The Trouble With Congress

There are a lot of problems with Congress and our elected representatives.  I won't try to list all of them but  recent events have dragged one of those problems to the forefront:  Our U.S. Senators and Representatives are doing lousy jobs.  Some would say they aren't doing their jobs at all.

Our U.S. Senators and Representatives repeatedly fail to make correct but difficult decisions to control spending, reform taxes and drastically reduce the soaring deficit because, among other things, voting for unpopular but necessary changes in government will cost them their jobs.  Congress, especially the House of Representatives where elections for all seats occur every two years, has become more about RE-elections than about governing our nation.

A lot of people have realized the problem and the governor of North Carolina, Bev Perdue,(D) has offered a solution.  Unfortunately, her proposed solution is as incorrect as her identification of the problem was correct.

According to the Raleigh News & Observer, Governor Perdue stated at a recent Rotary Club gathering, "I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover.  I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. You want people who don't worry about the next election."

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/perdue_suggests_suspending_congressional_elections_for_two_years_was_she_serious

She's half right.  Fear of being thrown from office is paralyzing Congress on key issues.  However, guaranteeing these folks get to keep their jobs through an election cycle isn't the answer.  The answer is TERM LIMITS.

In 1951 the 22nd Amendment, which limited the term of the Presidency to two elections and no more than ten years,was enacted.  Congress and the States correctly recognized that staying in government for too long was not a good thing.

There have been several term limit Amendments proposed  for Congressmen and Senators.  As recently as November 2009, Jim DeMint, U.S. Senator from South Carolina, introduced S.J. Res. 21, which would limit office to two terms for a total of 12 years for Senators and three terms for a total of six years for Representatives.

This is the correct solution to the problem but S.J. Res. 21 was sent into a black hole.  The last action on it was a referral to a Senate committee where it will lay for eternity.  Why?

At the same time that resolutions proposing term limit amendments are offered by Senators such as Jim DeMint, Senator Harry Reid, top dog in the Senate, and Congressman Barney Frank, former top dog in the House, are among a group of legislators who have sponsored a resolution to repeal the 22nd Amendment limiting the time a president can serve.

Are Reid and Frank nuts?  I'm not a psychologist but I know they've taken a backwards position on this key issue.  I'll leave the overall evaluation to you.


In my opinion, Jim DeMint should be applauded for recognizing the severity of the problem, recognizing the correct solution and actually trying to fix the problem.  That takes smarts and guts.  Way to go, Jim.

As for Governor Perdue, she was intelligent enough to recognize a serious problem, even if her solution was misguided.  To her, I can only say, "What were you thinking?"