial Branch. (Hey if the appearance of a picture of a book violates the non-existant "separation of church and state" then a lawyer in the legislature surly compromises the separation of powers.

Geoff
Who is cutting his own throat here, I couldn't run for office until 2071, assuming I retired this year, then again, if Asimov was right, I may need the income suppliment.

 

[jefnvk]

Instead of an Electoral College, the first duty of the newly-elected Representatives shall be to convene where each Rep. shall cast a vote that reflects which Presidential candidate the voters in his/her District voted for.

That is something I agree with. Get rid of this winner-takes all, it makes much more sense to split it up by congressional districts. Maybe as a bonus, give teh two senate votes to the overall winner of the state.

 

[jrklaus]

I understand the frustration with the two-party system, but one of the reasons why we have winner-take-all electoral college votes is to avoid the chaos of parliamentary systems where one has fifteen to twenty parties and governments last for only two or three months before collapsing. The French Third Republic was a mess, and I remember Italian governments during the sixties whose lifespan was measured in days or weeks....

 

[J West]

This is an issue that gets me going every time. It seems universally considered to be a good idea to impose term limits. The benefits would be enormous. It would give people a finite amount of time to show what they can really do. It can not be looked at as a life long career. Nor was it ever meant to be. If you can show your worth, you would even be looked upon in a much more favorable light as a possible presidential candidate, if that was your ambition. It would eliminate a lot of the special interest “pet projects” that continue for too long and that become so influential and entangled in pushing backdoor political agendas, that they have gotten to the point they get looked upon as business as usual in D.C. We have to do something to return the power back directly to the citizens. We need to protect and enforce our Constitution as written and intended. No matter the cost.

The government is taking our private, legally owned land? This is over the line. I suggest we all find a way now individually to legally and peacefully take action to protect our liberty. No need to escalate beyond anything other than our voices, presence and votes, ...just yet. It is our country.