The Case For Term Limits Just Died

The title of this blog is misleading, because the case for term limits has never been stronger.

Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia completely personified the acute need to restrict access to power—and he just passed away. Byrd was a walking, talking, filibustering, airtight argument for the imposition of term limits. Interesting to note that his DEATH was ultimately the only way to extricate him from a seat that he held for over a half a century. Over a dozen Senators and the President of the United States were not even BORN when he first took office.

Did he have excessive power, influence and opportunity for corruption? Without a doubt.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must declare that I am no fan of the late Senator. As is often the case when someone passes, the deceased are deified, their transgressions dismissed and their accomplishments magnified.

When evaluating the good Senator, keep in mind the following facts:

1) He joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1942, rising to the level of “Exalted Cyclops” (I am not making this up) His writings during this period survive:

“I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side ... Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.”

The above is from a letter written to Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo in 1944.

2) He personally mounted a 14-hour filibuster to block passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Thankfully, he was unsuccessful in this endeavor.
3) He opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Supporters of Sen. Byrd point to his about-face regarding race relations in the years since. Can’t someone simply change his or her mind?Absolutely.

Yet, the cynic in me wonders whether Byrd’s epiphany was due to a heartfelt realization that he was wrong----or were merely the calculations of an astute politician who came to understand that blacks voting in unison could deny him his precious seat.

We’ll never really know.

I see both sides in the arguments for and against terms limits—and a reasonable person can understand the primary contradiction that term limits impose on democracy-namely:

If the collective will of the people is inclined towards a particular individual, to deny that person the ability to serve is inherently---undemocratic.

One of the intriguing arguments against term limits has to do with a phenomenon that, over time, would transfer true power and influence not to the elected, but rather to the entrenched staffs who would remain in place through a succession of politicians, exerting a power no less insidious—and perhaps more so.

Like it or not, the machinations of government, particularly at the federal level—are complex. Any freshman Congress member will admit (after the fact, of course) that much of their first term is spent merely “learning the ropes”. A populist candidate from Wyoming, for instance, arrives in Washington with no clue as to how to navigate the ways and means of legislating. Who do they end up relying upon? Usually, it falls on the veterans of the D.C. bureaucracy. People who have “been there, done that”. They are not elected. They are the office workers, the staffers who have labored for a variety of Senators and Congress members, ascending to more prestigious jobs based on their competence, their ability to forge relationships and manage the intricate mosaic of competing forces that define politics and governing.

All well and good until you enact term limits. Now, it’s a revolving door where the second (and perhaps last?) term may be a Congressman or woman’s only effective one. As the outgoing politicians exit town, the new ones arriving are essentially the trainees of those for whom no one has cast a vote. In short, the bureaucrats—nameless, faceless-and unaccountable—will be in charge over time.


Still, with all of that said, I stand in favor if imposing SOME kind of term limit.

Democracy by definition requires compromise—and all it takes is one look at politicians like Byrd, Strom Thurmond—and other entrenched, long-term power brokers—to see that the system is dysfunctional in part because the organizational flow chart of getting things done can be literally choked off by one person.

Such was often the case with Senator Byrd. Known as the “King of Pork” by the Citizens Against Government Waste, Byrd procured over a billion dollars for his home state—and used his seniority to block his opponents from voting against his whims-lest they suffer the retribution that comes from a senior Senator with Chairmanship positions on key Committees.

Politics at its best----and worst.

Yes, let’s impose a reasonable limit on the CONSECUTIVE terms that one can serve. Perhaps a lifetime cap of 25 years total service as well.

Smarter people than myself can debate the specifics, but it doesn’t take a deep thinker to know that what we’ve got now—a system of reward and payback based on the greedy accumulation and exercise of power—isn’t the government we deserve.

If you’d like my blog in your daily inbox, just let me know; tim.moore@citcomm.com