The Death Of Democracy In The House

If you want to know why we desperately need term limits, you need look no further that these numbers from the latest Dick Morris’ column

“The political parties have conspired in a massive deal to protect one another’s incumbents by so drawing congressional district lines that only four incumbent congressmen were defeated by insurgents from the other party – less than 1 percent of the body!”

This is going to sound radical to some of you, but in my opinion, the House has practically ceased to be a Democratic body. Sure, a screw-up like Cynthia McKinney might get tossed out once in a while, but she’s the exception to the rule. Because of gerrymandering & incumbent fund raising and name recognition advantages, a seat in the house has essentially become a lifetime job. Then when a congressman retires — and that is ALMOST ALWAYS the only realistic way to get rid of them unless redistricting changes the makeup of their district — you’re not really selecting a congressman to represent you for the next two years. In actuality, you’re choosing someone who will probably be in power FOR LIFE if they so choose. Does anyone think it’s healthy for our country to have congressman who know they can stay in office as long as they want once they’re elected? I don’t think so and that’s the one of the reasons I strongly support Term Limits. It’s not a cure-all for all the problems in our political process, but it would certainly be a major change for the better.

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