Election day and why we need term limits

Tomorrow is going to be a big day...With congress' approval rating of 9% or something hideously low, wouldn't you expect that there will be a massive turn-over in our congressional representatives? I think a logical person would, but you know it is not going to happen and politics is not about logic.

Apparently everybody thinks that their representative is not part of the problem. Are people getting such good results and handouts from their representatives such that they continue to vote for them? I guess. Its a shame that today's career politicians are all about power and money. What ever happened to serving one's country?

Politicians seem to have very little integrity. I just read a report that Phillip Fulmer is going to step down as the head football coach at Tennessee. The Vols are struggling this year, so the reason why is pretty obvious and the decision mutual. I'm sure the was a lot of pressure on both sides from the constituents, er, fans. How many politicians do this? Very few. Some step down when there is a scandal. Richard Nixon. Bob Livingstone. Larry Craig (not running for re-election). Its interesting that the only ones that come to mind are Republicans. (Is that a glimmer of integrity for that party in general?) Why don't we hold the leaders of the free world to the same standard we hold our coaches? There is a lot more riding on the future of the country versus if your team will make it to a bowl game.

Are politicians really performing for us, or just telling us they are? Something should be done.

Federal term limits.

Why not have term limits? If you get a loser for a candidate, they will be gone in a short time. If you get a winner, they will move on to bigger and better things. Without giving it too much thought, here are some numbers...

• 4 terms in the house = 8 years
• 2 in the senate = 12 years
• 2 as president = 8 years
• A couple cabinet posts = 4-6 years.

Assume you have a truly great person who holds every office for the maximum duration. All told, they would have a 32-34 year career. That's not bad if they truly are committed to serving their country. However a poor candidate would have to face a new election dynamic once their term limits were reached and adapt to a statewide campaign or a national campaign. Hopefully they would not last that long, but if they did, the damage would be limited.

Every year, I get more cynical with this whole process. Our country is hanging in a fragile balance, lets do what we can to not mess it up.